UPSC

What is it?

The IAS exam (officially known as the Civil Services Examination) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) annually.
Those who clear all the three stages of the IAS exam enter into the prestigious civil services of the country, and become officers in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and a host of other services.

Eligibility

• UPSC has a fixed number of attempts and eligibility criteria concerning age for the UPSC examination. Here’s the category-wise age limit and the number of attempts:

• UPSC does not discriminate against candidates based on their scores in graduation. Hence, there is no minimum qualifying percentage as the IAS eligibility condition. The UPSC eligibility conditions for the UPSC exam concerning educational qualification is given below:
• The candidate must hold a graduation degree from a government-recognized university.
• In their final year or awaiting results, candidates are also eligible to appear for UPSC preliminary Examination.

Pattern of the Exam

The IAS Exam pattern is:

• Stage I: Preliminary Examination (IAS Prelims)
• The questions in the IAS Exam (Prelims) are of the objective type or Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
• There is ‘Negative Marking’ in the IAS Exam for each incorrect answer but only in the Prelims stage. The negative marking for incorrect answers will be 1/3rd (0.66) of the allotted marks of that question.
• The GS Paper II (CSAT) in IAS exam is of qualifying nature and candidates should score a minimum of 33 per cent in this paper to qualify to the next stage of the IAS exam i.e. the Mains.


• Stage II: Mains Examination (IAS Mains)
  The second stage of the IAS Exam is called the Mains Exam, which is a written descriptive examination and comprises 9 papers. The 9 papers in IAS Exam (Mains) are as follows: Paper-A (Compulsory Indian Language); Paper –B (English) which are qualifying in nature, while the other papers like Essay, General Studies Papers I, II, III, and IV, and Optional Papers I and II are considered for the final ranking.



• Stage III: UPSC Personality Test (IAS Interview)
  Candidates who clear the Mains stage of the IAS exam with the required cut-off marks qualify for the final stage of the IAS exam i.e., the Personality Test or Interview round with the UPSC Board Members. The candidates who qualify to the final stage will be sent an e-summon by the Commission for a face-to-face discussion round with the board members. In this round, the board assesses the personality traits of the candidates and questions will be asked on their hobbies, current affairs, general knowledge, situation questions, etc. to evaluate if they are fit for a career in the civil services or not. The UPSC personality test will be held only in the UPSC Bhavan in New Delhi.