UPSC Exam Pattern 2024 – Civil Services (IAS) Exam Structure

Get the details of UPSC Exam Pattern 2024 for Civil Services (IAS) Exam. The UPSC Civil Services Exam Pattern, Paper Structure and Syllabus 2024 have provided here. Union Public Service Commission conducts the Civil Services exam and already released UPSC Notification 2022. UPSC specified the Exam pattern of Civil Services along with the UPSC exam notification. Candidates who are interested in appearing for the Civil Services Exam(IAS/IPS) need to check the UPSC Civil Services exam pattern and syllabus for 2022 for a better understanding of the paper pattern and structure of this competitive examination.

UPSC EXAM PATTERN 2024 – CIVIL SERVICES (IAS)

The Civil Services Exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) every year and the exam is held in three stages and they are:

Stage I – Preliminary Examination
Stage II – Main Examination
Stage III – Personality Test/Interview Round

UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern

Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary Examination

UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern

Check UPSC Prelims Syllabus (Topics & Subjects Details)

SL. NO.NAME OF THE PAPERNATURE OF THE PAPERDURATION OF THE EXAMMARKS
1Paper – I: General Studies2 Hours200 Marks
2Paper-II: General Studies (CSAT)QUALIFYING NATURE2 Hours200 Marks
TOTAL200 Marks
  • The Prelims Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
  • Both the UPSC Prelims question papers will be of the objective type – MCQ (multiple choice questions).
  • The General Studies Paper 2 (CSAT) of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33% to qualify the next stage of the UPSC Exam (Civil Services Mains).
  • The UPSC question papers will be set both in Hindi and English medium.
  • Each paper will be of (2) two hours duration.
  • 20 MINUTES EXTRA FOR DISABLED PERSONS: Blind candidates and the candidates with Cerebral Palsy where dominant (writing) extremity and Loco-motor Disability is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function will; however, be allowed an extra time of twenty minutes per hour for each paper.
  • There is a ‘Negative Marking’ (penalty of marks) in the UPSC IAS prelims exam for each WRONG answer. The negative marking for incorrect answers will be 1/3rd (0.66) one-third of the allotted marks of that question.
  • It is mandatory for the UPSC candidates to appear in both the papers of the civil services prelims exam for the evaluation.
  • Preliminary exam is a type of entrance test for the UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam, So the marks scored in the preliminary exam are not counted for the candidate’s final score.

UPSC Mains Exam Pattern (Civil Services / IAS Mains)

The next stage (second stage) of the Civil Services Exam for IAS is called the Main Exam, which is also a written examination and comprises of (9) Nine papers. In these Nine papers first 2 papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and Paper B) will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking. The 9 papers are as following

Papers qualifying in nature

  • Paper A – Compulsory Indian Language
  • Paper B – English

Papers to be counted for merit (Final Marks)

  • Paper 1 – Essay
  • Paper 2 – General Studies  I
  • Paper 3 – General Studies II
  • Paper 4 – General Studies III
  • Paper 5 – General Studies IV
  • Paper 6 – Optional Paper I
  • Paper 7 – Optional Paper-II

Check UPSC Mains Syllabus (Topics & Subjects Details)

UPSC Exam pattern - CIvil Services Mains Syllabus

Sl. No.PaperName of the PaperNature of the PaperDuration of the UPSC ExamMarks
1Paper – ACompulsory Indian LanguageQUALIFYING NATURE
(marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking)
3 Hours300 Marks
2Paper – BEnglish3 Hrs300 Marks
3Paper IESSAYMERIT RANKING NATURE3 Hours250 Marks
4Paper-IIGENERAL STUDIES I3 Hrs.250 Marks
5Paper IIIGENERAL STUDIES II3 Hrs.250 Marks
6Paper – IVGENERAL STUDIES III3 Hrs.250 Marks
7Paper VGENERAL STUDIES IV3 Hours250 Marks
8Paper VIOPTIONAL PAPER I3 Hours250 Marks
9Paper VIIOPTIONAL PAPER II3 Hours250 Marks
 SUBTOTAL (Written Test) 1750 Marks
 PERSONALITY TEST
(INTERVIEW)
275 Marks
 GRAND TOTAL2025 Marks
  • The candidates can select the medium of writing the UPSC Civil Services IAS Mains Exam in Hindi or English.
  • The Indian Languages included in the civil services exam are as per languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
  • Candidates may choose any one of the optional subjects from amongst the list of subjects given below.
  • The papers on Indian Languages and English (Paper A and Paper B) will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
  • Evaluation of the papers, namely, ‘Essay’, ‘General Studies’ and Optional Subject of all the candidates would be done simultaneously along with evaluation of their qualifying papers on ‘Indian Languages’ and ‘English’ but the papers on ‘Essay’, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates will be taken cognizance of who attain such minimum standard as may be fixed by Commission at their discretion for the qualifying papers on ‘Indian Language’ and ‘English’.
  • The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim.
  • The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type. Each paper will be of three hours duration. The question papers (other than the literature of language papers) will be set in Hindi and English only.

PERSONALITY TEST – 275 MARKS

A candidate who qualified in UPSC Mains will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his career. The candidate will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the candidate’s personal suitability for a career in public service by a Board of unbiased observers. The Personality Test consists of a total of 275 marks.

Total Marks – (B) Main Examination – 1750 Marks + (C) Personality Test – 275 Marks = 2025 Marks. The final ranking of the candidates is on the basis of the marks obtained by them in the Main Examination and Personality Test/Interview Round.

Also Check :

Note: If you have any queries and confusion about the UPSC Civil Service Examination, UPSC Exam Pattern or its syllabus or any other point, please refer UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in) or you can ask us via comment box.

4 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *