Here is a famous saying which goes as “When solving problems, search for the roots instead of fixing the leaves” and the same can be said for the exam pattern for UPSC CSE.
Conducted on a national level, UPSC Civil Service Examination is known as one of the toughest exams in the country.
Despite the high difficulty level and competent nature, lakhs of aspirants apply for the exam every year.
That is so, because of the opportunity and the prestige that comes along for the candidates to be recruited in the various civil services.
Therefore, to prepare diligently for a competitive exam like UPSC CSE, the applicants must have a thorough knowledge about all the important details to understand the nature of the examination.
One of the effective ways to do so is to familiarize with the crucial aspect, i.e., UPSC exam pattern.
Knowing the exam pattern is the first step towards preparing for the exam as it will enhance your understanding of the exam structure.
Along with this, it also helps in identifying the important topics, the weightage given to the topics from the syllabus in the papers as well as the marking scheme.
With reference to that, I will be discussing in detail about UPSC exam pattern 2024, for which I will provide an elaborate and simple explanation of the exam pattern for Prelims, Mains and Interview.
Stage 1: UPSC CSE Prelims Exam Pattern
The Prelims Exam date is 26th May 2024. Visit the link to get free study material and preparation strategy for UPSC Prelims.
The UPSC exam pattern for the Preliminary stage consists of two papers, conducted on one day. Both the papers comprise objective type questions with multiple choice of answers. The prelims examination is a qualifying stage to filter candidates for the mains exam. The marks secured at this stage are not counted towards the final merit list, though candidates have to prepare well for this exam as cut-offs are unpredictable and depend on the average score every year. The details of UPSC prelims pattern is given below:
| Civils Exam Pattern – Prelims | |||||
| Paper | Type | No. of questions | UPSC Total Marks | Duration | Negative marks |
| General Studies I | Objective | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | Yes |
| General Studies II (CSAT) | Objective | 80 | 200 | 2 hours | Yes |
| Total UPSC marks for Prelims | 400 (where GS Paper II is qualifying in nature with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%) | ||||
Stage 2: UPSC CSE Mains Exam Pattern
The UPSC exam pattern for the Mains stage consists of 9 papers conducted over 5-7 days. Only those candidates who secure at least the declared cut off in General Studies I and 33% in General Studies II in Prelims will be allowed to appear for the Mains Examination.
As per the exam pattern of UPSC Mains, all of the papers consist of descriptive answer type questions. It is an exhaustive phase and the total marks in UPSC mains can directly affect your final scores. Thus, the UPSC exam marks for the mains phase are extremely valuable as it acts as a key factor in merit declaration. The details of UPSC syllabus with marks are given below:
| UPSC CSE Exam Pattern – Mains | |||
| Paper | Subject | Duration | IAS Total marks |
| Paper A | Compulsory Indian language | 3 hours | 300 |
| Paper B | English | 3 hours | 300 |
| Paper I | Essay | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper II | General Studies I | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper III | General Studies II | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper IV | General Studies III | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper V | General Studies IV | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper VI | Optional I | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper VII | Optional II | 3 hours | 250 |
All of the mains papers except for the language papers A and B are of a merit ranking nature. Paper A and B are of qualifying nature and candidates must score at least 25% in each for the marks from their Paper I – Paper VII to be given weightage.
Paper A is not compulsory for candidates from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim as well as candidates with hearing impairment, provided they can prove that they have been exempted from such 2nd or 3rd language courses by their concerned board or university. The Indian Language paper covers any of the languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
The subjects which are covered by the General Studies Papers in Mains Exam are:
| General Studies I | General Studies II | General Studies III | General Studies IV |
| Indian Heritage and Culture | Governance | Technology | Ethics |
| History and Geography of the World | Constitution | Economic Development | Integrity |
| Society | Polity | Bio-diversity | Aptitude |
| Social Justice | Environment | ||
| International relations | Security and Disaster Management |
The Optional subjects for Paper VI and VII of the mains examination have to be any one of the subjects from the following list:
| Agriculture | Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | Anthropology | Botany | Chemistry |
| Civil Engineering | Commerce and Accountancy | Economics | Electrical Engineering | Geography |
| Geology | History | Law | Management | Mathematics |
| Mechanical Engineering | Medical Science | Philosophy | Physics | Political Science and International Relations |
| Psychology | Public Administration | Sociology | Statistics | Zoology |
| The literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English. | ||||
All the papers except the Language papers A and B can be answered in English or any of the languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India. The optional papers can be answered in English even if none of the other papers has been answered by the candidate in English.
Stage 3: UPSC CSE Pattern for Interview
This is the final stage of the IAS Exam before the final results are declared. Officially it is called the Interview/Personality Test and counted as a part of the Mains Examination for merit ranking purposes. From a preparation standpoint, it is considered the third stage as preparation strategies for the written and interview stages are different. As per the IAS exam pattern, this consists of an interview by the UPSC board to assess the candidates’ suitability for a civil services career and associated responsibilities. The board consists of competent and unbiased observers who have a record of the candidates’ career. The board would judge the candidates mental and social traits by asking questions of general interest. Some of the qualities that the board looks for are mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, a balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.
| UPSC Interview Total Marks | 275 |
