UPSC CSE Exam Pattern 2023:

Union Public Service Commission, UPSC, Exam is one such exam that is known to be the toughest exam of all in India. It is also one of the toughest examinations in Asian continent. Every year thousand and lakhs of student from different background chose to prepare for this prestigious exam and of these, only few of them clear exam every year. Preparation for this prestigious exam will be a big challenge for students as it demands consistent effort to study religiously. As the syllabus and the pattern of examination is lengthy, one needs to have good guidance and smart strategy in order to crack this Exam

.In this article we shall be discussing about EXAM PATTERN of UPSC.

Before we discuss about Exam Pattern one need to know about “ABOUT UPSC”

UPSC Examination pattern is one such exam that needs an aspirant to be well aware before getting into full preparation. As every exam pattern is different from one another depending on the nature of service and kind of the post and conduct commission of the exam, UPSC exam pattern is totally different from the rest of competitive exams across India.

The exam of this conducted in three stages, i.e Preliminary, Mains and Interview/Personality Test. In each stage, the nature of exam is different. Each stage exam pattern is unique in its own kind and therefore, the way to approach for each stage must be different. To be aware of this one need to know details syllabus of UPSC( Will update leter). Once you get to know the syllabus details, you will automatically know the three stages of exam. Keeping in mind that you are aware of the “Syllabus of UPSC”, it’s time see the exam pattern of UPSC for each stage:

     Prelim Exam:  This is the first stage of UPSC CSE. It is commonly conducted in the month of May/June every year. The exam at this stage is to test how much a student has understanding on basic facts and whether the student is aware of the current event of national and international.

At this stage, of thousand applicants, majority of students usually fail. Only one third of total applicants are reserved for the mains exam. This is why students who can’t meet the required minimum cut-off set by the commission are made to disqualified for the mains exam. The exam is unique in such a way that the question tested here is based on facts and basic understanding of different subjects.

The Question are of MCQ(Multiple Choice Question) type and an option of four are given of which the students have to choose one option from the four alternatives. The commission also strictly stated that for any wrong option, negative mark of 0.5 negative marks be deducted. And for every right answer, two marks will be awarded.

The Preliminary exam of CSE is divided into two papers containing 200 marks each. They are Paper I and Paper II. Paper I is known as General Studies Paper I while Paper II is name as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT. Let us discuss the two papers of UPSC CSE Prelims in brief:

General Studies Paper I: This paper is very much challenging to many aspirants such that it covers syllabus of almost everything under the Sun which are relevant to Polity, administration, Economic, Science and Technology, Geography, History, Current events of both national and international importance, Environment issue, International submit and many more.

The paper is set in such a way that students are well prepared for the Mains and have the knowledge to of various subjects. Looking at the past question papers, it may be mentioned that UPSC doesn’t ask questions that are outside the prescribe syllabus. The questions are strictly based on conceptual and basic understanding of the subject.

There is total number of 100 Questions in this paper. Each Question is asked from different topics and student can’t predict where maximum portion of the subject may be asked. This paper is diverse and one needs to strictly base their studies both intensively and extensively. Each question carries two marks for every correct answer while 0.5 marks will be deducted on every wrong answer. This is why students need to be careful while answering this paper.

General Studies Paper II: As mentioned on the above passage, this paper is called CSAT. There have been lots of controversial on this paper over the past year when UPSC introduced CSAT in 2014.They felt that the paper is bias as students from Humanity background finds it discriminated since the questions includes mathematics which many from Science and Business students will be able to solve at ease. They also claim that to be a Civil Servant one doesn’t required mathematic skill and all that one needs to have is administration skills.

The question paper in CSAT may be a challenge to many aspirants particularly those whose background is weak in mathematics. The nature of this question is to test the student analytical ability and their nature of mental application.

There are 80 questions in this paper. Each question carries 2.5 marks for every correct answer. However, the commission will reward negative mark of 0.5 to every wrong answer. The nature of the question asked in this paper is of high quality type and students are tested about their logical, mental and analytical skills.

It may also be mentioned that UPSC has made CSAT a qualifying paper. All that one required is to score atleast 33% marks in order to let Paper I evaluated. Students who couldn’t score 33%, their papers will not be evaluated no matter how may have they attempted very well.

One shouldn’t forget that UPSC Prelims Paper II Questions are design upto to Class X level standard ONLY. From Math to English, the entire question asked in this paper is not beyond Class X Standard. One may find it difficult however, the question nature shouldn’t be scary and one need to only learn the basic application of mathematics to have better approach in this paper.

NB: In both Prelims Paper, the duration of exam is 2 Hours for normal students while 15 additional minutes are given to special students(PH students)

  Mains Exam: This exam is the real game changer. It is this stage that students are well aware of almost everything under the sun. The question papers are divided into four types such as Compulsory Paper, Essay Paper, General Studies and Optional Subject. Let us briefly discuss all the Mains paper in brief. Unlike Preliminary Exam which is objective type, this paper is a descriptive type paper. The exam is held mostly in the month of December.

Paper A : This paper is called Compulsory language paper. There is an exception to write in this paper for students belonging to North East. But for the rest of the region, students need to write this paper otherwise they may be disqualified.

The duration of this exam is 3 hours for 300 marks.

Paper B: This paper is called is English Paper. This paper is compulsory for every students including NE Indian. The duration of this paper is 3 hours for 300 marks.

Paper I: This is Essay Paper. Unlike the Paper A and Paper B, this is of 250 marks for 3 hour exam duration.

It may be mentioned that from Paper II to paper IV are known as General Studies Paper. There are four General Studies Paper i.e GS I, GS II, GS II and GS IV.

On the other hand, the Paper VI and VII is called Optional Paper. This paper is further divided into two; i.e Optional Paper I and Optional Paper II.

All the papers from I to VII are are description type question and each papers carries 250 marks each.

Below is the Table to better Understand the Mains Paper:

Paper	Subject	Duration	Total Marks
A	Indian Language	3 hr	300
B	Englsih	3hr	300
I	Essay	3hr	250
II	GS I	3hr	250
III	GS II	3hr	250
IV	GS II	3hr	250
V	GS IV	3hr	250
VI	Optional I	3hr	250
VII	Optional II	3hr	250

   Interview Or Personality Test: This Is the final stage of UPSC CSE. It is this stage that the Interview Board accesses the students their mental skills, critical thinking ability skills, risk management skills, leadership skills, intellectual skills etc…

The duration of the test may differ but commonly it used to be not less than 30 mins. The marks for this test are 275.

NB: Note that the entire marks of both Mains and Interview are of 2025 Marks.