PATTERN
(A) PRELIMINARY EXAM (Objective type)
This is the screening stage of the Examination; Marks are not counted in the merit list.
It comprises of 2 Objective type question papers.
0.33% negative marking for each wrong answers.
List of candidates to be qualified for Mains Exam will be based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in Paper-II (CSAT) and total qualifying marks of Paper-I (GS) of as may be determined by the UPSC.
Prelim is usually conducted in the month of June every year over one day.
(A) MAINS EXAM (Descriptive / Essay type)
This stage has 2 non-ranking but qualifying papers and 7 ranking type papers all of which will be of essay type.
The non-ranking (qualifying) paper on Indian Language will not be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the Qualifying Language papers, Paper-A & Paper-B in any of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India or in English.
Mains are usually conducted in the month of September/October every year and spans over 5 days.
Number of Attempts
A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years as on 1st August of the year in which he/she is appearing for the Preliminary Examination.