UPSC Civil Services Examination comprises two successive stages:
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Civil Services (Main) Examination; and
(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/Personality Test) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts
Preliminary examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.
The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers (General Studies and CSAT) of 200 marks each.
i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and each will be of two hours duration.
(ii) The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
(iii) The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.
Paper I ‐ (200 marks) - GS
Current events of national and international importance.
History of India and Indian National Movement.
Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization. General Science.
Paper II‐(200 marks) - CSAT It will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
Comprehension; Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
Logical reasoning and analytical ability;
Decision making and problem solving;
General mental ability;
Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. — Class X level);