Civil Services Examination (India)

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. It is conducted in three phases – a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (general studies and aptitude test), a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, and a personality test (interview).

The Civil Services Examination is based on the British Raj–era Imperial Civil Service tests, as well as the civil service tests conducted by old Indian empires such as in the Mauryan Empire and Mughal Empire. The Civil Services Examination is considered to be one of the most difficult and competitive examinations in India. On average, 900,000 to 1,000,000 candidates apply every year and the number of candidates appearing to sit the preliminary examination is approximately 450,000. The examination consists of the following three phases:

The training program for the selected candidates usually commences the September.

Eligibility for the examination is as follows:

All candidates must have as a minimum one of the following educational qualifications:

The following candidates are also eligible, but must submit proof of their eligibility from a competent authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, failing which they will not be allowed to attend the exam.

The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on August 1 of the year of examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations.

The number of times a candidate may attempt the exam is limited as follows:

Appearing to attempt one of the papers in the preliminary examination is counted as an attempt, including disqualification/ cancellation of candidature. However, applying to sit the exam but failing to attend is not counted as an attempt.

Generally the number of vacancies varies every year. The number of candidates that pass the preliminary examination is generally 11 or 13 times the number of vacancies, and the number of candidates selected for the final interview is twice the number of vacancies. As per existing policies, reservation for SC/ST/OBC is applied to each level of the selection process.

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