what is Civil Services Examination (CSE)? why is it called IAS exam?

UPSC conducts Civil Service Exams for Central Government job vacancies while PSC in each state fills the State Government job vacancies. There are about 24 services which come under the Civil Services Exam conducted by UPSC every year. These services include IAS, IFS, IPS etc.

civil servants with honorable PM mr. Narendra Modi

Types of Civil Services in India :

(i) Indian Administrative Service.

(ii) Indian Foreign Service.

(iii) Indian Police Service.

(iv) Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’.

(v) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(vi) Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’.

(vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(viii) Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’.

(ix) Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration).

(x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’.

(xi) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(xii) Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’.

(xiii) Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(xiv) Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’.

(xv) Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’

(xvi) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’.

(xvii) Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group ‘A’.

(xviii) Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Gr. III).

(xix) Indian Corporate Law Service, Group “A”.

(xx) Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade).

(xxi) Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group ‘B’.

(xxii) Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group ‘B’.

(xxiii) Pondicherry Civil Service, Group ‘B’.

(xxiv) Pondicherry Police Service, Group ‘B’.

Though popularly known as ‘IAS exam’, the official name of the exam is UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE). There are many who consider this exam as the toughest exam in India (and even at the world-stage!). The exam is attempted by around 5 Lakh candidates each year. UPSC CSE is conducted in 3 phases: 1) Prelims and 2) Mains 3) Interview. The exam window extends over a year (from June month of a year to June month next year when the results are announced).

Civil Service Prelims Examination:

There are two papers in Civil Service Prelims Examination. The questions are objective in nature.

General Studies Paper 1 [which deals with subjects like History, Polity, Economics etc.]
General Studies Paper 2 [which deals with subjects like Mental Ability, English Comprehension etc. This paper is popularly known as CSAT – Civil Services Aptitude Test).

Civil Service Main Examination :

The mains stage is subjective in nature as the answers have to be written on paper. The papers in Civil Service Mains as per revised syllabus are as below.

UPSC Civil Services Main Examination as per revised syllabus consists of 9 papers. Marks of 7 out of these 9 papers will be counted for final ranking, while 2 papers will be of qualifying nature.

Mark-Counted Papers in UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam :

1 paper on the essay. (250 marks x 1)

4 papers on from General Studies ( which covers topics like History, Geography Economics, Polity, Technology, Ecology, Ethics etc). (250 marks x 4)

2 papers on one Optional subject – which can be from selected from 25 subjects and 22 languages. (250 marks x 2)

1 English Language Paper (Comprehension, Precis Writing etc).

1 Regional Language Paper (Comprehension, Precis Writing, Translation etc).

Qualifying Papers in UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam :

1 English Language Paper (Comprehension, Precis Writing etc).

1 Regional Language Paper (Comprehension, Precis Writing, Translation etc).

The Civil Service Main Exam marks are calculated out of 1750.

Civil Service Interview :

The interview is a face to face process which evaluates a candidate’s potential and commitment to society. The interview is out of 275 marks.

Final Rank list of
civil service examination

Civil Service's Final Rank :

Final ranks are calculated by adding Mains (Out of 1750) and Interview marks (Out of 275) and the rank list will be prepared based on marks scored out of 2025.