The Civil Services Examination (CSE), is a national competitive examination in India for recruitment into
various competitive services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS),
Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS) and 21 other services. It is colloquially referred
to as the UPSC/OPSC examination.
It is conducted in three phases: a preliminary examination consisting of
two objective-type papers, and a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, and
finally followed by a personality test (interview).
Preliminary Examinations are the qualifying stage for the UPSC Civil Service Mains Exam. UPSC Civil
Service Prelims exam follows Objective Type pattern and the answers must be marked in an OMR sheet. Prelims are the qualifying stage for the UPSC Civil Service Mains Exam. UPSC Prelims exam has 2 General
Studies papers: GS 1 and GS 2/CSAT (Civil Service Aptitude Test).
One third marks deducted for each
incorrect answer.
Mains Examination is the 2nd stage of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Exam. Only candidates who clears the Prelims exam are eligible to appear for the UPSC Civil Service Mains Exam. UPSC Civil Service Mains Exam has 9 papers, out of which only 7 are evaluated for ranking purpose and in
other 2 papers, candidates need to just get the qualifying marks.
Personality Test: The main aim of taking personality tests is to know the overall personality of the aspirant and
traits of the candidate like their confidence, honesty, intelligence, integrity, understanding ground realities,
and depth of understanding of various concepts.