UPSC Civil Services Exam Stages and Syllabus Overview

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Civil Services Examination in three stages: the Preliminary screening test, the Main descriptive exam, and the Personality Test interview. Preliminary marks are only used to filter candidates and are not counted toward the final merit list, which is compiled from the Main (1,750 marks) and Interview (275 marks) scores, totalling 2,025 marks.

The UPSC syllabus for the Prelims includes General Studies covering national and international current events, Indian history, geography, polity, economy, environment, and science, along with the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) that tests comprehension, logical reasoning, decision‑making and basic numeracy. The Main exam comprises qualifying language papers, two essay papers, and four General Studies papers plus two optional subject papers, each evaluated on a descriptive basis.