Civil Services Examination (CSE)

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a countrywide competitive exam in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit candidates for different civil services post of the Government of India that includes the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), among others.

The examination is conducted in three stages and they are:

1. i. Preliminary examination that consists of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper-I and CSAT Paper-II)
2. ii. Mains examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (descriptive) type
3. iii. Finally, the personality test or interview round

The entire process of the civil services examination from the notification of the preliminary examination to the declaration of the final results takes place roughly within a year. The candidates who get selected are recruited and trained for various services by the Central Government and then allotted to different State Cadres.

Eligibility

Eligibility for the civil services examination is as follows:

Nationality

A candidate must be a citizen of India for the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service.

A candidate must be one of the following to get into the Indian Revenue Service:

1. • A citizen of India
2. • A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam with an intention of permanently settling in India

A candidate must be one of the following to get into other services:

1. • A citizen of India
2. • A citizen of Nepal or a subject of Bhutan
3. • A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam with an intention of permanently settling in India

Education

Candidates should have at least one of the following educational qualifications:

1. • A degree from a Central, State or Deemed university
2. • A degree attained through correspondence or distance education
3. • A degree from an open university
4. • A qualification recognized by the Government of India as being equivalent to one of the above

Candidates who meet the below criteria are also eligible to take the exams, however one should submit the proof of eligibility from a proficient authority of their university/institution during the UPSC Mains Examination, failing which the candidate may not be allowed to take the exam.

1. • Candidates who have appeared in an examination and waiting for the results and after success in the exam, if they meet one of the above educational criteria
2. • Candidates who have passed the final exam of the MBBS degree but have not yet completed an internship
3. • Candidates who have passed the final exam of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), ICSI and ICWAI
4. • A degree from a private university
5. • A degree from any foreign university recognized by the Association of Indian Universities

Age

A candidate should have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years as on August 1 of the year of the examination. So, for the 2018 UPSC CSE, a candidate must have attained at least 21 years and not yet attained 32 years of age as on 1 August 2018. There are relaxations in the age criterion for the reserved category. Read details of the UPSC age limit criterion.

Numbers of attempts

The number of times a candidate may attempt the exam is limited and again it is based on the category and is as follows:

1. • General Category candidates = 6
2. • OBC category candidates = 7
3. • SC/ST candidates = unlimited attempts till 37 years of age

If a candidate appears for one of the papers in the preliminary examination then it is considered as an attempt, which also includes ineligibility or withdrawal of the application. But, if a candidate applies to take the exam but fails to attend the exam then it is not considered as an attempt.