UPSC Civil Services Exam 2025: 

Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination is one of the most prestigious and challenging competitive exams in the India conducted by UPSC.  Which recruits candidates for various Central and All India Civil Service posts Indian in the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Foreign Service, and various other Group A and Group B services.

Eligibility Criteria

The UPSC , through Notification, lays down certain guidelines with respect to the eligibility criteria:

Nationality

For the IAS, IFS, and IPS, candidates must be Indian citizens.

For all other services, candidates must be one of the following:

• An Indian citizen
• A citizen of Nepal
• A citizen of Bhutan
• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before January 1, 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India
• A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India
• Candidates in categories (b), (c), (d), and (e) must have a certificate of eligibility issued by the Government of India. Candidates who need a certificate of eligibility may be admitted to the examination, but they will not be offered a position until they have received the necessary certificate from the Government of India. 

Civil Services Exam Age Limit

Candidates must be at least 21 years old and not have reached 32 years old on August 1, 2024. This means that candidates must have been born no earlier than August 2, 1992, and no later than August 1, 2003.

The upper age limit is relaxed for the following categories:

• Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST): 5 years
• Other Backward Classes (OBC): 3 years
• Defence Services Personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area: 3 years

Minimum Education Qualification for UPSC CSE Exam

Candidates must hold a graduate degree from any of the following:

• A university incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India
• An educational institution established by an Act of Parliament
• An institution declared to be deemed as a university under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956
• Candidates who have appeared at a qualifying examination but have not yet received their results, or who intend to appear at such an examination, are also eligible to apply. However, all candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission for the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to produce proof of passing the requisite qualifying examination along with their application for the Main Examination. Candidates who fail to do so will not be admitted to the Main Examination.
• In exceptional cases, the Commission may treat a candidate who does not have any of the foregoing qualifications as eligible, provided that the candidate has passed an examination conducted by any other institution the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies admission to the Civil Services Examination.
• Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognized by the Government as equivalent to professional and technical degrees are also eligible for admission to the Civil Services Examination.

UPSC Exam 2025 Important Dates

Below are important UPSC Exam dates:

Number of Attempts

The number of attempts for the UPSC Civil Services Examination varies depending on the candidate’s category: 

UPSC (CSE)Exam – Service Allocation

The allocation of services to candidates who qualify for the UPSC Civil Services Exam is done on the basis of their rank, preference, and the number of vacancies available in each service. The services allocated under the UPSC CSE are divided under three categories: All India Services, Group A Central Services and Group B Central Services.

Pattern of UPSC Civil Services Exam

The Civil Services Examination comprises two successive stages: 

(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Civil Services (Main) Examination; and  

(II) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/Personality Test) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts. 

UPSC CSE Syllabus

Preliminary Exam Syllabus

General Studies Paper-I Syllabus:

It has 100 questions broadly covering the following topics, carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.

• Current events of National & International importance.
• History of India & Indian National Movement.
• Indian & World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India & the World.
• Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic & Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Biodiversity & climate change – that do not require subject specialisation.
• General Science.

General Studies Paper-II ( CSAT) Syllabus:

General Studies Paper-II comprises 80 questions from the following topics carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.

• Comprehension.
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills.
• Logical reasoning & analytical ability.
• Decision making & problem solving.
• General mental ability.
• Basic numeracy (numbers & their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level) 

UPSC Mains Exam Pattern and Syllabus