What is the full form of UPSC? | What is UPSC full form? | What does UPSC stand for? | What is the full form UPSC? | What is the meaning of UPSC? | UPSC Full Form | What is meaning of UPSC?
UPSC stands for Union Public Service Commission.
What is UPSC? | History of UPSC
UPSC, From the historical writings and official documents of the East India Company(EIC), we came to know that Civil Servants for the EIC were nominated by the Directors of the Company and thereafter trained at Haileybury College in London and then sent to India.
Initially, the examinations for the Indian Civil Service were conducted only in London and the maximum age was 23 years and the minimum age was 18 years. In 1864, the first Indian, Shri Satyendranath Tagore brother of Shri Rabindranath Tagore succeeded and became the first ICS officer of Indian origin.
From 1922 onwards the Indian Civil Service Examination began to be held in India also, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi with the setting up of the Federal PSC(Public Service Commission).Entry into Imperial Police opened to Indians only after 1920 and the following year examinations for the service were conducted both in England and India. Till 1931, Indians were appointed against 20% of the total posts of Superintendents of Police. However, more Indians were appointed to the Indian Police from the year 1939 onwards.
Regarding Forest Service, British Indian Government started the Imperial Forest Department in 1864. After independence, the Indian Forest Service was created in 1966 under the All India Service Act 1951. With the passing of the Indian Act 1919, the Imperial Services headed by the Secretary of State for India was split into two-All India Services and Central Services.
UPSC is a Constitutional Body under Article 315-323 Part XIV Chapter II of the Constitution of India to discharge their duties, functions, and obligations assigned under Article 320. The UPSC conducts various examinations in accordance with the Rules of examination as notified by the Government of India in a just, fair, and impartial manner for making a merit-based selection and recommendation of candidates for various Group A and Group B Services of the Govt. of India.
When was UPSC established? | When UPSC established?
The origin of the PSC in India was found in the Indian Constitutional Reforms of 5th March 1919 which referred to the need for setting up some permanent office charged with the regulation of service matters. It was on October 1, 1926, that the PSC was set up in India for the first time, consisting of four members in addition to the Chairman. Sir Ross Barker, a member of the Home Civil Service of the United Kingdom was the first Chairman of the Commission.
The functions of the PSC were regulated by the PSC (Functions) Rules, 1926 framed under sub-section (2) of Section 96(C) of the Government of India Act, 1919. Further, the Government of India Act, 1935 envisaged a PSC for the Federation and a Provincial PSC for each Province or group of Provinces. Therefore, on 1st April 1937, the PSC became the Federal PSC.
With the inauguration of the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950, the FPSC came to be known as the UPSC or Union Public Service Commission, and the Chairman and Members of the FPSC became Chairman and Members of the UPSC by Clause (1) of Article 378 of the Constitution. The Union Public Service Commission has been established under Article 315 of the Constitution of India.
Who is the chairman of UPSC? | How many members in UPSC? | What does the UPSC? | Who appoints the chairman of UPSC?
The current chairman of UPSC is Dr. Manoj Soni (till 27/06/2023), The Chairman and other members of a Public Service Commission shall be appointed by the President in UPSC and by the Governor of the concerned state in State PSC, Provided that as nearly as may be one-half of the members of every PSC shall be persons who at the dates of their respective appointments have held office for at least 10 years either under the Government of India or under the Government of a State.
If the office of the Chairman of the Commission becomes vacant then his duties will be performed by such other members of the Commission as the President(in UPSC) and the Governor of the State(in SPSC) may appoint for the purpose. A member of a PSC shall hold office for a term of 6 years or until he attains the age of 65 years(for UPSC) or the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier. A person who holds office as a member of a PSC shall be ineligible for reappointment to that office.
The Commission consists of a Chairman and ten Members.
The terms and conditions of service of the Chairman and Members of the Commission are governed by the Union Public Service Commission (Members) Regulations, 1969. The Commission is serviced by a Secretariat headed by a Secretary with two Additional Secretaries, several Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, and other supporting staff.
The Union Public Service Commission has been entrusted with the following duties and roles under the Constitution:
- Recruitment to services & posts under the Union through the conduct of competitive examinations.
- Recruitment to services & posts under the Central Government by Selection through Interviews.
- Advising on the suitability of officers for appointment on promotion as well as transfer-on-deputation.
- Advising the Government on all matters relating to methods of Recruitment to various services and posts.
- Disciplinary cases relating to different civil services.
- Miscellaneous matters relating to grant of extra ordinary pensions, reimbursement of legal expenses, etc.
The major role played by the Commission is to select persons to man the various Central Civil Services and Posts and the Services common to the Union and States (viz. All-India Services).
What is UPSC exam? | What is UPSC CSE? | What is UPSC CSE exam? | What is CSE in UPSC? | Who conduct UPSC exam?
UPSC Examination Notices encapsulate the Rules of Examinations notified by the Government. Examination Notices of all the 13 Structured Examinations are uploaded on the Commission’s website around 3 months before the date of Examination.
Examination Notices (indicative) are also published in the Employment News/Rozgar Samachar.
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) comprises two successive stages: the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (CSP) and the Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview).
UPSC conducts Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and other Central Services and posts by the Rules published by the Government (Department of Personnel & Training) in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.
This Examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates, who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination, are not counted for determining their final order of merit. Only those candidates, who are reported by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year, will be eligible to appear at the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.
UPSC’s Annual Programme (Calendar) of Examinations/RTs (Recruitment Tests) publishes all the Structured Examinations / RTs conducted by it at least 6 months in advance (i.e. in June) for the Examinations / RTs to be conducted during the next calendar year. The Programme is uploaded on the UPSC’s website and also published in the leading newspapers of the country. The date of issue of Examination Notice for each Examination is also mentioned in this Annual Programme.
What is LBSNAA in UPSC?
The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), at Mussoorie, is a premier training institution for civil services in India. It is headed by a Director (an officer of the level of Secretary to the Government of India). It is an attached office of the Department of Personnel & Training, Government of India.
It conducts a common Foundation Course for entrants to the All India Services; Indian Foreign Service; Group ‘A’ services of the Union and the Royal Bhutan Service followed by professional training for the regular recruits of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and members of the Royal Bhutan Service.
The Academy also conducts in-service and Mid-Career Training Programmes (MCTPs) for members of the IAS and an Induction Training Programme for officers promoted to the IAS from State Civil Services. In addition, workshops and seminars on policy and governance-related issues are held from time to time.
The Rules/ Regulations that pertain to the work of the Academy are as follows:
- The IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954
The IAS (Probation) Rules specify the period of probation of a person recruited into the IAS. A person is confirmed on successful completion of probation. While under training at the Academy, Officer Trainees (OTs) are under the disciplinary control of the Director & the salaries/advances paid during the training are covered under these Rules.
The Rules list the circumstances under which an Officer Trainee may be discharged from Service or reverted to the permanent post on which he holds a lien, or would hold a lien, had s/he not been suspended prior to her/his appointment to the Service, if-
- If she/he fails the re-examination under rule 9.
- If the Central Government is satisfied that the probationer was ineligible for recruitment to the Service or is unsuitable for being a member of the Service.
- In the opinion of the Central Government s/he has wilful neglected his probationary studies or duties.
- Found lacking in qualities of mind and character needed for the Service; or
- Fails to comply with any of the provisions of these Rules.
Except in a case falling under clause (a) above, the Central Government shall hold a summary enquiry before passing an order under these rules.
2. The IAS Probationer’s Final Examination Regulations, 1955
These Regulations deal with the examinations to be conducted in the Academy during the Induction training. It has been laid down that the Director has the authority to decide the dates, timing, and venue of the exams.
Provisions of the Constitution of India concerning the Civil Services:
Article 311 of the Constitution of India deals with the Civil Services and provides for dismissal, removal, or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State.
The Article provides as under:
- No person who is a member of a civil service of the Union or an all-India service or a civil service of a State or holds a civil post under the Union or a State shall be dismissed or removed by an authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed.
- No such person as aforesaid shall be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges Provided that where it is proposed after such inquiry, to impose upon him any such penalty, such penalty may be imposed based on the evidence adduced during such inquiry and it shall not be necessary to give such person any opportunity of making representation on the penalty proposed: Provided further that this clause shall not apply.
- Where a person is dismissed or removed or reduced in rank on the ground of conduct which has led to his conviction on a criminal charge; or
- Where the authority empowered to dismiss or remove a person or to reduce him in rank is satisfied that for some reason, to be recorded by that authority in writing, it is not reasonably practicable to hold such inquiry.
- Where the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State, it is not expedient to hold such inquiry
- If, in respect of any such person as aforesaid, a question arises whether it is reasonably practicable to hold such inquiry as is referred to in clause (2), the decision of the authority to dismiss or remove such person or to reduce him in rank shall be final.
Training Needs Assessment: Training programs at the Academy are designed and developed on basis of the training needs and assessments done from time to time. Various Study Groups and Committees have been constituted from time to time to review, evaluate and recommend measures for improvement of the training curricula – from entry-level to the highest level of seniority.
How can I apply for UPSC exam? | How to apply for UPSC exam?
Candidates can apply online for the UPSC Examinations by accessing the online portal hosted on the UPSC’s website (https://upsconline.nic.in). The Time for applying online is clearly mentioned in the Examination Notice.
A candidate gets about 3 weeks to apply online and can fill up the online application by following the instructions provided on the website Page 2 of 19 for filling up the online application.
How many post in UPSC? | What are the posts in UPSC?
Although, the number of vacancies opened through UPSC-CSE every year is tentative. It varies as per the requirement for the fresh IAS officers created by the Government in various departments. The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) contains the following posts under various departments:
UPSC conducts various exams given below:
| S. No. | Name of Examinations |
| 1 | India Engineering Services |
| 2 | Combined Geo-Scientist |
| 3 | CBI (DSP) LDCE |
| 4 | CISF AC(EXE) LDCE |
| 5 | N.D.A. & N.A. Examination |
| 6 | C.D.S. Examination |
| 7 | Civil Services Examination |
| 8 | Indian Forest Service through CSE Examination |
| 9 | I.E.S./I.S.S. Examination |
| 10 | Combined Medical Services Examination |
| 11 | Central Armed Police Forces (ACs) Examination |
| 12 | S.O./Steno (GD-B/GD-I) LDCE |
UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) contains following posts:
- Indian Administrative Service
- Indian Foreign Service
- Indian Police Service
- Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group ‘A’
- Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Railway Protection Force Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) Group ‘A’
- Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’
- Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III)
- Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)
- Delhi, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS), Group ‘B’
- Delhi, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), Group ‘B’
- Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS), Group ‘B’
How many attempts for UPSC exam? | How many attempts in UPSC? | How many UPSC attempts?
Every candidate appearing at the examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six (6) attempts at the CSE. However, relaxation in the number of attempts will be available to the SC/ST/OBC and PwBD category candidates who are otherwise eligible. The number of attempts available to such candidates as per relaxation is as under:
- For SC/ST: unlimited attempts
- For OBC: 9 attempts
- For PwBD: 9 attempts for GL/EWS/OBS and unlimited attempts for SC/ST
NOTE: For more information, kindly refer to pages number 12,13 from the PDF downloaded through the above link.
What is UPSC CDS? | UPSC-CDS
Combined Defence Services Examination is conducted by the Union Public Service for admission to the under-mentioned courses:—
- Indian Military Academy, Dehradun
- Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala
- Air Force Academy, Hyderabad
- Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai
What is the reserve list in UPSC? | Reservation Quota in UPSC
Several reserved seats depend upon the number of vacancies provided by the UPSC from time to time through its notification. For further information kindly refer to pages number 18-20 from the PDF downloaded from the above link.
Is UPSC tough to crack? | Is UPSC exam tough to crack? | How difficult is UPSC? | Is UPSC tough?
UPSC Civil Services Exam(CSE) is considered one of the top 10 toughest exams on Earth for the recruitment of IAS, IPS, IFS, etc. The list of the top 10 toughest exams in the world is given below:
- UPSC Civil Services Exam (UPSC CSE): INDIA
- IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE): INDIA
- Graduate Aptitude Test In Engineering (GATE): INDIA
- Gaokao: CHINA
- Master Sommelier Diploma Exam: UK
- All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam: UK
- Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT): UK
- Mensa IQ Test
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA): US
- Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE): Cisco Systems Company
If UPSC CSE is impossible to crack then, how aspirants are able to crack the exam every year and fill all the vacancies notified by the commission. A person who wishes to crack the UPSC Exam can’t do the same only by his/her wish, as it takes a lot of time in understanding and memorizes the whole syllabus word-by-word, and more importantly, it needs well-disciplined hard work.
Aspirants must understand that a smart preparation strategy is the call of the hour. One should use their leisure time on social media to watch interviews of those who cracked the exam, mistakes in their strategy, lack of motivation, extra socialization, and online tests provided for free by many coaching institutes, which can help them in preparation and motivation, unless the aspirant him/herself may not be caught in watching and spending time on social media only.
About 12-14 lakhs candidates fill the UPSC CSE application form every year, out of which half or more appear for the Preliminary exam i.e. only about 6-7 lakhs, the candidates who took the exam seriously are only 1% of the total, i.e. only 1-1.2 lakh serious aspirants, among the serious candidates 99% of them are preparing for the exam from the last 3-5 years.
Out of which less than 15% of aspirants succeed for the mains exam i.e, 12000-15000 and less than 7-9% of them qualify the interview process according to the total vacancies 700-1000 (unspecified). From the data, one can easily find that his/her competition is from 12000-15000 very serious aspirants in the Preliminary exam only.
UPSC exam is considered to be tough because of its wide syllabus and serious understanding of the current affairs topics. The preliminary exam has a very wide syllabus but deep understanding is not much required whereas the Mains exam needs a deep understanding of the topics and your answer writing speed should be fast with readable handwriting, diagram, and no spelling mistakes.
Common reasons due to which UPSC exam seems complicated:
- Lack of self-believe, believing only in coaching institutes and other’s notes in the market
- Lack of self-discipline, self-motivation, time management
- No proper understanding and memorization of the syllabus
- No proper daily, weekly, or monthly strategy
- No proper reading of NCERTs books, just reading for the sake of reading without understanding
- Making notes by reading a book only once
- Making notes but not memorizing them daily
- No answer writing practice
- Focus on only the main exam, neglecting prelims preparation
- Focus on only Prelims exam, neglecting mains preparation
- No tests, whether online, offline, or self-made tests
- Lack of sleep, which decreases memorizing and focusing power
- Keep busy in motivating yourself and day-dreaming without hard work
- No proper reason for cracking the exam, just copying others or wanting to take revenge after selection
- Busy in gossip during group study, with non-serious candidates
- No free time for yourself to keep your brain calm
How to crack UPSC? | How to start preparing for UPSC? | How to start UPSC preparation from zero level at home? | How can I prepare for UPSC? | Can I crack UPSC without coaching? | How to prepare UPSC without coaching? | Interview of UPSC
Anyone can crack the UPSC exam even without coaching but the candidate should have the guts to face and solve the problems during preparation by him/herself. Keep in mind that mock tests are very useful for both preliminary and main examinations, so the candidate(if possible) must join the test series of coaching institutes whether online test series or offline whichever is comfortable and economically viable for the candidate.
Probably all aspirants have the fear that they will not be able to crack the UPSC exam, even without taking even a single step forward and those who lack the courage to face this fear which is created or induced by society, friends, colleagues, and largely by yourself, will never make their mind to step forward.
First, believe in yourself and have a small circle of supportive friends or brother-sister, etc., and give yourself a strong reason why you want to reach that goal. Have a daily routine that makes you healthy and fit, like yoga, meditation, and exercise, be sure to not do things that will make you sleepy, like heavy exercise or running, etc.
After that, you must go through the UPSC CSE full syllabus thoroughly and try to solve at least 3-4 previous years’ preliminary exam question papers and just read the CSE Mains question paper, which will provide some understanding about the pattern of the exam. You must opt for the optional subject seriously because it helps very much in determining the rank in UPSC, so don’t choose a subject that makes you feel bored.
Don’t be so fast in choosing the same subject as the optional one from which you have done graduation. You can do a survey by yourself of about 3-4 optional subjects after reading their syllabus and some books (if available), then after choosing the most comfortable one. Reading and memorizing the syllabus is a must.
You must have to read and understand the relevant NCERT books daily with a target of reading them about 3-4 times in 3-4 months and make your strategy or daily schedule of reading the newspaper and NCERT books with a monthly schedule of reading the two magazines (YOJANA/KURUKSHETRA) and make notes from them.
Select only one newspaper (The Hindu, The Indian Express) to read daily whichever is comfortable for you, and don’t read the outdated newspaper to cover the news as it will only waste your time because a piece of single news is published several times within a year. Remember to keep the syllabus handy at starting of preparation, this will let you know which news and editorials are relevant for UPSC exam preparation. With a dedicated and disciplined strategy of reading the newspaper for 1-1.5 months, you will be able to recognize the relevant topics for UPSC without the need for the syllabus in hand.
NOTE: One must read the newspaper early in the morning so that your daily plan of reading/understanding NCERTs should not be disturbed.
During the initial period (1-1.5 months) of preparation, after reading the newspaper, rest your mind for a while and after that according to your daily schedule, study any of the two NCERT books for 1 hour each, whichever books you want to start with. Be sure, to have the syllabus handy at starting.
Keep this hardworking pace for about 3-4 months and give the last reading of NCERTs books and make notes from them, so that you must not be forced to open the book again. Once the note-making of NCERTs will be done, you must develop the habit of revising the NCERTs & Magazines notes daily as per your plan. These 3-4 months will develop the quality of sitting at a place for hours and fast reading and understanding of the topics, articles, editorials, etc., within you. Try to solve at least 5 previous years’ CSAT question papers weekly on Sundays or as per your plan.
These qualities will help you further in studying the reference bulky books on several subjects which will take about another 3-4 months to fully cover the topics and after that, you should start working on your optional subject. Again, go through the syllabus of the optional subject thoroughly and add this to your daily schedule. Never forget to make notes of your optional subject as well after 2-3 times reading and understanding. Also, give about 1 hour daily exclusively to CSAT preparation in these months.
Aspirants should keep in mind that they must start their preparation at least 18 months earlier for the upcoming UPSC CSE Prelims exam to be held next year. Usually, the preliminary exam is held in the last week of May or the first week of June every year, so the aspirant should start preparing for the exam in January to be held next year in May/June.
After these steps, approximately 8-9 months will get over with all the general studies, NCERTs, and reference books get covered by you. Regarding the Optional subject, it’ll take more time to cover but don’t panic, as it would require generally 10 months to cover the whole syllabus of optional, it means that it’ll take about 6 more months after the above-said step of 3-4 months.
In total, your complete syllabus for UPSC with the optional subject will be covered in about 14-15 months. The rest 3-4 months left out of the said 18 months duration would be exclusively used by the aspirants for UPSC CSE Preliminary exam.
The aspirants should solve mock prelims question papers in 2 hours, provided by many of the coaching institutes or freely available on the internet, or join any online/offline test series. Don’t take the help of the internet during solving the paper otherwise, it will become a habit, be honest with yourself and just solve it in 2 hours and after that, check both the correct and incorrect answers thoroughly, it’ll take about 3-4 hours, in total 6 hours.
So, mock paper solving must be weekly (on Sundays or as per your schedule) after covering the whole syllabus but during the last 3 months of preparation, one must solve mock tests as more as possible, this will help in developing the speed of solving and understanding the questions and give more time for revision of question paper within the specified 2 hours duration.
After covering the whole syllabus of GS (about 8-9 months), the aspirants must start answer writing and essay writing practice of both GS and the optional subject as well, either weekly or as per their daily plan. Go for the language paper of the UPSC CSE mains exam as well weekly.
Here, one must follow that notes-making from newspapers and magazines would remain to be continued during the preparation. The Notes-making strategy should be like that, every note related to a specific topic should be categorized accordingly. For each topic, the aspirant should make notes and club them together under each topic provided in the UPSC syllabus. This will make it easy for the aspirants to search and read any topics rapidly at any time.
The whole discussion above, if practiced honestly and routinely, one can easily crack the UPSC CSE preliminary exam. If failed, don’t panic, as mostly all the selected candidates who cracked the whole UPSC CSE exam not succeeded in their first attempt, rather most of them got success after 3-4 attempts, one big thing that a failed aspirant should learn from the successful candidates is to continue the journey honestly without wasting time in other societal issues.
However, If the aspirant cracked the preliminary exam, then he/she must continue the preparation for answer writing, essay writing, and daily revision of topics in addition to newspapers and magazines. One can also join the online/offline mains test series which helps them in writing the answer more beautifully and speedily with no spelling mistakes. The answer should not be only in paragraph format as it seems boring for the examiner who checks the answer sheets of the aspirants.
However, it came into notice that the aspirants who point-wise answered the questions with diagrams and flow charts got more marks and cracked the UPSC CSE mains exam more easily. Remember to keep the handwriting neat & clean with no spelling mistakes. Follow the above recommendations in writing the answers to the questions in the optional subject as well.
If all goes well then the aspirant will crack the UPSC CSE mains exam as well, if not in the first attempt. After the main exams get over, take a pause for about 10 days and again start the journey, as no one knows whether she/he cracks the exam or not. Continue the daily routine of current affairs, newspaper, and revision of the topics.
If failed, don’t feel sad, just keep moving. If passed, then also don’t discontinue your daily schedule, but just add the new course of DAF to your schedule regarding the interview. Take the help of your mentors and other serious candidates who passed the main exam, to prepare for the DAF. On the day of your already scheduled interview, don’t forget to read the newspaper of that day.
During the interview, don’t do any unusual acting or way of talking in front of the interview panel. At the time of taking permission to come in, be sure that the suit you wear is buttoned or closed. After the permission is granted by them, you should open the buttons of the suit during walking (not after sitting or standing in front of the panel) to your seat, so that you must be comfortable during sitting, this is the formal manner & etiquette of entering and sitting.
During the interview just stay calm, and neutral, with no shaking legs, straight back, with palms on your laps, and be natural as who you are, and have a little natural smile on your face during answering them. Don’t stare at the walls or anything on the table in front of the panel during the answer. Make respectful and disciplined eye contact during answering their questions.
If you don’t know the answer to anything, just say “sorry mam/sir, I will see it today” or either they give you the answer then you must listen carefully to them, but don’t ask them to answer by yourself, as you are the one whose interview is going on, not them. Just give the interview without tension, and again start the preparation journey. If failed then no issue, just go on preparing but if passed, then mainly 3 conditions will occur:
- Cracked the UPSC CSE but with a lower rank with attempts left: one must try to improve the rank next year, and one must also go after State PSCs Exams
- Cracked the UPSC CSE again with lower rank and no attempts left: one must compromise or else go for State PSCs exams or can do both simultaneously
- Cracked The UPSC CSE with top rank and got the dream service: Welcome to the All India Services
What is CSAT in UPSC? | What is CSAT UPSC? | About CSAT
Civil Services Aptitude Test/CSAT is paper-2nd of the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination. The paper is qualifying in nature and only 33% marks are required to qualify this paper but the paper is mandatory. It is of 200 marks with 2 hours duration For every incorrect answer, the candidate is penalized with 1/3rd of the total marks allotted to the question, i.e. 0.83 marks will be cut. The questions will be of multiple-choice, objective type.
It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of the Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.
This exam contains questions related to the following topics viz.-
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision-making and problem solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy which contains: numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc. of 10th standard level
- Data interpretation which contains: charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. of 10th standard level
- English Language Comprehension skills of 10th standard level
How to prepare for CSAT UPSC?
Many aspirants do not prepare for the CSAT paper and give only a month or less for its preparation, and get fail in the preliminary exam even if their marks in paper-1 are sufficient/above the cut-off marks to pass. Candidates failing in the CSAT paper are increasing because the UPSC is making the CSAT paper typical year on year since 2013.
So, the aspirants who want to clear the prelims exam must prepare for the CSAT as well thoroughly, with a dedicated day weekly towards it preparation from the beginning of preparation.
Firstly, try to solve at least 5 previous years’ CSAT question papers and afterward start the preparation (according to the syllabus) weekly on Sundays or as per your plan for up to 3-4 months in the starting of your preparation and after that, give up to 1-hour daily till 4-5 months, exclusively to CSAT preparation.
During the last 3 months before the preliminary exam is going to be held, the candidate must solve mock tests of both paper-1 and 2, as more as possible, this will help in developing the speed of solving and understanding the questions and give more time for revision of the question paper within the specified 2 hours duration.
How many candidates are selected in UPSC every year?
The number of selected candidates depends upon the number of vacancies created by the commission. The number of vacancies changes every year, so there is no specific minimum or maximum limit of vacancies, but one can infer that the number must be within 700-1100.
Can I crack UPSC without coaching? | How to prepare UPSC without coaching?
Refer Here
Which online coaching is best for UPSC?
There are several coaching institutes that are now providing both classroom/offline and online classes as well, for the preparation of UPSC CSE. Names of some of these coachings are given below:
- Vajiram and Ravi Institute for IAS
- Editorials in Hindi
- Vision IAS Institute
- Next IAS Institute
- Drishti IAS Institute
- Clear IAS
- Shankar IAS Academy
- Vajirao Institute
- Unacademy
- StudyIQ
- Byjus online classes for UPSC
Which coaching is best for UPSC?
The top-most and renowned coaching institutes for UPSC are:
- Vajiram and Ravi Institute for IAS
- Vision IAS Institute
- Next IAS Institute
- Drishti IAS Institute
What all subjects are there in UPSC? | How many optional subjects for UPSC? | How many subjects to study for UPSC? | What are the optional subjects in UPSC exam?
Though, there are several subjects whose knowledge is required to crack the UPSC CSE. The candidate is required to have command over the English language as well as one of the following recognized regional Indian languages:
- Assamese
- Bengali
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Kannada
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Malayalam
- Manipuri
- Marathi
- Nepali
- Odia
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Sindhi
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Urdu
- Bodo
- Dogri
- Maithili
- Santhali
Other subjects to study for UPSC CSE preparation are given below:
- Indian Heritage and Culture
- History and Geography of the World and Society
- Governance
- Constitution
- Polity
- Social Justice
- International relations
- Technology
- Economic Development
- Bio-diversity
- Environment
- Security and Disaster Management
- Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude
As there are a total of 26 optional subjects provided in which the literature subject contains many languages from which a candidate can opt for one of them. The List of optional subjects for the Main Examination is given below:
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science and International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
- Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.
Which newspaper is best for UPSC? | How to read newspaper for UPSC? | What to read in newspaper for UPSC? | Reading Newspaper for UPSC
The best newspapers for the UPSC CSE preparation are:
- The Hindu: English newspaper
- The Indian Express: English newspaper
- Dainik Jagaran: Hindi newspaper
- Dainik Bhaskar: Hindi newspaper
At the start of the UPSC exam preparation, the candidate must try to memorize the syllabus or just keep it open aside during the newspaper reading to recognize the relevant articles according to the syllabus. The recognition of relevant articles without the syllabus will take about a month or more but afterward, the candidate will be able to do the same without a syllabus.
For example, the candidate should remember to read those articles which have the following topics, issues, etc.,
- An article related to Indian government institutions like Parliament, RBI, CBI, SEBI, Supreme Court, High Courts, Tribunals, etc.
- An article having any issues relating to any Act of parliament
- Articles that contain any schemes of either central or state government(if important)
- Articles related to the Constitution of India, social issues, governance, polity, etc.
- Articles related to science & technology, medicines, space, geology, etc.
- Articles related to ancient findings & structures, geography-related articles like rivers, dams, NDRF, climate change, COP summits, earth, forests, population, etc.
- Articles related to economic issues and international institutions like- IMF, WB, WTO, BRICS, G7, G20, SAARC, SCO, UN and its different bodies, CITES, ICJ, etc.
- Articles having issues like International relations of India with other countries, economic agreements, bilateral-trilateral partnerships, etc.
Once a candidate is able to find the relevant topics in the newspaper, he/she must make handwritten notes out of them. The notes should be categorized according to the topics given in the syllabus so that any addition in the future can easily be done within the same notes of that topic, and for each category, make a separate envelop or file that will make it easy for the candidate to revise the notes.
Which NCERT books to read for UPSC? | Which books are best for UPSC? | Which subject NCERT books to read for UPSC? | Must Read books for UPSC | Which class NCERT books to read for UPSC?
Suggested reading list for general studies – both for the preliminary and main examination. These books are to be used mandatorily by the students.
The List of NCERT books and other important books to read carefully for the preparation of UPSC CSE are given below:
Best Polity Books for UPSC
Best Geography Books for UPSC
Certificate Physical And Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong – Second Half of the Book
Apart from above-referred books for Indian Polity, You must read these resources on regular basis:
- The Hindu or Indian Express Newspaper
- Yojana Magazine
While almost all useful articles from The Hindu / Indian Express newspapers are published on this website in the Hindi language, you must read these articles published on daily basis.
Best Social Issues Books for UPSC
Best History Books for UPSC
The Wonder That Was India by A.L. Basham (only chapters VI and VII dealing with Art & Culture)
Raj to Swaraj Ram Chandra Pradhan Published by MacMillan India
Best World History Books for UPSC
Best Governance Issues Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Ethics in Governance, ARC Reports
- Citizen Centric Administration (Chapters 2,5,6,7 and 8 only and box items)
- Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha discussions
Best Developmental Issues Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Human Development Report and World Development Report
- Editorials in Hindi Website, The Hindu, or Indian Express newspaper
- Kurukshetra and Yojana Magazines
Best International Relations Books for UPSC
- Editorials in Hindi Website
- The Hindu Editorial or Indian Express newspaper
Best Economics Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Editorials in Hindi Website
- The Hindu or Indian Express newspaper
- Economics Dictionary by Collins or Penguin
- Relevant Chapters from Economic Survey published by the government for the current year
Best Ecology and Environment Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Editorials in Hindi Website
- Read Down to Earth Magazine Regularly
- The Hindu or Indian Express newspaper
- Chapters on Climate Change from Economic Survey
Best Security Issues Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Editorials in Hindi Website
- The Hindu or Indian Express newspaper
Best Science Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Editorials in Hindi Website
- The Hindu or Indian Express newspaper
- Monthly magazine ‘Science Reporter‘ for Science & Technology
Best Ethics and Integrity and Aptitude Books for UPSC
Additional Resources to Read:
- Editorials in Hindi Website
- Ethics in Governance, ARC Report
- Case Studies from newspapers
How to make Current Affairs notes for UPSC? | How to make notes for UPSC?
The candidate must follow a well-recognized newspaper (like The Hindu, The Indian Express, Dainik Jagaran) and the magazines like Yojana, Kurukshetra, and Down to Earth for making the notes on current affairs.
Before making notes on any topic, the candidate must follow the UPSC syllabus, so that wasting time reading irrelevant articles can be prevented.
The candidate should club the important articles, news, or any important information relevant to CSE according to the subjects and further under each of the topics given in the syllabus.
For a lengthy article, the note-making should be done as:
- first write the main topic of the article
- Note down the important points which can be asked in the exam
- Note down the pros and cons related to the article/news
- Write the given conclusion and add your viewpoints to the conclusion
- The note-making should be in bullets or pointwise form
- Relate the article/news with the subjects, and the constitution of India (if it is possible), and also relate them with previous news/articles (if possible) to club them together under one head.
- The categorical differentiation of the notes will help the candidate in revising the syllabus in the last month of the exam at ease.
For note-making of the General studies subjects and reference books, the candidate must not make the notes by reading any book only once, it took about 3-4 readings of any book to make short and crisp notes. Do not copy other candidates, make strategy by yourself. One must remember that the idea and reasons behind making notes are, that the candidate must not require to open the book further and again.
If this is happening, it means your notes are nothing but just a copy of the book and you didn’t understand the topic, you just made the notes out of it, just for the sake of making notes. Don’t do these ridiculous things. Keep patience, and start making notes on these subjects after you understand the topic fully, and at the same time, try to relate them with the current affairs and club them accordingly.
Who can apply for UPSC exam?
For a candidate who wants to apply for the UPSC CSE Exam, the following conditions must be fulfilled by him/her:
- Nationality of the candidate:
- For the IAS, IFoS, and the IPS, a candidate must be a citizen of India.
- For other services, a candidate must be either:—
- a citizen of India
- a subject of Nepal
- a subject of Bhutan
- A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India
- A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.
- Age Limits of a candidate: 21-32 years
- Minimum Educational Qualification: a Graduate degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University by the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
- Number of attempts: Six (6) attempts permitted at the CSE. As per relaxation:
- For SC/STs: unlimited attempts
- For OBCs: 09 attempts
- For PwBD:
- For GL/EWS/OBS: 09 attempts
- For SC/STs: unlimited attempts
5. Restrictions on applying for the examination:
- A candidate who is appointed to the IAS, IFoS.
- A candidate who is appointed to the IPS and continues to be a member of that
6. Medical and Physical Standards: Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standard, as per guidelines given in Appendix-III of Rules for Examination published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary.