The entrance examination held for the IAS is known as the Civil Service Preliminary Exam. There is only a first level test, the preliminary paper, on the clearance of which you appear in the Mains exam and an interview is conducted to declare the final result. The UPSC Civil Services Exam is conducted in two stages Prelims and Mains which are then followed by an interview.
Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary and Main Examinations is as follows:
Preliminary Examination
There are two compulsory papers of 200 marks each in the Civil Services Prelims Exam.
Important Points:
(i) Both the question papers are of the objective type (multiple choice questions) of two hours each.
(ii) The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English. However, questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills would be provided only in English.
(iii) Blind candidates would be allowed an extra 20 minutes of time at each paper.
Main Examination
The written examination will consist of the following papers:
Paper-I
Section 1 Essay
Section 2 English Comprehension & English Précis (The level of paper would be Matriculation/ Xth standard level)
Paper-II
General Studies–I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
Paper-III
General Studies –II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
Paper-IV
General Studies –III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
Paper-V
General Studies –IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
Paper-VI Optional Subject – Paper 1
Paper-VII Optional Subject – Paper 2