So, I’ll try and explain to you the pattern of UPSC CSE
in an extremely simple way!
So, UPSC Civil Services Exam is conducted in three phases namely
Prelims
Mains
Interview
In Prelims:
there are two papers namely General Studies-I and General
Studies-II( CSAT). Each paper is of 200 marks.
Both the paper are scheduled in a single day with a gap of 2
hours in between.The CSAT paper is qualifying in nature,
you only need to score
33% or 66 marks to qualify this paper. The score is not added to the merit list
that is considered for qualifying prelims. This means that your score in
General Studies-I for Prelims decides whether or not you’ll qualify the
Prelims. The cutoff score is basically the marks obtained by the last candidate
in General Studies-I who qualified the prelims round.
The UPSC Civil Services Prelims is qualifying in nature which
means the marks obtained in this are not added to the final marks that decide
your rank which in turn also means that even
after qualifying prelims, all the candidates start afresh! It is
only the marks that you obtain in Mains which is going to decide your final
selection. Hence, even if you qualify prelims just by a margin, you have an equal
chance of selection as the candidate who has topped the prelims.
UPSC CSE Mains:
The UPSC Mains exam consists of 9 papers out of which 2 are
qualifying in nature and the other 7 are merit-oriented which means that the
scores obtained in these 7 papers are added
to determine the final rank. The nine papers are:
Paper A: Compulsory
Indian Language
Paper B: English
Paper1: Essay
Paper2: General Studies-I
Paper3: General
Studies-II
Paper4: General
Studies-III
Paper5: General
Studies-IV
Paper6: Optional Paper-I
Paper7: Optional Paper-II
While paper A and paper B are qualifying in nature, Paper 1–7
are merit-ranking, and the marks obtained in these papers determine your rank.
Each paper from paper 1 to paper 7 is of 250 marks, hence the
total maximum marks for UPSC CSE Mains are 1750. Paper A and Paper B are of 300
marks each.
UPSC Civil Services
Interview
The interview is of 275 marks which makes the grand total stands at 2025 marks. The marks obtained in UPSC Mains + Interview determines whether or not you’re recommended by the commission for the civil services
Where questions are repeated in CSE: 😀😃😑
PRELIMS STAGE:
- It has been observed that UPSC has started repeating questions particularly from the History topics in the prelims exam. So, doing PYQs becomes highly essential.
- From the Economy background, mostly questions from basics are asked.
- In the polity section, topics that are stressed upon are Parliament, Fundamental rights, DPSPs and fundamental duties.
- Questions from the environment include environmental conventions and agreements. These are regularly repeated topics.
- In art and culture, UPSC regularly asks questions from Buddhism and Jainism, Indus valley civilisation.
- From science and technology, space related and defence related questions are asked.
- In the geography section, map based and rivers based questions are regularly asked.
- From the International relations, frequently asked area is groupings, conventions and treaties.
- From the modern India section, themes related to post 1850s are asked.
- MAINS STAGE:
- In the mains exam, the candidate should be thorough with each and every topic of the syllabus.
- If one analyses the papers, it is seen that UPSC tries to cover each and every topic mentioned in the exam.
- So aspirants should prepare notes on each and every topic.
- Further, GS II and GS III are more current based papers. So, through knowledge of current affairs is important.
INTERVIEW STAGE:
CSE can be cleared through careful planning, SMART strategizing and repeated revisions. UPSC is known for its unpredictability but a smart aspirant is the one who ‘finds a pattern even in the apparent chaos.’
Here there are certain questions which are often repeated such as Why civil services? Introduce yourself, how will you use your academic background in civil services?
