The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS). Also simply referred to as the UPSC examination, it is conducted in three phases –
Phase 1: Preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II also popularly known as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT), held in June every year. Results are announced in August.
Phase 2: Main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted for phase 3, held in October every year. Results are announced in January.
Phase 3: Personality test (interview), held in March. Final results are usually announced in May.
Educational qualification: A degree received through regular or correspondence or distance education from a Central, State or a Deemed university. Or equivalent qualification to one of the above recognized by the Government of India.
Age & No. of Attempts: The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on 1 August of the year of examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations
| RESERVATION | AGE LIMIT FROM 21 | PHYSICAL CONDITION | ATTEMPTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | 32 | Normal | 6 |
| Handicapped | 9 | ||
| OBC | 35 | Normal | 9 |
| Handicapped | |||
| SC / ST | 37 | Normal | No limits |
| Handicapped | |||
| Blind, deaf-mute, and orthopedically handicapped persons | 42 | -- | -- |
| Defence service peronal | 35 | ||
| -- | -- |