UPSC Pattern – TradeMark IAS
Greetings from the TradeMark IAS Institute! We are here to give you a thorough breakdown of the UPSC course material for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) that the Union Public Service Commission will be holding (UPSC). Among all other competitive examinations held in India, the Civil Services Examination (CSE) is widely regarded as one of the hardest and most prestigious tests. Additionally, we will assist you in understanding the IAS exam’s format.
The Civil Services Exam is conducted in three stages:
1st: Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type)
2nd: Civil Services (Mains) Examination (Descriptive Type)
3rd: Personal Interview (Personality Test)
Round 1: UPSC Prelims
This round will consist of two papers. The table below details the IAS rulings.
| Exam | Type | Duration | Total Marks | Negative Marking | Number of Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Studies 1 | MCQ | 2 HOURS | 200 | YES | 100 |
| General Studies 1 (CSAT) | MCQ | 2 HOURS | 200 | YES | 80 |
You are only eligible to take the UPSC Main Exam if you achieve 33% on the CSAT and meet the required cut-offs on the GS Paper I.
Round 2 – UPSC Mains
Here you will have to submit nine descriptive works. There are four General Studies papers, two optional papers, two language papers (one in English and one in Indian), and one essay paper. See the table below for details.
| Paper | Subject | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| PAPER A | ONE INDIAN LANGUAGE | 300 |
| PAPER B | ENGLISH | 300 |
| PAPER 1 | ESSAY | 250 |
| PAPER 2 | GS PAPER 1 | 250 |
| PAPER 3 | GS PAPER 2 | 250 |
| PAPER 4 | GS PAPER 3 | 250 |
| PAPER 5 | GS PAPER 4 | 250 |
| PAPER 6 | OPTIONAL PAPER 1 | 250 |
| PAPER 7 | OPTIONAL PAPER 2 | 250 |
Of the nine papers, language papers (English and Indian) are inherently eligible and do not count toward the merit ranking. Both electives must be chosen from a list provided by UPSC. Once you have achieved the required cut-offs on the main exam, you will be called into the UPSC Personality Test.
Round 3 – UPSE Personality Test
In the final round of the IAS exam, the UPSC Board of Directors will conduct an interview to assess various aspects of your personality, such as leadership skills, clarity of thought and expression, stress management, presence of mind, and general awareness. Completing this round will place your name on the final merit list published by the UPSC. Service and cadre are then assigned based on rank, category, and the number of positions available in that category. IAS should be highly ranked as it is the most desirable service of all.
The last thing you should do at this stage is to review the latest UPSC syllabus in detail. This will give you an idea of the subjects you need to study for the exam and the level of detail you need to cover. Also, be sure to check out UPSC surveys from the last few years. This will give you an idea of the types of questions that will be asked on the IAS exam. Combining previous surveys with the UPSC syllabus, we can see that the UPSC asks almost all questions in the syllabus from a current affairs perspective.
But don’t be overwhelmed by the sheer nature of the task at hand. Each huge mountain can be conquered one step at a time.
TradeMark, IAS coaching institute in Kolkata conducts mock interview sessions, you can join them to gain more confidence
