UPSC CSE Previous Year Question Papers

The UPSC CSE, or Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination, is one of India’s most prestigious and competitive examinations. It is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit applicants for numerous civil offerings posts in the Indian government. Many refer to this exam as the IAS exam, as it is renowned for recruiting top-notch candidates for the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS). In this blog post, we will go through UPSC CSE Previous Year Question Papers.

1. UPSC CSE Eligibility

1.) Nationality

(1) For the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and the Indian Police Service (IPS), a candidate must be a citizen of India.

(2) For other services:

• a citizen of India, or
• a citizen of Nepal, or
• a citizen of Bhutan, or
• check the official notification for more.

2.) Age Limits

• Minimum age – 21 years
• Maximum age – 32 years

Note: Check the official notification for AGE Relaxation

3.) Minimum Educational Qualification

A candidate must hold a Graduate degree.

4.) Number of attempts

Any candidate who appears in the examination shall be permitted six (6) attempts at the CSE.

2. FEE

Candidates (Except Female/SC/ST/Persons with Benchmark Disability Candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay the fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred only)

3. Scheme of Examination

It comprises two successive stages:

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Civil Services (Main) Examination; and
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/Personality Test) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

A. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

This examination shall comprise two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.

Note:

• Both papers will be objective type and each will be of two hours duration.
• The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
• The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.

B. MAIN EXAMINATION

The Written Examination will consist of 2 Qualifying Papers, 7 Compulsory Papers and a personality test (275 marks) making a total of 2025 marks.

Note: Check the official notification for more details.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How many papers are in UPSC Prelims?

Ans. There are two papers in the UPSC Prelims exam.

1. GENERAL STUDIES – 1
2. GENERAL STUDIES – 2 (CSAT)

2. How many questions are in UPSC Prelims?

Ans. There are only 100 questions and each question holds 2 marks.

3. How many papers are in UPSC Mains?

Ans. There are nine papers in the UPSC Mains exam of which two are qualifying and seven are counted against merit. In these seven papers, two paper’s subjects are optional.

4. What is the total marking for the UPSC interview?

Ans. The UPSC interview has a total of 275 marks.

Download Syllabus

Download Official Notification

Previous Year Papers