Union Public Service Commission (संघ लोक सेवा आयोग) which is generally known as “UPSC” is responsible for conducting various high-level recruitment exams in India. UPSC conducts the hardest exams, that is why the success rate in UPSC exams in not more than 0.1%-0.3%. UPSC releases its exam calendar before any recruitment announcement. Exam Calendar of UPSC carries the dates & schedule for UPSC exams application dates and exam dates. UPSC is granted constitutional rights under article 315 to 323. According to which, a separate Public Service Commission (लोक सेवा आयोग) is granted for each state.
UPSC recruitment
There are various recruitment exams which are being conducted by UPSC since it was first established. UPSC recruitment exam is conducted for the highest-ranked officers of India and it has a separate selection procedure for each rank. Here are the exams which are being conducted by UPSC.
- Indian Administrative Services (IAS)
- Civil Services Exam (CSE)
- Engineering Services Exam (ESE)
- Combined Medical Services (CMS)
- Combined Defence Services (CDS)
- National Defence Academy (NDA)
- Naval Academy Examination (NA)
- Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA)
- Indian Forest Service (IFS)
- Indian Economic Service (IES)
- Indian Statistical Service (ISS)
- Combined Geoscientist and Geologist
- Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF AC)
UPSC Civil Services exam [नागरिक सेवा परीक्षा]
Civil Services exam is being conducted by UPSC to recruitment officers in IAS, IPS, and IFS, etc. The Civil Service exam is conducted in two phases followed by an interview (Personality test).
Phase-I: Civil Services Prelims Exam
The prelims exam contains two objective type papers. Paper 1 and paper 2 are for General Studies and Aptitude tests respectively. UPSC CSE prelims exam is most commonly known as CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test). This is the compulsory exam and without clearing CSAT, you will not be able to appear and Phase-II of the UPSC Civil Services Exam.
Phase-II: Civil Services Mains exam
UPSC CSE mains exam contains 9 papers among which 2 are qualifying and the other 7 are ranking in nature. This is a written exam where answers may vary from 20 words to 600 marks. Each answer may carry from one to sixty marks depending upon the things being asked in the question.
Interview (Personality Test)
UPSC exam interview is considered as the toughest interview of all. In this interview, candidates are not being asked about General knowledge. Candidates will be asked questions related to situations and actions in or out of their social environment. This interview tests the intelligence and mental stability of candidates and checks how would they respond in a different scenario.
UPSC Engineering Services Exam (इंजी0 सेवा परीक्षा)
UPSC ESE is a three-stage examination and is being conducted for the recruitment of civil officers who have both technical and managerial skills. A candidate aged between 21-30 years with an engineering degree or M.sc can apply online for this recruitment. The three stages of the ESE exam are as follows.
Stage I: Engineering Services Prelims exam
The first stage of ESE contains two separate examinations, one for General Studies and Engineering Aptitude, another for Engineering Discipline depending on the candidate’s specialization. Paper 1 and paper 2 exam contains 200 and 300 marks respectively. Those who qualify stage one exam will be eligible for the second stage exam.
Stage II: Engineering Services Mains exam
This stage also contains two papers for 300 marks each. Both of these exams are based on the discipline that the candidate is chosen in his/her engineering. The combined total of both these stages will be 600 marks. The aspirant who clears both stage one and stages two exams will be eligible for the third and final stage, which is a Personality test.
Stage III: Personality Test [Interview]
This stage to observe aspirants’ intellectual qualities like qualities to be judged are mental alertness, the balance of judgment, variety, and depth of interest, the ability for social cohesion and leadership, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, intellectual and moral integrity, etc.
Combined Medical Services (संयुक्त चिकित्सा सेवा) Exam
UPSC CMS exam is conducted for the recruitment of Medical Officers in the departments like Indian Ordinance factory and India Railways etc. This is also a three-staged exam. It contains two exams carrying 250 marks each, followed by a personality test which carries 100 marks.
Stage 1: CMS Prelims exam
60% of the questions are asked from General Medicine including Cardiology, Neurology, Dermatology, and Psychiatry. The remaining 40% of questions are being asked from Surgery including ENT, Ophthalmology, Traumatology, and Orthopaedics. Each candidate who qualifies in the prelims examination will be eligible to appear in the mains exam.
Stage 2: CMS Mains exam
Stage two exams are conducted for 250 marks among which 20% questions will be asked from Paediatrics, 40% question will be asked from Gynaecology & Obstetrics, and the remaining 40% questions will be asked from Preventive & Social Medicine. Candidates who qualify both stage 1 and stage 2 exam will be called for Personality test.
Stage 3: Personality test [Interview]
The personality test is carried out by unbiased officers and weigh 100 marks. Those who will pass through this stage will be selected as Medical Officer.
UPSC Combined Defence Service (संयुक्त रक्षा सेवा) Exam
UPSC CDS exam is carried out twice each year. February and August are the months in which the UPSC CDS exam is conducted. It’s a two-staged exam in which the first stage is for CBT and the second for SSB. UPSC allows only an Unmarried graduate aspirant to apply for CDS Exam.
Stage 1: Objective Type paper
Stage 1 of the CDS exam is an Objective type paper that carries 300 marks. This Objective paper has 3 sections and each section carries 100 marks. Those who qualify stage 1 exam of CDS will be able to appear in the SSB interview.
Stage 2: Interview by SSB
Service Selection Board (SSB) carries out the interview for the CDS exam. This interview judges various qualities of aspirants in many different conditions. The things being observed are initiative, alertness, judgment, courage, physical fitness endurance, cooperation, group planning, decisiveness, knowledge, etc.
UPSC NDA Exam (राष्ट्रीय रक्षा अकादमी)
Like CDS, the NDA exam is also carried out in two stages. This exam is being conducted to get officers for the future in the Navy, IAF, and India Armed Forces. NDA is being conducted twice each year.
First Stage: Objective type paper
The first test is an objective type paper which is tested the academic skills of aspirants. Those who will get a good score in the NDA exam will be called for SSB interview.
Second Stage: SSB Interview
The second stage of the NDA exam is an interview which is conducted by SSB. SSB will check all aspects including the physical, medical, and mental abilities of aspirants.
UPSC Special Class Railway Apprentice exam
UPSC SCRA exam was being conducted for decades. But in 2015, UPSC canceled the SCRA exam and now this exam is removed from the list of UPSC exams. Candidates who are searching for more information about the UPSC SCRA exam can visit the official portal of UPSC.
UPSC IFS (भारतीय वन सेवाएं)
Indian Forest Services in one of the All India Services along with IAS and IPS. Candidates are selected on the basis of their performance in three stages of the exam. Eligible and aspiring candidates can apply for the IFS exam from the official Portal.
Stage 1: Prelims Exam
IFS exam is a part of the Civil Services exam. So, the first stage of the exam same as that of the CSE exam. That means that CSAT is the first stage of the IFS exam which contains two papers of 200 marks each.
Stage 2: Mains exam
Mains exam of IFS contains 9 papers. The only difference between the mains exam of IFS apart from IPS and IAS is that this exam contains 7 selective papers. These papers are conducted for the subjects which are selected by the candidates while applying for this exam.
Stage 3: Personality test
Personality Test of IAS, IPS, and IFS is discussed in the Civil Service exam section. More details about the personal interview can be checked from there.
UPSC Indian Economic Service Exam
UPSC IES exam is conducted to recruit Grade IV officers in the services of Indian Economic and Indian Statistics. This is a conventional exam with two stages. The first stage is a series of 6 papers and the second stage is a personality test.
First Stage: Conventional Exam
This stage contains 6 papers carrying 1000 marks on the total. The exam duration for each paper is 3 hours. These papers will carry questions from General Studies, General English, General Economics, and Indian Economics. those who qualify for this stage will be asked for a personality test.
Second Stage: Personality Test (Interview)
An interview will be carried out by an unbiased officer of the UPSC recruitment department and they will observe various qualities of the aspirant. This interview will carry 200 marks and the final selection of candidates will be done on the basis of these stages.
UPSC Indian Administrative Services (IAS)
The first stage of the UPSC IAS exam is known as CSAT which is also discussed on this page. The second stage of the IAS exam will be a series of 9 papers among which 7 papers are on the basis of language and subject selection made by the student. For more details about the UPSC IAS exam, you can visit the links given here.
UPSC Geoscientist and Geologist exam
There are three stages a candidate will have to go through who have applied for UPSC Geoscientist and Geologist exam. The first, second, and third stages are Written exam, personal interview, and document verification respectively. Those who qualify all these stages will be recruited as Geoscientist and geologists.
Stage I: Written Exam
The geoscientist and geologist exam contains four papers which are General English, Geology Paper-I, II & III. Those who qualify as per the merit list released by UPSC will be able to appear in the second stage of examination.
Stage II: Personal Interview
Candidates will be judged on the basis of their intellectual qualities. A personal interview will carry 200 marks and a merit list will be released after the interview.
Stage III: Document Verification
Candidates will have to show their originals which they possessed while applying for this exam. Strict action will be taken against the fraud candidates.
UPSC Central Armed Police Forces (AC)
Gazetted Officers like Assistant Commandants are being recruited in CAPF by UPSC. UPSC conducts the CAPF Assistant Commandant recruitment exam each year and candidates are selected on the basis of their performance in three different tasks (Written-test, Physical – Medical test & PET – Physical Efficiency Test).
UPSC recruitment exams are carried out each year on a fixed schedule. The UPSC exam calendar is already released now. You can get more details about each and every exam of UPSC.
