UPSC CSE
Recruits officers for the IAS, IPS, IFS and around two dozen other Group A and B central services — the standard route into India's top administrative careers.
Eligibility
Graduates in any discipline from a recognised university may apply; final-year students can sit Prelims provisionally. Age must be 21–32 years on 1 August of the exam year, with relaxation of 3 years for OBC and 5 years for SC/ST. General candidates get 6 attempts, OBC 9, and SC/ST unlimited attempts within the age limit. Candidates must be citizens of India for the IAS/IPS (certain other services admit some non-citizens).
Age limit: 21–32 years on 1 August of the exam year (OBC +3, SC/ST +5)
Exam pattern
Three stages spread over almost a year. Prelims (offline, one day) has two objective papers: General Studies Paper I (100 questions, 200 marks) which decides the cutoff, and CSAT Paper II (80 questions, 200 marks) which is qualifying at 33%; both carry one-third negative marking. Mains is fully descriptive: nine papers over about a week — Essay, four General Studies papers, two optional-subject papers (250 marks each, totalling 1,750 marks) plus two qualifying language papers. The Personality Test (interview) carries 275 marks, making a final tally of 2,025. Marks of Prelims do not count towards the final merit list.
Syllabus at a glance
Prelims GS covers history, polity, geography, economy, environment, science and current affairs; CSAT tests comprehension, reasoning and basic numeracy. Mains GS papers span Indian heritage and culture, world and Indian history, geography, governance, Constitution, international relations, economy, science and technology, environment, security, and ethics (GS-IV). Candidates also choose one optional subject from a list of about 48, ranging from literature to engineering.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| CSE 2027 notification released | 13 Jan 2027 | confirmed |
| CSE 2027 application window | 13 Jan – 2 Feb 2027 | confirmed |
| CSE Prelims 2027 | 23 May 2027 | confirmed |
| Prelims 2027 result | Jun 2027 (expected) | expected |
| CSE Mains 2027 begins | 20 Aug 2027 (five days) | confirmed |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Indian Polity — M. Laxmikanth
- A Brief History of Modern India — Rajiv Ahir (Spectrum)
- Certificate Physical and Human Geography — G.C. Leong
- Indian Economy — Ramesh Singh
- Indian Art and Culture — Nitin Singhania
- India Year Book — Publications Division
How toppers play it
- Treat CSAT with respect: it is only qualifying at 33%, but every year strong candidates fail it — attempt two or three full CSAT papers before Prelims to be sure.
- In GS Prelims, use one-third negative marking intelligently: attempt questions where you can eliminate two options, and fix your attempt count (usually 85–95 of 100) through mock-test data, not on exam day.
- Choose your optional early and by overlap with GS plus genuine interest, not by last year's toppers — the two optional papers (500 marks) swing the merit list more than any GS paper.
- Write answers from day one of Mains prep: daily answer-writing against the clock (7–8 minutes per 10-marker) matters more than reading a second source for the same topic.
- Limit sources and revise: one book per subject plus a monthly current-affairs magazine, revised four or five times, beats a large unrevised collection.