Your Handbook for UPSC IAS 2021: Exam Pattern for Prelims, Mains and Interview

The majority of candidates writing the UPSC exam have only one goal in mind, to become an IAS officer.

By- Collegedunia

The majority of candidates writing the UPSC exam have only one goal in mind, to become an IAS officer. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is one of the most sought-after careers that gives the golden chance of serving the nation.

The IAS exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to appoint the most deserving candidates for IAS, IPS, IFS, and other respected positions. UPSC Civil Services Examination which is also referred to as the IAS Exam is a three-stage examination including Prelims, Mains, and Interview. All the candidates preparing for the UPSC Exam can refer to this article as it talks in detail about UPSC IAS Exam Pattern for prelims, mains, and the interview round. Having a detailed understanding of the UPSC Exam Pattern is a must as all the preparation strategies are aligned to it. Detailed IAS exam pattern is mentioned beneath:

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IAS Selection Process

The UPSC conducts the Civil Service Examination in three phases including:

●Preliminary Examination

●Main Examination

●Personality Test (Interview)

Candidates qualifying all these rounds will be selected to join the civil services in India.

UPSC Exam Pattern For IAS Preliminary Examination

UPSC IAS Prelims consists of two papers including General Studies I and CSAT (General Studies Paper-II). The CSAT exam is qualifying in nature, and the marks secured by the candidates in the same will decide whether they will be qualified for the UPSC Main Examination or not. Candidates must get a minimum of 33 percent in this paper to be shortlisted for the IAS Mains.

Each question asked in the General Studies is of 2 marks while the weightage of the question asked in Civil Service Aptitude Test is 2.5 marks. For every incorrect option, candidates will lose 1/3rd of the marks. However, for the questions left unanswered, no marks will get deducted.

ALSO READ: No paper admit card for civil service main exam

UPSC Exam Pattern for Prelims 2021

Name of the Paper	Total Questions	Marks Allotted	Time Given	Nature of Exam
Paper I: General Studies (Objective-type)	100	200	2 hours	The score will be considered for Cut-off
Paper-II: General Studies-II (CSAT) (Objective-Type)	80	200	2 hours	Qualifying in nature- Candidates have to get at least 33% to qualify for CSAT.

The majority of candidates writing the UPSC exam have only one goal in mind, to become an IAS officer.Dreamstime

UPSC Exam Pattern 2021 For IAS Main Examination

The IAS Mains Exam consists of two types of papers that are qualifying. Both, Paper A and Paper B are Language and English papers and are qualifying in nature. There will be a total of 9 papers in the IAS Mains and candidates will be judged based on their knowledge and understanding of the subject

Paper	Subject	Duration	Total marks	Time Allotted	Nature of paper	Type of Paper
Paper A	Compulsory Indian language	3 hours	300	3 hours	Qualifying	Descriptive
Paper B	English	3 hours	300	3 hours	Qualifying	Descriptive
Paper I	Essay	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper-II	General Studies I	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper III	General Studies II	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper IV	General Studies III	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper V	General Studies IV	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper VI	Optional I	3 hours	250	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper VII	Optional II	3 hours	250c	3 hours	Merit	Descriptive

Important points regarding UPSC CSE Mains 2021:

●The total marks of the Mains exam is 1750.

●It is mandatory to get a minimum of 25% in each paper to be evaluated during the final selection.

●Candidates can select two optional papers as per their choices.

UPSC Interview Process

The interview round is the last and the final selection round holding a weightage of 275 marks, making the total of the maximum marks 2025. The interview round is included to evaluate candidates based on their Mental acuity, Critical thinking, Analytical thinking, Crisis management skills, leadership skills, etc.

The final section will be made based on the total marks obtained by the candidate and thereafter shall be called for the final interview.

Candidates on being selected as IAS officers get decent salary and perks. The respect they gain from this job is worthier to any other sector. So study hard to get into one of these prestigious jobs.

Hope through this article, we have provided a brief overview of the UPSC Exam Pattern 2021.

Disclaimer: (This article is sponsored and include some commercial links)

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