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What is UPSC CSEUPSC is the Union Public Service Commission; the CSE is its Civil Services Examination. Here is what the Commission is, how the exam works and the 23 services it fills.
About UPSC · Official sources only
Everything about the Civil Services Exam
Syllabus, exam pattern, year-wise cut-offs, what every service does and how careers grow. Every number links to the official document it comes from.
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18 guides
Can you apply?
Eligibility criteriaWho can sit the Civil Services Exam: the degree you need, final-year and medical-degree rules, nationality by service, age and attempts, and the physical standards, from the CSE 2026 notice.
Applying and exam day
Notification and application formHow to apply for the Civil Services Exam, step by step as the CSE 2026 notice sets it out: registration, the Common Application Form, documents, the fee and what you can't change later.
Marks and vacancies
Negative markingHow the one-third penalty works in both prelims papers, what counts as a wrong answer, and four worked examples using the marks per question in UPSC's CSE 2026 papers.
The Commission
History of UPSCUPSC began as the Public Service Commission on 1 October 1926 and took its present name when the Constitution came into force. Here is its story, and that of the services it recruits for, from UPSC's own records.
35 guides
The full syllabus
UPSC syllabusHow the UPSC syllabus is organised, from the CSE 2026 notice: two prelims papers, nine mains papers and one optional subject, with a short summary of each paper and a link to its own guide.
Prelims
Prelims syllabusGeneral Studies Paper I of the prelims in UPSC's own words, what each line covers, and what the CSE 2026 notice says about marks, timing, negative marking and the qualifying CSAT paper.
Mains
Mains syllabusWhat the CSE 2026 notice says the mains is meant to test, the nine papers and their marks, the level set for optional papers, the rules on language and medium, and a link to each paper's guide.
Optional subjects
Optional subjectsEvery optional subject in the CSE 2026 notice, how the 48 choices are counted, the level the papers are set at, the rules for literature optionals, and links to the syllabus guides.
Syllabus by subject
Every line of the official syllabus for one subject, gathered from all the papers.
10 guides
Cut-offs
UPSC cut offEvery official cut-off from CSE 2016 to CSE 2025, for every category and all three stages, taken from UPSC's own notices. Compare the years, follow the trend and check your score.
By year
Related guides
Results
UPSC resultUPSC declares three results for each Civil Services Examination, then the marks, cut-offs and answer keys. Here is what each one contains and when it came for CSE 2025.
Toppers
Toppers listThe top ranks of every Civil Services Examination since 2016, copied from UPSC's merit lists, with the optional subjects UPSC itself named.
Rank and service
Rank vs serviceHow far down the merit list the IAS, IFS and IPS went in each category, read from DoPT's rank-wise allocation lists, and how the Government allots services.
26 guides
All 23 services
Services through CSEOne exam fills 23 services. Here is each one from the official list, what All India, Group A and Group B mean, where each service's pay starts, and how the Government allocates services.
Salary
UPSC SalaryWhat each of the 23 services through the Civil Services Exam pays: starting level, basic pay and salary with dearness allowance, the top grade of each, and where the 8th Pay Commission stands.
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How an IAS career unfolds after the result: the training, every pay grade in DoPT's rules, when each promotion comes and the posts at each level.
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What happens after the result if you join the IPS: two years of training, your first posting as ASP, and every grade and pay level in the IPS (Pay) Rules up to Director General of Police.
Foreign Service
IFS career journeyWhat happens after you join the Indian Foreign Service: a year of training, a language posting abroad, and the titles and grades from Third Secretary to Ambassador, as MEA and the rules set them.
Revenue, Railways and Forest
Careers in the other services you can reach through the exam.
Comparisons
IAS vs IPSThe IAS and IPS share an exam and a rank list, then part ways. Here are the two services side by side, only on points official documents state: posts, training, control, pay grades.
Choosing your service
Service preference and DAFYour order of services decides what you can be given. Here is where you give it under the CSE 2026 rules, what became of the Detailed Application Form, and how the Government reads your list.
13 guides
Getting started
How to become an IAS officerEvery step from eligibility to training at LBSNAA, as UPSC's notice and the Government's rules describe it, with a link to the guide for each stage.
What to study
UPSC booklistThe syllabus is the real booklist. Here are the official resources that cover it, from current NCERT textbooks to the Economic Survey, Budget documents, PIB and UPSC's own papers.
Exam strategy
Prelims strategyThe rules of the prelims from UPSC's notice and the CSE 2026 papers, and a strategy for both papers built on them: what to read, how to practise, how to guess and what to do on the day.
4 guides
Free tools
Calculators and explorers built on official UPSC data.
