UPSC Exam Pattern: Prelims, Mains, Interview and Marks

The Civil Services Examination has two stages. The preliminary exam has two objective papers of 200 marks each and only screens candidates for the next stage. The main exam has nine written papers and a personality test (interview), and it alone decides your rank: 1,750 marks from seven written papers plus 275 for the interview, out of 2,025.

Everything below is from the CSE 2026 notice, UPSC's latest. The number of questions in each prelims paper is from UPSC's CSE 2026 question papers, because the notice doesn't state it.

Prelims: two papers

	General Studies Paper I	General Studies Paper II (CSAT)
Questions (CSE 2026)	100	80
Marks	200	200
Time	Two hours	Two hours
Role	Decides whether you qualify for the mains, against the qualifying marks the Commission fixes	Qualifying only: you need 33%

Both papers are multiple choice, with four alternatives to every question, and both are set in Hindi and English. The CSE 2026 test booklets say all questions in a paper carry equal marks, which makes each question worth 2 marks in Paper I (200 ÷ 100) and 2.5 marks in Paper II (200 ÷ 80).

• Negative marking. A wrong answer costs one-third of the marks for that question. Marking more than one answer counts as wrong; a blank costs nothing. See negative marking, with worked examples.
• You must sit both papers. The notice says a candidate who does not appear in both is disqualified.
• Prelims marks don't count later. They are not added to your mains marks for the final rank.
• How many go through. UPSC admits about 12 to 13 times the number of vacancies to the mains.

These are the notice's own notes on the prelims:

The topics for each paper are in the prelims syllabus and the CSAT syllabus.

Mains: nine papers, seven that count

Every mains paper is essay-type and three hours long. Seven papers of 250 marks each make up the 1,750 marks that count for your rank: the Essay, four General Studies papers and two papers of the optional subject you choose.

The two language papers

Paper A is an Indian language you choose from those in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution, and Paper B is English. Both are of Matriculation or equivalent standard and carry 300 marks each, but their marks are not counted for your rank. You need 25% in each: if you fall short in either, UPSC does not take your Essay, General Studies and optional papers into account. Paper A is not compulsory for candidates from Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. Nor is it for PwBD candidates in the hearing impairment sub-category whose education board or university exempted them from second or third language courses; they claim this with an undertaking to the Commission. More in the compulsory language papers.

Minimum marks in each paper

The notice lets the Commission fix qualifying marks in any or all of the seven papers. UPSC's cut-off notice for CSE 2025 shows how this worked that year: the mains cut-off applied subject to 10% marks in each of the seven papers. The cut-off guide has every year's figures.

Language of your answers

You can write every paper except the two language papers in English or in any one language of the Eighth Schedule. If you write the Essay and General Studies papers in an Indian language, you may still write your optional papers in English. The question papers, other than the literature papers, are set in Hindi and English only. See medium of the exam.

The interview (personality test)

Candidates who reach the minimum qualifying marks the Commission fixes in the written mains are called for a personality test. UPSC calls about twice the number of vacancies. The test carries 275 marks, and there is no minimum qualifying mark.

The notice says a board with your record in front of it asks you questions on matters of general interest, to judge your personal suitability for a career in public service. It describes the interview as "a natural, though directed and purposive conversation", not a strict cross-examination, and says it is not meant to test the knowledge your written papers have already tested. More in the interview guide.

How your final rank is worked out

Your rank is set by your marks in the seven counted written papers plus the interview: 1,750 + 275 = 2,025. Services are then allotted keeping in view your rank and the preferences you gave. If two candidates have the same total, the notice breaks the tie in this order:

1. more marks in the Essay, the four General Studies papers and the personality test together;
2. if still equal, more marks in the Essay and the four General Studies papers together;
3. if still equal, the older candidate;
4. if a tie remains, the Commission decides.

Your optional subject counts for your total but not in the first two tie-breaks. The selection process guide explains what happens between each stage.