UPSC Success Rate: Applied vs Appeared vs Selected

The UPSC success rate for CSE 2025 was about 1 in 602: 958 candidates were recommended out of the 5,76,793 who sat the prelims (5,76,793 ÷ 958 ≈ 602). Counted against the 9,37,876 who applied, the selection ratio is about 1 in 979 (9,37,876 ÷ 958 ≈ 979).

In between, 14,161 qualified for the mains and 2,736 for the interview. These are UPSC's own numbers. The table further down has every year since CSE 2015, and the ratios on this page are worked out only from the figures printed beside them.

Why the success rate depends on what you count

"Success rate" has no single meaning, so be clear which one you are looking at.

• Against applicants it looks lowest, because many who apply never sit the exam. For CSE 2025, 5,76,793 of the 9,37,876 applicants appeared.
• Against those who sat the prelims it is the figure most people quote: the last column of the table.
• Stage by stage it looks very different. The prelims removes most candidates; after that the odds improve at each stage. The block above shows, for each step, how many of the previous step went through.

The stage sizes are not accidents. The CSE 2026 notice says UPSC admits about twelve to thirteen times the number of vacancies to the mains, and calls about twice the number of vacancies to the interview. So once you are in the mains, you are competing with a group sized to the vacancies, not with lakhs of applicants.

Every year since CSE 2015

Where the numbers come from, and what is missing

Most years come from the results highlights that UPSC issues with the final result and releases through the Press Information Bureau (PIB). For CSE 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2021 no such note with these counts was found, so they come from the "Profile of Candidates" chapter of the UPSC Annual Report that covers that year's result; these rows are starred. The number recommended always comes from UPSC's final-result notice.

Two things to keep in mind when you compare years:

• CSE 2023 is incomplete. We found no UPSC note giving its applicant, appeared or interview counts, and the Annual Report that would cover it, for 2024-25, is not yet on UPSC's website; the latest there is the report for 2023-24. Only the number who qualified for the mains, counted from the roll numbers in UPSC's prelims result, and the number recommended are shown.
• UPSC's documents do not always agree to the last digit. UPSC's 2016-17 Annual Report prints 9,39,763 applied and 4,63,418 appeared for CSE 2015 in one chapter, and 9,39,735 and 4,63,391 in its candidate profile, which we use. For CSE 2017 the Annual Report gives 9,69,065 applied and the results note 9,57,590; the table follows the results note. The differences are small and change the ratios only slightly.

What this means for you

The headline ratio is discouraging, but it hides how the exam actually filters. Large numbers who apply do not appear, and the prelims then removes most of those who do. Our advice is to judge your chances stage by stage:

• Prelims: compare your mock scores with past prelims cut-offs in your category, and remember CSAT must be cleared at 33%.
• Mains: once you are in, the competition is a group of roughly twelve to thirteen times the vacancies. The mains and final cut-offs show the totals that worked.
• Interview: about twice the vacancies are called; in CSE 2025, 958 of 2,736 were recommended.

How each of these results is announced is explained in UPSC result, and the year-by-year numbers, with each year's cut-offs, are on the year pages such as CSE 2025 and CSE 2024.