Civil Services Preliminary 2018 Apply, Eligibility Criteria, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Question Paper, Results, Answer Key

IAS 2018 – Applications rejected due to non-payment of fee for UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2018

Eligibility Conditions IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

(i) Nationality IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

• For the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.
• For other services, a candidate must be either:—
• a citizen of India, or
• a subject of Nepal, or
• a subject of Bhutan, or
• a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.
• Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.
• Provided further that candidates belonging to categories (b), (c) and (d) above will not be eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service.
• A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him/her by the Government of India.

(ii) Age Limit IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

• A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2018 i.e., he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1986 and not later than 1st August, 1997. Necessary action to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/Regulations pertaining to various services is being taken separately.
• The upper age-limit prescribed above will be relaxable:
• up to a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;
• up to a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates;
• up to a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services Personnel, disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof;
• up to a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2018 and have been released;
• on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, 2018 otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency; or
• on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service; or
• on invalidment.
• up to a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August, 2018 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months’ notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.
• up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of (a) blindness and low vision; (b) deaf and hard of hearing; (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; and (e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness.

Note I:—Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes who are also covered under any other clauses of Rule 6(b) above, viz. those coming under the category of Ex-servicemen, (a) blindness and low vision; (b) deaf and hard of hearing; (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; and (e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness etc. will be eligible for grant of cumulative age-relaxation under both the
categories.

Note II:—The term Ex-servicemen will apply to the persons who are defined as Ex-servicemen in the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979, as amended from time to time.

Note III:—The age concession under Rule 6(b)(iv) and (v) will not be admissible to Ex-servicemen and Commissioned Officers including ECOs/SSCOs, who are released on own request.

Note IV:—Notwithstanding the provision of age relaxation under Rule 6(b)(vi) above, candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability will be considered to be eligible for appointment only if he/she (after such physical examination as the Government or appointing authority, as the case may be, may prescribe) is found to satisfy the requirements of physical and medical standards for the concerned Services/Posts to be allocated to the Persons with Benchmark Disability by the Government.

• Save as provided above, the age-limits prescribed can in no case be relaxed.
• The date of birth, accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a University which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Higher Secondary or an equivalent examination certificate. These certificates are required to be submitted only at the time of applying for the Civil Services (Main) Examination. No other document relating to age like horoscopes, affidavits, birth extracts from Municipal Corporation, Service records and the like will be accepted.
• The expression Matriculation/Higher Secondary Examination Certificate in this part of the Instruction include the alternative certificates mentioned above.

Note 1:—Candidate should note that only the date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary Examination certificate or an equivalent certificate on the date of submission of application will be accepted by the Commission, and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

Note 2:—Candidates should also note that once a date of birth has been claimed by them and entered in the records of the Commission for the purpose of admission to an Examination, no change will be allowed subsequently or at any other Examination of the Commission on any grounds whatsoever.

Note 3:- The candidate should exercise due care while entering their date of birth in the online Application Form for the Preliminary Examination. If on verification at any subsequent stage, any variation is found in their date of birth from the one entered in their matriculation or equivalent Examination certificate, disciplinary action will be taken against them by the Commission under the Rules.

(iii) Minimum Educational Qualifications IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

• The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University Under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

Note I: Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission’s examination but have not been informed of the results as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination. All candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission for taking the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to produce proof of passing the requisite examination with their application for the Main Examination failing which such candidates will not be admitted to the Main Examination. The applications for the Main Examination will be called sometime in the month of July/August, 2018.
Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate who does not have any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he/she has passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his/her admission to the examination.

Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be eligible for admission to the examination.

Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other Medical Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University/Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional medical examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce at the time of their interview original Degree or a certificate from the concerned competent authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree

Number of attempts IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

• Every candidate appearing at the examination who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six attempts at the examination:
• Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates who are otherwise eligible :
• Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes, who are otherwise eligible, shall be nine. The relaxation will be available to the candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates :
• Provided further that candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability will get as many attempts as are available to other candidates who do not belong to Persons with Benchmark Disability of his or her community, subject to the condition that a candidate of Persons with Benchmark Disability belonging to the General Category shall be eligible for nine attempts. Necessary action to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/regulations pertaining to various services is being taken separately. The relaxation will be available to the candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Note :—

• An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination.
• If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, he/she shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.
• Notwithstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of
• the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.
• Restrictions on applying for the examination: (a) A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this examination. In case such a candidate is appointed to the IAS/IFS after the Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Examination, 2018 is over and he/she continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be eligible to appear in the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2018 notwithstanding his/her having qualified in the Preliminary Examination, 2018.
• Also provided that if such a candidate is appointed to IAS/IFS after the commencement of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2018 but before the result thereof and continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be considered for appointment to any service/post on the basis of the result of this examination viz. Civil Services Examination, 2018.
• A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Police Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to opt for the Indian Police Service in Civil Services Examination, 2018.

(iv)Physical Standards IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Civil Services Examination, 2018 as per guidelines given in Appendix-III of Rules for Examination published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 7th February, 2018.

How to Apply IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

• Candidates are required to apply online using the website http://www.upsconline.nic.in Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above mentioned website. The applicants are advised to submit only single application; however, if due to any unavoidable situation, if he/she submits another/multiple applications, then he/she must ensure that application with the higher RID is complete in all respects like applicants’ details, examination centre, photograph, signature, fee etc. The applicants who are submitting multiple applications should note that only the applications with higher RID
• (Registration ID) shall be entertained by the Commission and fee paid against one RID shall not be adjusted against any other RID.
• All candidates, whether already in Government Service, Government owned industrial undertakings or other similar organizations or in private employment should submit their applications direct to the Commission.
• Persons already in Government Service, whether in a permanent or temporary capacity or as work charged employees other than casual or daily rated employees or those serving under the Public Enterprises are however, required to submit an undertaking that they have informed in writing to their Head of Office/Department that they have applied for the Examination. Candidates should note that in case a communication is received from their employer by the Commission withholding permission to the candidates applying for/appearing at the examination, their application will be liable to be rejected/candidature will be liable to be cancelled.

NOTE 1: While filling in his/her Application Form, the candidate should carefully decide about his/her choice of centre for the Examination. If any candidate appears at a centre other than the one indicated by the Commission in his/her Admission Certificate, the papers of such a candidate will not be evaluated and his/her candidature will be liable to cancellation.

NOTE-2: Suitable provisions for information regarding use of scribes by the blind candidates and candidates with Locomotor Disability and Cerebral Palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function (minimum of 40% impairment) have been made in the online application at the time of the initial online application itself.

NOTE-3: Candidates appearing in CS (P) Examination, 2018 will be required to indicate information such as (a) detail of centres for Civil Services (Main) Examination and Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination (b) Optional subject to be selected for the examination, (c) medium of examination for Civil Services (Main) Examination, (d) Medium of Examination for Optional Subject if he/she chooses any Indian Language as the Medium of Examination for Civil Services (Main) Examination and (e) compulsory Indian Language for Civil Services (Main) Examination at the time of the filling up online application itself.

NOTE 4: Candidates are not required to submit alongwith their applications any certificate in support of their claims regarding Age, Educational Qualifications, Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes and Persons with Benchmark Disability etc. which
will be verified at the time of the Main examination only. The candidates applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfil all the eligibility conditions for admission to the Examination. Their admission at all the stages of examination for which they are admitted by the Commission viz. Preliminary Examination, Main (Written) Examination and Interview Test will be purely provisional, subject to their satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions. If on verification at any time before or after the Preliminary Examination, Main (written) Examination and Interview Test, it is found that they do not fulfil any of the eligibility conditions; their candidature for the examination will be cancelled by the Commission. If any of their claims is found to be incorrect, they may render themselves liable to disciplinary action by the Commission in terms of Rule 14 of the Rules for the Civil Services Examination, 2018 reproduced below:

A candidate who is or has been declared by the Commission to be guilty of:

Obtaining support for his/her candidature by the following means, namely:–

• offering illegal gratification to, or
• applying pressure on, or
• blackmailing, or threatening to blackmail any person connected with the conduct of the examination, or
• impersonating, or
• procuring impersonation by any person,

or

(iv) submitting fabricated documents or documents which have been tampered with, or

making statements which are incorrect or false or suppressing material information, or

resorting to the following means in connection with his/her candidature for the examination, namely

(a) obtaining copy of question paper through improper means,

(b) finding out the particulars of the persons connected with secret work relating to the examination.

(c) influencing the examiners, or

using unfair means during the examination, or

(viii)writing obscene matter or drawing obscene sketches in the scripts, or

• misbehaving in the examination hall including tearing of the scripts, provoking fellow examinees to boycott examination, creating a disorderly scene and the like, or
• harassing or doing bodily harm to the staff employed by the Commission for the conduct of their examinations, or
• being in possession of or using any mobile phone (even in switched off mode), pager or any electronic equipment or programmable device or storage media like pen drive, smart watches etc. or camera or blue tooth devices or any other equipment or related accessories either in working or switched off mode capable of being used as a communication device during the examination; or
• violating any of the instructions issued to candidates along with their Admission Certificates permitting them to take the examination, or

(xiii)attempting to commit or as the case may be abetting the Commission of all or any of the acts specified in the foregoing clauses; may in addition to rendering himself/herself liable to criminal prosecution, be liable.

(a) to be disqualified by the Commission from the examination for which he/she is a candidate and/or

(b) to be debarred either permanently or for a specified period by the Commission from any examination or selection held by them;

(ii) by the Central Government from any employment under them; and

• if he/she is already in service under Government to disciplinary action under the appropriate Rules.
• Provided that no penalty under these Rules shall be imposed except after
• giving the candidate an opportunity of making such representation, in writing as he/she may wish to make in that behalf; and
• taking the representation, if any, submitted by the candidate within the period allowed to him/her into consideration.

6. Last date for receipt of applications: The Online Applications can be filled up to 6th March, 2018 till 18:00 Hrs.

7. Correspondence with the Commission:

The Commission will not enter into any correspondence with the candidates about their candidature except in the following cases:

• The eligible candidates shall be issued an e-Admission Certificate three weeks before the commencement of the examination. The e-Admission Certificate will be made available on the UPSC website [www.upsc.gov.in] for downloading by candidates. No Admission Certificate will be sent by post. If a candidate does not receive his e-Admission Certificate or any other communication regarding his/her candidature for the examination three weeks before the commencement of the examination, he/she should at once contact the Commission. Information in this regard can also be obtained from the Facilitation Counter located in the Commission’s Office either in person or over phone Nos. 011-23381125/011-23385271/011-23098543. In case no communication is received in the Commission’s Office from the candidate regarding non-receipt of his/her e-Admission Certificate at least 3 weeks before the examination, he/she himself/herself will be solely responsible for non-receipt of his/her e- Admission Certificate. No candidate will ordinarily be allowed to take the examination unless he/she holds a certificate of admission for the examination. On downloading of e- Admission Certificate, check it carefully and bring discrepancies/errors, if any, to the notice of UPSC immediately.
• The candidates should note that their admission to the examination will be purely provisional based on the information given by them in the Application Form. This will be subject to verification of all the eligibility conditions by the UPSC.
• The mere fact that a certificate of admission to the Examination has been issued to a candidate, will not imply that his/her candidature has been finally cleared by the Commission or that entries made by the candidate in his/her application for the Preliminary examination have been accepted by the Commission as true and correct. Candidates may note that the Commission takes up the verification of eligibility conditions of a candidate, with reference to original documents, only after the candidate has qualified for Civil Services (Main) Examination. Unless candidature is formally confirmed by the Commission, it continues to be provisional.
• The decision of the Commission as to the eligibility or otherwise of a candidate for admission to the Examination shall be final.
• Candidates should note that the name in the Admission Certificate in some cases, may be abbreviated due to technical reasons.
• In the event of a candidate downloading more than one Admission Certificate from the Commission’s website, he/she should use only one of these Admission Certificates for appearing in the examination and report about the other(s) to the Commission’s Office.
• Candidates are informed that as the Preliminary Examination is only a screening test, no marks sheets will be supplied to successful or unsuccessful candidates and no correspondence will be entertained by the Commission, in this regard.
• Candidates must ensure that their emails IDs given in their online application are valid and active.

Important: All communications to the Commission should invariably contain the following particulars.

1. Name and year of the examination.

2. Registration ID (RID)

3. Roll Number (if received)

4. Name of candidate (in full and in block letters)

5. Complete postal address as given in the application.

N.B. I. Communication not containing the above particulars may not be attended to.

N.B. II. Candidates should also note down their RID number for future reference. They may be required to indicate the same in connection with their candidature for the Civil Services (Main) Examination.

8. The eligibility for availing reservation against the vacancies reserved for the physically disabled persons shall be the same as prescribed in ” The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, .” Provided further that the candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability shall also be required to meet special eligibility criteria in terms of physical requirements/functional classification (abilities/disabilities) consistent with requirements of the identified Service/Post as may be prescribed by its Cadre Controlling Authority at note-II of Para-1 of this Notice.

The physical requirement and functional classification can for example be one or more of the following:
Code Physical Requirements Code Functional Classification

• S Sitting OH Orthopaedically Handicapped
• ST Standing VH Visually Handicapped
• W Walking HH Hearing Handicapped
• SE Seeing OA One Arm
• H Hearing/Speaking OL One Leg
• RW Reading and Writing BA Both Arm
• C Communication BH Both Hands
• MF Manipulation by Finger MW Muscular Weakness
• PP Pushing & Pulling OAL One Arm One Leg
• L Lifting BLA Both Legs and Arms
• KC Kneeling and Croutching BLOA Both Legs One Arm
• BN Bending LV Low Vision
• M Movement B Blind
• CP Cerebral Palsy PD Partially Deaf
• LC Leprosy Cured FD Fully Deaf
• DW Dwarfism BL Both Legs

Note: The above list is subject to revision.

• A candidate will be eligible to get the benefit of community reservation only in case the particular caste to which the candidates belong is included in the list of reserved communities issued by the Central Government. If a candidate indicates in his/her application form for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination that he/she belongs to General category but subsequently writes to the Commission to change his/her category to a reserved one, such request shall not be entertained by the Commission. Similar principle will be followed for candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities categories also. While the above principle will be followed in general, there may be a few cases where there was a gap of not more than 3 months between the issuance of a Government Notification enlisting a particular community in the list of any of the reserved communities and the date of submission of the application by the candidate. In such cases the request of change of community from general to reserved may be considered by the Commission on merit. In case of a candidate unfortunately becoming physically disabled during the course of the examination process, the candidate should produce valid document showing him/her acquiring a disability to the extent of 40% or more as defined under The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, to enable him/her to get the benefits of PwBD reservation.
• Candidates seeking reservation/ relaxation benefits available for SC/ST/ OBC/Persons with Benchmark Disability/Ex-servicemen must ensure that they are entitled to such reservation/ relaxation as per eligibility prescribed in the Rules/Notice. They should also be in possession of all the requisite certificates in the prescribed format in support of their claim as stipulated in the Rules/ Notice for such benefits, and these certificates should be dated earlier than the due date (closing date) of the application for Civil Services (Prelims) Examination, 2018.
• Withdrawal of applications: NO request for withdrawal of candidature received from a candidate after he/she has submitted his/her application will be entertained under any circumstances.

Fees IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

• Candidates (excepting Female/SC/ST/Persons with Benchmark Disability Candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred only) either by remitting the money in any Branch of State Bank of India or by using Visa/Master/RuPay Credit/Debit Card or by using Internet Banking of SBI. Applicants who opt for “Pay by Cash” mode should print the system generated Pay-in-slip during part II registration and deposit the fee at the counter of SBI Branch on the next working day only. “Pay by Cash” mode will be deactivated at 23.59 hours of 05.03.2018 i.e. one day before the closing date; however applicants who have generated their Pay-in- Slip before it is deactivated may pay at the counter of SBI Branch during banking hours on the closing date. Such applicants who are unable to pay by cash on the closing date i.e during banking hours at SBI Branch, for reasons whatsoever, even if holding valid pay-in-slip will have no other offline option but to opt for available online Debit/Credit Card or Internet Banking payment mode on the closing date i.e. till 18:00 Hours of 06.03.2018.
• For the applicants in whose case payments details have not been received from the bank they will be treated as fictitious payment cases and a list of all such applicants shall be made available on the Commission website within two weeks after the last day of submission of online application.
• These applicants shall also be intimated through e-mail to submit copy of proof of their payment to the Commission at the address mentioned in the e-mail. The applicant shall be required to submit the proof within 10 days from the date of such communication either by hand or by speed post to the Commission. In case, no response is received from the applicants their applications shall be summarily rejected and no further correspondence shall be entertained in this regard.
• All female candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe/ Persons with Benchmark Disability categories are exempted from payment of fee. No fee exemption is, however, available to OBC candidates and they are required to pay the prescribed fee in full.
• Persons with Benchmark Disability are exempted from the payment of fee provided they are otherwise eligible for appointment to the Services/Posts to be filled on the results of this examination on the basis of the standards of medical fitness for these Services/Posts (including any concessions specifically extended to the Persons with Benchmark Disability). A candidate of Persons with Benchmark Disability claiming fee concession will be required by the Commission to submit along with their Detailed Application Form, a certified copy of the Certificate of Disability from a Government Hospital/Medical Board in support of his/her claim for belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disability.
• NB: Notwithstanding, the aforesaid provision for fee exemption, a candidate of Persons with Benchmark Disability will be considered to be eligible for appointment only if he/she (after such physical examination as the Government or the Appointing Authority, as the case may be, may prescribe) is found to satisfy the requirements of physical and medical standards for the concerned Services/Posts to be allocated to candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability by the Government.

Note I: Applications without the prescribed Fee (Unless remission of Fee is claimed) shall be summarily rejected.

Note II: Fee once paid shall not be refunded under any circumstances nor can the fee be held in reserve for any other examination or selection.

Note III: If any candidate who took the Civil Services Examination held in 2017 wishes to apply for admission to this examination, he/she must submit his/her application without waiting for the results or an offer of appointment.

Note IV: Candidates admitted to the Main Examination will be required to pay a further fee of Rs. 200/- (Rupees Two hundreds only).

Exam Pattern IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages (vide Appendix I Section-I)

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts noted above.

Applications are now invited for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination only. Candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will have to apply online again, in the Detailed Application Form which would be made available to them. The Main Examination is likely to be held in September 2018.

The competitive examination comprises two successive stages :

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination; and
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks in the subjects set out in sub-section of Section II. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission, to the Main Examination.

Note I : The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Services (Main) Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies Paper-II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination as may be determined by the Commission.

Note II : There will be negative marking for incorrect answers (as detailed below) for all questions except some of the questions where the negative marking will be inbuilt in the form of different marks being awarded to the most appropriate and not so appropriate answer for such questions.

• There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
• If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happen to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.
• If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
• The Main Examination will consist of written examination and an interview test. The written examination will consist of 9 papers of conventional essay type in the subjects set out in sub-section (B) of Section II out of which two papers will be of qualifying in nature. Also see Note (ii) under Para I of Section II (B) Marks obtained for all the compulsory papers (Paper-I to Paper-VII) and Marks obtained in Interview for Personality Test will be counted for ranking.

4.1 Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an interview for a Personality Test, vide sub-section ‘C’ of Section II. The number of candidates to be summouned for interview will be about twice of the number of vacancies to be filled. The interview will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).

4.2 Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and posts.

SECTION II

Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary and Main Examination.

A. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION :

• The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
• Note : Boe question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions).
• The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
• The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.
• Each paper will be of two hours duration. Blind candidates and the candidates with Locomotor Disability and Cerebral Palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function (minimum of 40% impairment) will; however, be allowed an extra time of twenty minutes per hour for each paper.

MAIN EXAMINATION :

The written examination will consist of the following papers :—

Qualifying Papers :

Paper-A

(One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution). 300 Marks

Paper-B
English 300 Marks
Papers to be counted for merit
Paper-I
Essay 250 Marks
Paper-II
General Studies-I 250 Marks
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and
Geography of the World and Society)
Paper-III
General Studies -II 250 Marks
(Governance, Constitution, Polity,
Social Justice and International relations)
Paper-IV
General Studies -III 250 Marks
(Technology, Economic Development,
Bio-diversity, Environment, Security
and Disaster Management)
Paper-V
General Studies -IV 250 Marks
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
Paper-VI
Optional Subject – Paper 1 250 Marks
Paper-VII
Optional Subject – Paper 2 250 Marks
Sub Total (Written test) 1750 Marks
Personality Test 275 Marks
Grand Total 2025 Marks

Candidates may choose any one of the optional subjects from amongst the list of subjects given in para 2 below :—

NOTE :

• The papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and paper B) will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
• Evaluation of the papers, namely, ‘Essay’, ‘General Studies’ and Optional Subject of all the candidates would be done simultaneously along with evaluation of their qualifying papers on ‘Indian Languages’ and ‘English’ but the papers on Éssay’, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates will be taken cognizance who attain 25% marks in ‘Indian Language’ and 25% in English as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.
• The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
• The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for Candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disability (only Hearing Impairment sub-category) provided that they have been granted such exemption from 2nd or 3rd language courses by the concerned education Board/University. The candidate needs to provide an undertaking/self declaration in this regard in order to claim such exemption to the Commission.
• Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper I-VII only will be counted for merit ranking. However, the Commis-sion will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all of these papers.

For the Language medium/literature of languages, the scripts to be used by the candidates will be as under :—

Language Script

• Assamese Assamese
• Bengali Bengali
• Gujarati Gujarati
• Hindi Devanagari
• Kannada Kannada
• Kashmiri Persian
• Konkani Devanagari
• Malayalam Malayalam
• Manipuri Bengali
• Marathi Devanagari
• Nepali Devanagari
• Odia Odia
• Punjabi Gurumukhi
• Sanskrit Devanagari
• Sindhi Devanagari or Arabic
• Tamil Tamil
• Telugu Telugu
• Urdu Persian
• Bodo Devanagari
• Dogri Devanagari
• Maithilli Devanagari
• Santhali Devanagari or Olchiki

Note : For Santhali language, question paper will be printed in Devanagari script; but candidates will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki.

List of optional subjects for Main Examination :

• Agriculture
• Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
• Anthropology
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Commerce and Accountancy
• Economics
• Electrical Engineering
• Geography
• Geology
• History
• Law
• Management
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Medical Science
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Political Science and International Relations
• Psychology
• Public Administration
• Sociology
• Statistics
• Zoology

Literature of any one of the following languages:

Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.

NOTE :

• The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
• Each paper will be of three hours duration.
• Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the Qualifying Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India or in English. Notwithstanding this, the Candidate will have the choice to write the Optional Papers in English also if candidates opt to write Paper I-V except the Qualifying Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the language included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
• Candidates exercising the option to answer Papers in any one of the languages included in the Eight Schedule to the Constitution of India mentioned above may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the version in the language opted by them. Candidates should, however, note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases; their script(s) will not be valued for being in an unauthorized medium.
• The question papers (other than the literature of language papers) will be set in Hindi and English only.
• The details of the syllabi are set out in Part B of Section III.
• General Instructions (Preliminary as well as Main Examination) :
• Candidates must write the papers in their own hand. In no circumstances will they be allowed the help of a scribe to write the answers for them. However, blind candidates and candidates with Locomotor Disability and Cerebral Palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function (minimum of 40% impairment) will be allowed to write the examination with the help of a scribe in both the Civil Services (Preliminary) as well as in the Civil Services (Main) Examination.
• Compensatory time of twenty minutes per hour shall be permitted for the Blind candidates and the candidates with locomotor disability and cerebral palsy where dominant (writing) extremity is affected to the extent of slowing the performance of function (minimum of 40% impairment) in both the Civil Services (Preliminary) as well as in the Civil Services (Main) Examination.

Note (1) : The eligibility conditions of a scribe, his/ her conduct inside the examination hall and the manner in which and extent to which he/she can help the blind candidate in writing the Civil Services Examination shall be governed by the instructions issued by the UPSC in this regard. Violation of all or any of the said instructions shall entail the cancellation of the candidature of the blind candidate in addition to any other action that the UPSC may take against the scribe.

Note (2) : For purpose of these rules the candidate shall be deemed to be a blind candidate if the percentage of visual impairment is Forty per cent (40%) or more. The criteria for determining the percentage of visual impairment shall be as follows :—

Note (3) : For availing of the concession admissible to a blind candidate, the candidate concerned shall produce a certificate in the prescribed proforma from a Medical Board constituted by the Central/State Governments along with their application for the Main Examination.

Note (4) : The concession admissible to blind candidates shall not be admissible to those suffering from Myopia.

• The Commission have discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the subjects of the examination.
• If a candidate’s handwriting is not easily legible, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to him.
• Marks will not be allotted for mere superficial knowledge.
• Credit will be given for orderly, effective and exact expression combined with due economy of words in all subjects of the examination.
• In the question papers, wherever required, SI units will be used.
• Candidates should use only International form of Indian numerals (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc.) while answering question papers.
• Candidates will be allowed the use of Scientific (Non-Programmable type) Calculators at the conventional (Essay) type examination of UPSC. Programmable type calculators will however not be allowed and the use of such calculators shall tantamount to resorting to unfair means by the candidates. Loaning or interchanging of calculators in the Examination Hall is not permitted.
• It is also important to note that candidates are not permitted to use calculators for answering objective type papers (Test Booklets). They should not therefore bring the same inside the Examination Hall.

C. Interview Test

• The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his career. He will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. In broad terms this is really an assessment of not only his intellectual qualities but also social traits and his interest in current affairs. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.
• The technique of the interview is not that of a strict cross-examination but of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation which is intended to reveal the mental qualities of the candidate.
• The interview test is not intended to be a test either of the specialised or general knowledge of the candidates
• which has been already tested through their written papers. Candidates are expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in their special subjects of academic study but also in the events which are happening around them both within and outside their own State or Country as well as in modern currents of thought and in new discoveries which should rouse the curiosity of well educated youth.

Syllabus IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

DOWNLOAD / VIEW / PRINT SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION

Candidates are advised to go through the Syllabus published for the IAS Preliminary Examination and the Main Examination, as periodic revision of syllabus has been done in several subjects.

Question Paper IAS 2018 Previous Year Paper Civil Services Preliminary 2017

Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2017

Optional Subjects

• Agriculture Paper – I
• Agriculture Paper – II
• Animal Hus. & Vet. Sc. Paper – I
• Animal Hus. & Vet. Sc. Paper – II
• Anthropology Paper – I
• Anthropology Paper – II
• Botany Paper – I
• Botany Paper – II
• Chemistry Paper – I
• Chemistry Paper – II
• Civil Engineering Paper – I
• Civil Engineering Paper – II
• Commerce & Accountancy Paper – I
• Commerce & Accountancy Paper – II
• Economics Paper – I
• Economics Paper – II
• Electrical Engineering Paper – I
• Electrical Engineering Paper – II
• Geography Paper – I
• Geography Paper – II
• Geology Paper – I
• Geology Paper – II
• History Paper – I
• History Paper – II
• Law Paper – I
• Law Paper – II
• Management Paper – I
• Management Paper – II
• Mathematics Paper – I
• Mathematics Paper – II
• Mechanical Engineering Paper – I
• Mechanical Engineering Paper – II
• Medical Science Paper – I
• Medical Science Paper – II
• Philosophy Paper – I
• Philosophy Paper – II
• Physics Paper – I
• Physics Paper – II
• Political Science & IR Paper – I
• Political Science & IR Paper – II
• Psychology Paper – I
• Psychology Paper – II
• Public Administration Paper – I
• Public Administration Paper – II
• Sociology Paper – I
• Sociology Paper – II
• Statistics Paper – I
• Statistics Paper – II
• Zoology Paper – I
• Zoology Paper – II

Literature Subjects

• Assamese Paper – I
• Assamese Paper – II
• Bengali Paper – I
• Bengali Paper – II
• Bodo Paper – I
• Bodo Paper – II
• English Paper – I
• English Paper – II
• Gujarati Paper – I
• Gujarati Paper – II
• Hindi Paper – I
• Hindi Paper – II
• Kannada Paper – I
• Kannada Paper – II
• Maithili Paper – I
• Maithili Paper – II
• Malayalam Paper – I
• Malayalam Paper – II
• Manipuri Paper – I
• Manipuri Paper – II
• Marathi Paper – I
• Marathi Paper – II
• Nepali Paper – I
• Nepali Paper – II
• Oriya Paper – I
• Oriya Paper – II
• Punjabi Paper – I
• Punjabi Paper – II
• Sanskrit Paper – I
• Sanskrit Paper – II
• Sindhi (Devanagari) Paper – I
• Sindhi (Devanagari) Paper – II
• Tamil Paper – I
• Tamil Paper – II
• Telugu Paper – I
• Telugu Paper – II
• Urdu Paper – I
• Urdu Paper – II

Compulsory Subjects

• Essay
• English
• Assamese
• Bengali
• Bodo
• Gujarati
• Hindi
• Kannada
• Maithili
• Malayalam
• Marathi
• Nepali
• Oriya
• Punjabi
• Sindhi (Devanagari)
• Sanskrit
• Tamil
• Telugu
• Urdu

General Studies

• General Studies Paper – I
• General Studies Paper – II
• General Studies Paper – III
• General Studies Paper – IV

CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMINARY) EXAM. 2017

• General Studies Paper – I
• General Studies Paper – II

Civil Services (Main) Examination,

CENTRES OF IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary

The Examination will be held at the following Centres for IAS 2018 Civil Services Preliminary:

The centres and the date of holding the examination as mentioned above are liable to be changed at the discretion of the Commission. Applicants should note that there will be a ceiling on the number of candidates allotted to each of the Centres, except Chennai, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur. Allotment of Centres will be on the “first-apply-first allot” basis, and once the capacity of a particular Centre is attained, the same will be frozen. Applicants, who cannot get a Centre of their choice due to ceiling, will be required to choose a Centre from the remaining ones. Applicants are, thus, advised that they may apply early so that they could get a Centre of their choice. NB: Notwithstanding the aforesaid provision, the Commission reserves the right to change the Centres at their discretion if the situation demands. All the Examination Centres for CS (P) 2018 Examination will cater to examination for Low Vision Candidates in their respective centres. Candidates admitted to the examination will be informed of the time table and place or places of examination. The candidates should note that no request for change of centre will be entertained.

Related Posts : IAS UPSC Civil Sevices