A career in civil services gives you the opportunity to participate in governance and making important policy decisions for the country. There is immense prestige and power attached to the services and one travels the lengths and breadths of the country meeting different types of people often listening to their problems and come up with solutions to resolve those problems. Thus, it has immense opportunities to fulfil desire to provide social service to people in need and serving your country. Entry to these are based on one of the toughest exams conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.

All India Services

• Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
• Indian Police Service(IPS)

Central Services (Group A)

• Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
• Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS)
• Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
• Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
• Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
• Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
• Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
• Indian Information Service (IIS)
• Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)
• Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
• Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
• Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)
• Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)
• Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
• Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
• Indian Trade Service (ITrS)
• Railway Protection Force (RPF)

Group B Services

• Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHCS)
• Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS)
• Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS)
• Pondicherry Civil Service (PCS)
• Pondicherry Police Service (PPS)

Exam Details

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to various Civil Services.

It is conducted in Following phases

• Preliminary examination,
• Main examination,
• Personality Test (Interview)

The entire process from the notification of the Preliminary examination to declaration of the final results takes roughly one year.

First Stage-Preliminary Exam

This is qualifying test held in August every year, Notification for this is published in May and results are published in mid-October.

Both papers have multiple choice objective type questions only

The merit determined purely on the basis of marks obtained in the General Studies Paper I, provided the candidate has minimum qualifying marks for General Studies Paper II. Prelims merit ranking will be out of 200 marks

Second Stage- Main Examination

• Main Examination includes written examination and an interview test.
• 9 papers of conventional essay type.
• Duration: 3 hour each
• First two papers (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.
• 25% marks in Paper A and 25% marks in Paper B as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.
• Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper-I-VII only will be counted for merit ranking. However, the Commission will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all of these papers.

• Analytical
• Self motivated
• A responsible attitude
• Excellent communication skills
• A hunger for improving knowledge
• Keen interest in the General Studies
• Individual player
• Socialist

• Nationality: A citizen of India
• Age Limits: Candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st August of the year in which examination is being held. Some relaxations for special categories.
• Qualification: Graduation in any stream

• Be responsible for the law and order and general administration of the area under your jurisdiction
• Advise and support government officials and implement the defined policy decisions
• Handle daily affairs of the government, including framing and implementation of policy
• Liaison and consult with the Ministers and other government servants
• Supervise and ensure proper enforcement of rules and policies
• Be part of the process of final policy formulation and decision making along with high level officers and Ministers
• Handle enquiries and requests from the public in person, by use of electronic & social media