The Exam Pattern of the UPSC Civil Services IAS Prelims Examination
The Prelims Examination is an Objective type of Examination with Multiple Choice Questions (the candidate has to choose an option from the given options for that question). This examination consists of two papers namely Paper I and Paper II. ThePaper I contains 200 marks and Paper II also contains 200 marks. The Duration forPaper I is 2 hours as well as Paper II is also 2 hours. The exam Pattern of the UPSC Civil Services IAS Prelims Examination is as follows:
| Name of the Paper | No. of Questions | Duration Given | Marks. |
| Paper I: General Studies. | 100 | 2 Hours. | 200 |
| Paper II: Aptitude. | 80 | 2 Hours. | 200 |
| Total Marks. | 400 |
Note: The marks which are secured in the prelims are only for qualifying the Mains Examination. It is not counted to determine the order of merit. The Qualifying marksfor Paper II: Aptitude is 33%. But the candidates will be promoted to the Mains only based on the Qualifying marks in Paper I: General Studies.
UPSC Exam Pattern of the UPSC Civil Services IAS Mains Examination
The Mains Examination is a written Examination. It consists of 9 Papers out of which 2 are Qualifying in nature namely Paper A and Paper B; remaining 7 papers which are namely Paper I to Paper VII which are based on Ranking. The Questions will beavailable in Hindi as well as English in the Question Papers.
| S.No. | Name of the Paper. | Name of the Subject. | Marks. |
| 1. | Paper-A. | Modern Indian Language. (Qualifying Paper). | 300. |
| 2. | Paper-B. | English (Qualifying Paper). | 300. |
| 3. | Paper-I. | Essay. | 250. |
| 4. | Paper-II. | General studies-I. | 250. |
| 5. | Paper-III. | General studies-II. | 250. |
| 6. | Paper-IV. | General studies-III. | 250. |
| 7. | Paper-V. | General studies-IV. | 250. |
| 8. | Paper-VI. | Optional Subject (Paper-1). | 250. |
| 9. | Paper-VII. | Optional Subject (Paper-2). | 250. |
| Sub-Total. | 1750. | ||
| Interview. | 275. | ||
| Total. | 2025. |
The Final Ranking of the candidates: This is done based on the marks obtained in theMains and the Interview.