UPSC PRELIMS EXAM
-OVERVIEW-
UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination (Prelims)
The UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination (Prelims) is the first stage of the Civil Services Examination. It is an objective-type screening test, conducted to shortlist candidates for the UPSC Mains Examination. Marks obtained in Prelims are not counted in the final merit list, but qualifying this stage is mandatory to appear for Mains.Structure of UPSC Prelims
The UPSC Prelims consists of two compulsory papers conducted on the same day
Paper-I: General Studies (GS)
- Total Questions: 100
- Total Marks: 200
- Duration: 2 Hours
Negative Marking: 1/3rd mark deducted for each wrong answer
Nature: Merit-based (Cut-off deciding)
Key Areas Covered:
- Current Events of National & International Importance
- History of India and Indian National Movement
- Indian Polity & Governance
- Indian and World Geography
- Economic and Social Development
- Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity & Climate Change
- General Science
Paper-II: CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test)
- Total Questions: 80
- Total Marks: 200
- Duration: 2 Hours
Negative Marking: 1/3rd mark deducted for each wrong answer
Nature: Qualifying( Minimum 33% marks required )
Key Areas Covered:
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal Skills & Communication
- Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
- General Mental Ability
- Decision-Making & Problem Solving
- Data Interpretation
- Basic Numeracy (Class X level)
PAPER-1 GENERAL STUDIES(GS)
100
QUESTIONS
200
MARKS
2
HOURS DURATION
NEGATIVE MARKING: 1/3rd
of MARK DEDUCTED FOR WRONG ANSWERS
KEY AREAS COVERED:
- Current events of national and international importance.
- History of India and Indian National Movement.
- Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
- Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights
- Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, et
- General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.
- General Science.
- PRELIMS is screening test
- GS PAPER counts for merit
PAPER-1 GENERAL STUDIES(GS)
(CIVIL SERVICES APTITUDE TEST)
80
QUESTIONS
200
MARKS
2
HOURS DURATION
QUALIFYING NATURE
33% MARKS MUST
KEY AREAS COVERED:
- Comprehension;
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability;
- Decision making and problem solving;
- General mental ability;
- Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitu interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. Class
- Note 1: Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
- Note 2: The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
- Note 3: It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.
- GS PAPER counts for merit
- CSAT is qualifying(33%)
