UPSC PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2019

The process of registration for the UPSC Preliminary Examination has started w.e.f on February 19, 2019. The candidates can fill the application forms on the official website upsc.gov.in.All the prospective candidates vying for the coveted administrative positions of the country can apply for the competitive examination on the official website itself.

UPSC EXAMINATION

The UPSC or The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. The exam is conducted in three phases

i) Preliminary examination which consists of two objective-type papers

a) General Studies Paper I
b) General Studies Paper II

ii) The Mains

The mains examination comprises of nine papers of essay type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven paper are counted followed by a personality test (interview).
The Civil Services Examination is considered to be the most arduous and challenging exams in the country. The examination results are announced in the mid of August.

Stage I: Preliminary Examination – Held in June every year. Results are announced in August.
Stage II: Mains
Examination – Held in October every year. Results are announced in January.
Personality Test (interview) – Held in March. Final results are usually announced in May.[3]
The training program for the selected candidates usually commences the following September.

UPSC 2019 VACANCIES

For Vacancy details, eligibility and other important information the candidate can keep an update on the upsc.gov.in website. Apart from the services like IAS/IPS/IFS the UPSC fulfils the eligibility requirements for positions of IFoS (Indian Forest Services), IIS(Indian Information Services) and IDAS(Indian Defence Accounts Service ).

IMPORTANT DATES FOR UPSC EXAM REGISTRATION

The online registration would commence on ups online.nic.in. Instructions on filling the online application forms would be listed out.

Start of Online Application: February 19, 2019

Last date to apply online: March 18, 2019

Date of Preliminary Examination: June 2, 2019

Candidate to please note that the preliminary examination for Civil Services and Indian Forest Services would be conducted together. However, the main examination would be conducted for the candidates on separate dates. Civil Services 2019 Main examinations are scheduled to commence from September 20, 2019. IFS Mains 2019 would be conducted from December 1, 2019.

UPSC PROCESS OF SELECTION

The vacancies under the civil services would be listed via a detailed bulletin released on the UPSC site. Details of the vacancies under the Civil Servies would be notified in the detailed bulletin which would be released today on the official website. As mentioned before the process of recruitment involves 3 stages:
1) The Preliminary
2) The Mains
3) Personal Interview

UPSC Preliminary Exam Pattern

As mentioned before the year 2011 onwards, The preliminary examination, also popularly known as the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) (officially it is still called General Studies Paper-1 and Paper-2) targets the testing of the analytical abilities and aims at focussing on analytical abilities and understanding rather than the ability to memorize. The new pattern includes two papers of two hours duration and 200 marks each. Both papers have multiple choice objective type questions only.

Paper I

It tests the candidate’s knowledge on current events, history of India and Indian national movement, Indian and world geography, Indian polity Panchayati Raj system and governance, economic and social development, environmental ecology, biodiversity, climate change and general science, Art and culture.

Paper II

It tests the candidates’ skills in comprehension, interpersonal skills, communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem-solving, basic numeracy, data interpretation, English language comprehension skills and mental ability. The paper is only of qualifying nature and the marks obtained in this paper is not counted for merit. It is mandatory for the candidate to score a minimum of 33 per cent in this paper to qualify for the Prelims exam.
In August 2014, the Centre announced that English marks in CSAT-II will not be included for gradation or merit and 2011 candidates may get a second chance to appear for the test next year.

In May 2015, the Government of India announced that Paper II of the preliminary examination will be qualifying in nature i.e. it wouldn’t be graded for eligibility in Mains Examination & a candidate needs to secure at least 33% marks in order to be eligible for graded on basis of marks of Paper I of Preliminary Examination.Those who qualify the Prelims become eligible for the Mains.

UPSC Preliminary Examination Eligibility Criteria

An only Indian citizen can apply for IAS, IFS (Indian Foreign Services) and IPS services. For other posts, the following candidates are also eligible to apply, provided they have the necessary certificate issued by the Government of India.

Educational Qualification

All prospective candidates must have as a minimum one of the following educational qualifications:

i) Degree from a Central, State or a Deemed University
ii) Degree received through correspondence or distance education
iii) Degree from an open university OR
iv) Qualification recognized by the Government of India as being equivalent to one of the above

The following candidates are also eligible but must submit proof of their eligibility from a competent authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, failing which they will not be allowed to attend the exam.

• Candidates who have appeared in an examination, the passing of which would render them educationally qualified enough to satisfy one of the above points.
• Candidates who have passed the final exam of the MBBS degree but have not yet completed an internship.
• Candidates who have passed the final exam of ICAI, ICSI and ICWAI.
• Degree from a private university.
• Degree from any foreign university recognized by the Association of Indian Universities.

AGE

The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on August 1 of the year of examination. The age limits differ on the basis of a candidate’s category.

i) Other Backward Castes (OBC) the upper age limit is 35 years.
ii) Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the limit is 37 years.
iii) Defence Services Personnel disabled in operations during hostilities, the limit is 35 years.
iv) Candidates belonging to ex-servicemen including Commissioned officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered Military services for at least five years as on August 01, of the year and have been released

UPSC CS Prelims Exam 2019 APPLICATION PROCESS

The online application process is a two-step process:

i) Registration
ii) Filling of online application forms (PART I &PART II).
After the completion of the online forms, the candidate is prompted to pay the fees. Candidates should note that the submission of forms without the payment of the fees would lead to the rejection of the application. Also, candidates are not required to send the physical form anywhere. The last date to apply online is March 18, 2019. All the candidates are again advised to carefully go through the instructions before filling the online application forms.In order to be aware of the latest exam updates the candidate should visit the official website (www.upsc.gov.in) from time to time.