Exam Pattern

The entrance for Civil Services comprises of two successive stages:
 
• Preliminary Examination (Written) 
• Main Examination (Written and Interview) 
 
The details follow:
 
Preliminary Examination (held in May) 
 
Paper I General Studies (200 Marks) 
Paper II Aptitude Skills (200 Marks) 
 
Total Marks: 400
 
• Both papers will consist of Objective (multiple choice answer) Type questions only. 
• Question Papers will be set both in Hindi and English. 
• The marks obtained in the Preliminary exam will not be counted in the final merit list/rank. 
• There will be a penalty of 1/3rd marks for an incorrect answer. 
 
More details about Preliminary Exam 
 
Main Examination (held in October/November)
 
Paper I One of the Indian Languages chosen from the prescribed list (300 Marks) 
Paper II English (300 Marks) 
Paper III Essay (200 Marks) 
Paper IV Optional Subject 1 (300 Marks) 
Paper V Optional Subject 1 (300 Marks) 
Paper VI Optional Subject 2 (300 Marks) 
Paper VII Optional Subject 2 (300 Marks) 
 
Total Marks: 2000
 
• The papers on Indian Languages and English 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. 
• The paper on Indian Languages will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the North-Eastern States of Arunachanl Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and also for candidates hailing from the State of Sikkim. 
• All the papers will consist of Conventional (essay) Type questions only. 
• All Question Papers, other than language papers, will be set both in Hindi and English. 
• Commission have discretion to fix qualifying marks (to qualify for the Interview/Personality test) in any or all the subjects of the examination. 
• Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers viz. Papers I and II above in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in English. 
• Candidates exercising the option to answer papers III to IX in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution 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. 
 
More details about Main Exam 
 
Interview (held in March/April)
 
• The interview will carry 300 marks. 
• The number of candidates called for Interview will be twice the number of vacancies 
• Total marks obtained by the candidate in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine his/her final ranking. 
 
List of Optional Subjects:
 
• Agriculture 
• Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science 
• Botany 
• Chemistry 
• Civil Engineering 
• Commerce 
• Economics 
• Electrical Engineering 
• Geography 
• Geology 
• Indian History 
• Law 
• Mathematics 
• Mechanical Engineering 
• Medical Science 
• Philosophy 
• Physics 
• Political Science 
• Psychology 
• Public Administration 
• Sociology 
• Statistics 
• Zoology