- Facts every aspirant should know
UPSC Full Form is Union Public Service Commission. On 7th August 2020, Pradeep Kumar Joshi has been appointed because of the chairman of UPSC. He was earlier a member of the UPSC. He will remain within the UPSC office because the chairman till 12th May 2021. Aspirants preparing for the IAS Exam should thoroughly realize the commission because the latter is responsible to conduct the All-India Civil Services Examination. Questions on the composition of UPSC, Chairman of UPSC, Functions of UPSC is asked within the prelim. Read on to understand the answers to all or any or any of these.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) isn't an exam but it is a constitutional body which is permitted to conduct various exams within the country one in every of which is the Civil Services Exam, while Indian Administrative Services (IAS) which is commonly called the IAS Exam is additionally not an exam and is one among the civil services post among the others like IPS, IFS and etc. to which candidates can get into through the Civil Services Exam.
Name and Details |
Designation |
Shri Pradeep Kumar Joshi |
Present UPSC Chairman |
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Joshi |
Member |
Shri Bhim Sain Bassi |
Member |
Air Marshal A. S. Bhonsle (retd.) |
Member |
Ms. Sujata Mehta |
Member |
Dr. Manoj Soni |
Member |
Ms. Smita Nagaraj |
Member |
Ms. M. Sathiyavathy |
Member |
Eligibility and Tenure of Chairman & MembersNote: Arvind Saxena was the UPSC Chairman before Pradeep Kumar Joshi. His tenure ended on 7th August 2020.
UPSC Exam: What is the UPSC Civil Services Examination?
Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the most popular exams conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. It is widely known as ‘IAS exam’ even though CSE is a common exam to recruit candidates to about 24 top government services like IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS etc.
UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) consists of 3 stages. The stages are:
There are 3 stages in the UPSC Civil Services Exam – (1) Preliminary Exam (Objective Test) (2) Main Exam (Written Test) (3) Personality Test (Interview).
Prelims – The Civil Services Preliminary exam comprises of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each (General Studies Paper-I and General Studies Paper-II). The questions will be of multiple-choice, objective type. The marks in prelims will not be counted for final ranking, but just for qualification for the main exam.
Mains – The written examination (main) will consist of the nine papers, but only 7 papers will be counted for final merit ranking. For the rest two papers, the candidate should secure minimum marks prescribed by the commission each year.
Interview – The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his/her career. He/she will be asked questions on matters of general interest.
The marks of the Preliminary Exam is not counted for the final ranking. Prelims is a screening test to select the candidates for the Main Exam. A candidate’s final rank in the Civil Service Exam depends only on the mark scored in the Main exam and Interview. The main exam has 1750 marks while interview has 275 marks. Total marks are calculated out of 2025.
Usually, UPSC conducts the Civil Services Preliminary Exam in June. The Main Exam is usually conducted in September. The Personality Test takes almost 3 months to finish. UPSC conducts the CSE interview (or personality test) in the months February – April.
The notification for UPSC Civil Services Examination for 2021 will be published on February 10, 2021. You can apply for the Civil Services Exam 2021 from February 10, 2021, until March 02, 2021.
The UPSC has released the Civil Services Examination (CSE) notification on February 12, 2021. Interested candidates can access the UPSC notification 2021 on its official website. The notification plays a significant role in the competitive examinations. It will display all the important details such as eligibility, selection procedure, exam pattern, marking scheme and syllabus. The UPSC recruitment notification 2021 was released for a total of 769 vacancies that include vacancies for PwBD category.
Exam Name |
UPSC Civil Services Exam (IAS) 2021 |
Conducting Body |
Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) |
Exam Level |
National |
UPSC Vacancies |
To be notified |
Exam Frequency |
Once a year |
Exam Mode |
Offline - Pen and Paper Mode |
Exam Stages |
Prelims - Mains(Written) - Mains(Interview) |
Application Fee(Prelims) |
100 |
Language |
Prelims - English and Hindi |
No. of Test Cities |
Test centres across the nation |
Exam Helpdesk No. |
011-23098543 / 23385271 / 23381125 / 23098591 |
Official Website |
https://www.upsc.gov.in/ |
Indian Administrative Services(IAS)
Indian Police Servies(IPS)
Indian Forest Services(IFoS) [Prelims Only]
The Civil Se rvices Examination (CSE) stands as one amongst the toughest examinations in the country. The year-long examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Every year, over 10 lakh aspirants compete for the All India Services, such as IAS, IPS and IFS. Along with Central Services, Group A and B Services are also equally popular across India. Depending upon the candidates' preference and rank, the Commission will allot the service. The UPSC conducts the CSE for a total of 24 services apart from Indian Forest Service (IFS). Check the UPSC services list here.
All India Services
1.Indian Administrative Service
2. Indian Police Service
3. Indian Foreign Service Group ‘A’ Services
4. Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service
5. Indian Audit and Accounts Service
6. Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
7. Indian Defence Accounts Service
8. Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
9. Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)
10. Indian Postal Service
11. Indian Civil Accounts Service
12. Indian Railway Traffic Service
13. Indian Railway Accounts Service
14. Indian Railway Personnel Service
15. Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force
16. Indian Defence Estates Service
17. Indian Information Service (Junior Grade)
18. Indian Trade Service
19. Indian Corporate Law Service
Indian Foreign Services(IFS) |
Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’ |
Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’ |
Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration) |
Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A' |
Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’ |
Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’ |
Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group ‘A’ |
Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' |
Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’ |
Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade). |
Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group 'B' |
Pondicherry Police Service, Group ‘B’ |
Pondicherry Civil Service, Group 'B' |
Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group 'B' |
A. UPSC Prelims 2021 will be conducted on June 27. The UPSC 2021 notification for civil services was released on March 4 after a delay of 22 days because of the Supreme court case on the extra attempt.
A. The educational qualification required to become an IAS Officer is a graduate degree in any discipline from any university established by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India. The candidates also visit IAS eligibility for details.
A. Every candidate has different needs and abilities. Joining a coaching institute is a very subjective decision. It can help some of the candidates in understanding the structure and pattern of IAS Exam but some of them find it useless. It differs from candidate to candidate.
A. Yes, any candidate can prepare for IAS exam without coaching. Nowadays so much information is available online which can help the candidates to prepare for IAS Exam by themselves. The candidate should select the best authentic source of information can prepare for the IAS Exam by themselves.
A. The candidates should start preparing the basics with the NCERT Books and Daily Newspaper. Complete the NCERT of History, Geography, Economics and Sociology first and then start reading the dedicated books for each subject supplemented with the Newspaper.
A. IAS means Indian Administrative Services and PCS means the Provincial Civil Services. IAS is one of the three All India Services. The recruitment for IAS is done by the Union Public Service Commission. PCS is the state-centric civil services recruited through the State Public Service Commissions.
A. There are 9 question papers in the IAS Main Exam. Out of these 9 question papers, the candidates need to qualify in the General English and General Hindi papers and their numbers are not counted for the final merit.
A. The IAS exam is an open platform with no limitation for the average students. There is no minimum percentage of marks required in the graduation course to appear in the IAS Exam. Each year, a good number of Average students crack the IAS Exam.
A. Ministry of Personnel, which works under the supervision of the Prime Minister of India, is the Cadre controlling authority for the IAS.
A. The IAS 2021 Notification was issued on March 4. The IAS 2021 Prelims will be conducted on June 27. IAS 2021 notification was delayed this year.
A. Yes, the State PCS Officers can be promoted to the IAS subject to certain conditions laid down by UPSC. Each year, out of the total vacancies of IAS, 33% is filled through the promotion.