UPSC Exam 2024 is one of the biggest, most popular recruitment exams in the country. Check UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 Exam Date, UPSC Exam 2024 Eligibility Criteria, Age Limit and how to crack the three-stage examination.
New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts an annual recruitment exam which is considered as one of the toughest, most prestigious and biggest recruitment examinations in India. The UPSC CSE Prelims 2025 Exam Date is May 26, 2024. Interested candidates must know that to be recruited for the government positions offered by UPSC, they have to clear three examination stages- UPSC Preliminary Examination, UPSC Mains Examination and UPSC Interview. The UPSC Calendar 2024 was released on May10, 2023, according to which, the UPSC CSE Notification 2024 will come out on February 14, 2024 which will also mark the beginning of the Filling of UPSC CSE 2024 Applications; the last date for application form filling is March 5, 2024. The UPSC CSE Mains 2024 will be held on September 20, 2024 while the date for UPSC 2024 Interview and UPSC 2024 Final Results has not yet been announced. Take a look at the UPSC CSE 2024 Vacancies, Eligibility Criteria, Age Limit, Paper Pattern and How To Qualify..
UPSC Exam 2024: Eligibility Criteria
There is a specific eligibility criteria that the interested candidates must meet, to appear for the UPSC Exam 2024. The candidate must be a citizen of India and should have a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university. Candidates who are in their final year of graduation, can also apply provisionally but it is required for them to submit proof of the passing of degree examination before the date specified.
UPSC Exam 2024: Number Of Attempts, Age Limit
Candidates who belong to the General Category can have six attempts, OBC category candidates can take nine attempts and there is no restriction in terms of the number of attempts for those who are from the SC/ST category. The age limit specified for candidates is that they should be between 21 and 32 years of age, as of August 1 in the year of examination. There are specific age relaxations for candidates belonging to other reserved categories.
UPSC Exam 2024: Paper Pattern
The first stage of this three-stage examination is the UPSC Prelims 2024 which is objective in nature (Multiple Choice Questions) and has two papers; their duration is two hours each and the papers are conducted on the same day. These papers are-
- Paper 1: General Studies (GS) of 200 marks
- Paper 2: Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) of 200 marks
The exam pattern for UPSC Mains 2024 is different; unlike the preliminary examination, this is a written exam which comprises of a total of nine papers out of which two are qualifying papers and seven are merit-based. The duration of each paper is three hours.
The Qualifying Papers include-
- Paper A: One of the Indian languages- 300 marks (as mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India)
- Paper B: English- 300 marks
The Merit Based Papers Include-
Paper I: Essay- 250 Marks
Paper 2: General Studies I- 250 marks
Paper 3: General Studies II- 250 marks
Paper 4: General Studies III- 250 marks
Paper 5: General Studies IV- 250 Marks
Paper 6: Optional Subject (First Paper)- 250 marks
Paper 7: Optional Subject (Second Paper)- 250 marks
UPSC Exam 2024: Vacancies
Interested candidates must note that the total number of vacancies will be released officially in the UPSC Notification 2024. The posts division is done in two categories- Group A (All India Services) and Group B (Central Services). The key posts include the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Police Services (IPS), Indian Foreign Services (IFS), Indian Revenue Services (IRS), Indian Audit and Accounts Services (IAAS), Indian Information Services (IIS), Indian Trade Services (ITS), Indian Postal Services (IPoS), Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS), Indian Railway Accounts Services (IRAS), Indian Railway Personnel Services (IRPS) and Indian Railway Protection Force (IRPF) among others.
UPSC Exam 2024: How To Qualify
As mentioned earlier, to qualify for the above mentioned posts, the interested candidates are expected to clear a total of three stages of examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), namely, the Prelims, the Mains and the Interview. UPSC Prelims and Mains 2024 Paper Pattern has been mentioned above, let us know about the UPSC Interview.
This personal interview round is to assess the personality, communication skills, leadership qualities and overall suitability of the candidates; it is conducted by a panel of experts and is worth 275 marks. The final selection is done on the basis of the total marks obtained by the candidate in the Mains Paper and the Personal Interview. The prelims are only considered as a screening test, its marks are not counted in the final merit list.