The process of the online application process started once the Civil Services Examination (CSE) notification, released. The Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) official calendar stated that the last date to apply for the CSE 2019 preliminary exam will be 18 March.
The candidates interested to appear for the preliminary exam for IAS, IPS, and IFS can apply on UPSC’s official website (upsc.gov.in). The exam will be conducted on 2 June 2019. The important dates are:-
- Date of Notification for Civil Service Prelims and Indian Forest Service Prelims: February 19, 2019
- Last date to apply for Civil Service Prelims and Indian Forest Service Prelims: March 18, 2019
- Date of UPSC CSE Prelims 2019 and IFS Prelims 2018: June 02, 2019
- Date of UPSC CSE Mains 2019: September 20, 2019
- Date of UPSC IFS Mains 2019: December 01, 2019 (Only for Indian Forest Service Aspirants)
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.
GS Paper -II (popularly known as CSAT) has been made qualifying in nature. This means that the candidate has to just score 33% marks in it. Only marks for GS Paper 1 will be counted for selection towards Mains.
Mains: The written examination (main) will consist of the following 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 UPSC each year.
Personality Test: 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 object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to judge the mental caliber of a candidate.