UPSC Civil Service Exams 2024 registration notification to be out on February 14, Check important details

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is scheduled to release the notification of the Civil Service Examination (CSE) 2024 on February 14.

The annual calendar of UPSC 2024 exams was out on May 10, 2023. As per the annual calendar, the CSE 2024 notification will be released on February 14, 2024 and registration process for the preliminary exams is expected to begin on the same day.

The last date for the registration is March 5, 2024, while, the prelims exam is scheduled to be held on May 26, 2024. Those who clear the prelims will be eligible to attend the mains exam, which will begin from September 20, 2024.

Here’s further details of the examination

Exam Pattern:

The exam is held in three stages:

• Stage I: Preliminary Examination
• Stage II: Mains Examination
• Stage III: UPSC Personality Test

Syllabus and Other details:

Prelims:

This is the first stage of the examination and contains two papers. These papers include General Studies-I and General Studies-II (CSAT).

• The questions in the Prelims are of the objective type or Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
• There is ‘Negative Marking’ in the UPSC CSE Exam for each incorrect answer but only in the Prelims stage. The negative marking for incorrect answers will be 1/3rd (0.66) of the allotted marks of that question.
• The GS Paper II (CSAT) is of qualifying nature and candidates should score a minimum of 33 per cent in this paper to qualify to the next stage of the UPSC CSE.
• It is mandatory for the candidates to appear in both the papers of civil services prelims exam for the evaluation.
• The marks scored by the candidates in the preliminary examination are not counted for the final score. It is only a screening test where candidates not securing the cut-off marks are eliminated.

Mains

The second stage of the UPSC CSE is called the Mains Exam. This is a written descriptive examination and comprises 9 papers. The 9 papers in UPSC CSE (Mains) are as follows: Paper-A (Compulsory Indian Language); Paper –B (English) which are qualifying in nature, while the other papers like Essay, General Studies Papers I, II, III, and IV, and Optional Papers I and II are considered for the final ranking.

Interview/Personality Test

Candidates who clear the Mains exam qualify for the final stage of the CSE exam i.e., the Personality Test or Interview round with the UPSC Board Members. The candidates who qualify to the final stage will be sent an e-summon by the Commission for a face-to-face discussion round with the board members. In this round, the board evaluates the personality traits of the candidates and questions will be asked on their hobbies, current affairs, general knowledge, situation questions, etc. to evaluate if they are fit for a career in the civil services or not. The interview round is held only in the UPSC Bhavan in New Delhi.

Age Limit and Attempts:

For general category, the candidate, must be between the ages of 21 and 32, and must not have attempted the CSE exam 6 times.

A graduation degree is must for the candidates to become eligible for the examination. However, the upper age limit is relaxed for certain categories like SC, ST, OBC, defence services personnel and more.

Registration Procedure:

• Go to the official website of UPSC at upsconline.nic.in
• Click on the registration link and register on the portal
• Enter the login details or registration details.
• Fill in the application form and make the payment of application fees.
• Click on the ‘Submit’ and then follow the next set of procedures.
• After application has been submitted. Download the page and keep a hard copy for future reference.