The civil services offer fine opportunities to the youth for serving the people. Our country needs honest, efficient, competent and dynamic officers who know the ethos of the land. Because of the remarkable success of candidates from Kerala in the challenging civil services examination in recent times, it has become a rage among the youth of the State.
Pessimists may contend that the pass percentage is abysmally low, making the effort of most candidates futile. In 2014, nearly 9.5 lakh candidates filed their applications. In 2016, there would be a million applicants, half of whom may appear in the preliminary exam, competing for a thousand seats. But there is a positive side. A candidate who prepares steadily for nearly 15 months with commitment for improving language skills, widening general knowledge, mastering strategies for facing objective as well as descriptive questions, perfecting interview techniques and building self-confidence will certainly have developed strong competitive muscles. This will help the candidate in winning any other competition of a similar nature. However, let us focus on success. The selection would be for nearly 24 services including the IFS, IAS and IPS.
PatternWe can divide the examination into three stages: preliminary, main and interview.
The preliminary stage consists of two papers, each of two hours. Each paper carries 200 marks and contains only objective-type multiple-choice questions, with 4 options against each question. There is negative marking for wrong answers. Paper 1 focuses on knowledge, while Paper 2 stresses logic. Calculators are not allowed in the test. You should score at least 33 per cent marks in Paper 2. The marks scored in the preliminary examination do not count for the final ranking. This is only a screening test for selecting the candidates for the main examination. The number of candidates to be admitted to the main examination will be about 13 times the vacancies.
The main examination consists of nine papers of conventional (essay) type questions. Non-programmable calculators are allowed.
Paper A: An Indian language chosen by the candidate from the eighth schedule of the Constitution.
Paper B: English
The marks scored in Papers A and B will not count for ranking. You should score at least 25 per cent marks in each of these papers to be qualified for the Mains.
The core of the civil services examination lies in the remaining seven papers, each with 250 marks. The total marks scored in these seven papers and the marks in the interview (personality test of 275 marks) put together decide the rank in the test. The remaining seven papers are:
Paper – I: Essay
Paper – II: General Studies I (Indian heritage and culture, history and geography of the world and society).
Paper – III: General Studies –II (Governance, Constitution, polity, social justice and international relations).
Paper – IV: General Studies III (Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environment, security and disaster management).
Paper – V: General Studies IV (Ethics, integrity and aptitude).
Paper – VI: Optional Subject – Paper 1.
Paper – VII: Optional Subject – Paper 2.
For papers VI and VII, you may choose one optional subject from a list of 48 (25 subjects and literature of 23 languages). For full information about the test, you may go to the UPSC web site links www.upsc.gov.in – Examination – Notifications – Archival – Civil Services Prelim – 2015 ( English).
EligibilityAnyone with a university degree or equivalent can apply for the civil services examination. There is no minimum mark restriction. Age limit: 21 to 32 years on August 1 of the year of notification. The upper-age limit can be relaxed in eligible cases. A candidate can appear in the examination six times. OBC and physically challenged candidates are allowed nine attempts. SC / ST candidates can appear any number of times, subject to other conditions of eligibility.
