Candidates interested in recruitment to different posts under the civil services exam can apply for the same from the month of February 2024. Selection of candidates for various posts is done on the basis of a preliminary exam, main exam, and interview. Eligibility of the candidates along with the important documents is verified at the time of the interview. Before applying to these posts, the candidates are therefore advised to check their eligibility. Get complete details about the civil services exam 2024 here from this article.
Posts available under Civil Services
The civil services exam 2024 will be conducted for recruitment to the following posts:
- Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
- Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
- Indian Police Service (IPS)
- Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group ‘A’
- Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Railway Protection Force Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) Group ‘A’
- Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III)
- Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)
- Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS), Group ‘B’
- Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), Group ‘B’
- Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS), Group ‘B’
Civil Services Exam 2024 Important Dates
The table below provides the important dates (tentative) related to Civil Services Exam 2024:
| Events | Important Dates |
| Release of official notification | February 2024, 1st week |
| Availability of online application form | February 2024, 1st week |
| Last date to submit the application form | February 2024, 4th week |
| Opening of the application correction window | February 2024, 4th week |
| Closing of the application correction window | February 2024, last week |
| Opening of application withdrawal window | March 2024, 1st week |
| Closing of application withdrawal window | March 2024, 2nd week |
| Issue of admit card for preliminary exam | May 2024, 3rd week |
| Date of preliminary exam | May 2024, last week |
| Declaration of preliminary exam result | Yet to be notified |
| Availability of Detailed Application Form (DAF I) | Yet to be notified |
| Last date to submit DAF I | Yet to be notified |
| Issue of admit card for the main exam | Yet to be notified |
| Date of the main exam | Yet to be notified |
| Declaration of main exam result | Yet to be notified |
| Availability of Detailed Application Form (DAF II) | Yet to be notified |
| Last date to submit DAF II | Yet to be notified |
| Issue of admit card for interview | Yet to be notified |
| Date of interview | Yet to be notified |
| Declaration of the final result | Yet to be notified |
Civil Services Exam Eligibility Criteria 2024
The following eligibility criteria need to be fulfilled for Civil Services Exam 2024:
Nationality
For IAS, IPS & IFS:
- A candidate must be a citizen of India.
For other services, a candidate must be either:
- a citizen of India, or
- a subject of Nepal, or
- a subject of Bhutan, or
- a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 to permanently settle in India, or
- a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zaire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam to permanently settle in India
Age Limit:
- The age of the candidates should be between 21 and 32 years on the 1st of August, 2024.
Educational Qualification:
- A candidate must hold a Graduate degree from any of the recognized universities.
Medical and Physical Standards:
- Candidates must be physically and mentally fit.
Civil Services Exam 2024 Application Form
Candidates are required to apply for the preliminary exam online via the website www.upsconline.nic.in. At first, the candidates have to register themselves at the One Time Registration (OTR) platform. Registration can be done anytime during the year and the application form can be filled only after a successful registration.
- Personal details related to the candidates such as name, date of birth, nationality, parent’s name, etc will be asked in the application form.
- Details of qualifying exam like graduation marks, name of university, year of passing, etc also need to be provided in the form.
- Photographs and signatures of the candidates are required in the application form in scanned format.
- Candidates should also provide their choice for optional paper and exam center (city only) in the application form.
- The duly filled application form should be submitted by the candidates along with the prescribed application fee.
- Candidates who qualify for the main exam need to submit another Detailed Application Form (DAF I) and those who qualify for the interview need to submit DAF II.
Application fee
- General/ OBC candidates are required to pay an application fee of Rs. 100/-
- Female/ SC/ ST/ Persons with Benchmark Disability candidates are exempted from payment of the application fee.
- Payment of the application fee can be done using a debit card/ credit card, through net banking, or via cash.
Editing in application & registration form
- The facility to make changes in both registration (OTR) and application forms will be provided to the candidates.
- A correction window will be provided to the candidates for making changes in their registration and application forms.
- However, candidates must note that there will be separate windows for making corrections in both these forms.
Civil Services Exam Exam Pattern 2024
Check out the exam pattern for Civil Services Exam 2024:
Preliminary exam:
- Mode of exam: Offline
- Number of papers: 2
- Type of questions: Objective type
- Total marks: 400
- Duration of exam: 4 hours
- Question paper language: Hindi and English
- Negative marking: One-third of the marks assigned to the question will be deducted as a penalty
Main exam:
- Mode of exam: Offline
- Type of questions: Conventional (essay) type
- Duration of exam: 3 hours (each paper)
- Question paper language: Hindi and English
| Paper | Subject | Total marks |
| Paper A | Any one of the Indian languages | 300 |
| Paper B | English | 300 |
| Paper I | Essay | 250 |
| Paper II | General Studies I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) | 250 |
| Paper III | General Studies II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice, and International Relations) | 250 |
| Paper IV | General Studies III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) | 250 |
| Paper V | General Studies IV (Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude) | 250 |
| Paper VI | Optional Subject (Paper 1) | 250 |
| Paper VII | Optional Subject (Paper 2) | 250 |
| Personality Test | ———————– | 275 |
| Total | ———————– | 2025 |
List of Optional Subjects
| Agriculture | Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | Anthropology |
| Botany | Chemistry | Civil Engineering |
| Commerce and Accountancy | Economics | Electrical Engineering |
| Geography | Geology | History |
| Law | Management | Mathematics |
| Mechanical Engineering | Medical Science | Philosophy |
| Physics | Political Science and International Relations | Psychology |
| Public Administration | Sociology | Statistics |
| Zoology | Literature (Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, and English) |
Civil Services Exam 2024 Admit Card
- The eligible candidates shall be issued admit cards three weeks before the commencement of the exam.
- The admit card can be downloaded from the UPSC website www.upsconline.nic.in.
- If a candidate does not receive the admit card, he/ she should at once contact the Commission.
- After downloading the admit card, the candidates should check it carefully and bring any discrepancies to the notice of UPSC immediately.
- Details of the exam center allotted along with the date and time of the exam will be mentioned on the admit card.
- Admit cards for the preliminary and main exams will be released separately.
Civil Services Exam Result 2024
- The result of the preliminary exam will be declared tentatively in the month of May 2024.
- Candidates who clear the preliminary exam will be eligible to appear in the main exam written test.
- Those who clear the written test of the main exam will then have to appear for an interview round.
- In the interview questions will be asked on matters of general interest intended to judge the mental caliber of a candidate.
- After clearing the interview, candidates will be eligible for recruitment on different posts of civil services exam.
- Candidates will be required to give their options for the post at the time of the interview.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many attempts at Civil Services Exam are allowed?
6 for General, 9 for OBC/ PwBD, and unlimited for SC/ ST candidates
Can I receive my admit card via post?
No admit card will be sent by post.
In case of any query, whom should I contact?
Candidates can contact UPSC’s Facilitation Counter near gate ‘C’ in person or over the telephone (011-23385271/ 011-23381125/ 011-23098543).