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What is the IAS exam pattern of Prelims & Mains?

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AnujjindalUPSC
What is the IAS exam pattern of Prelims & Mains?

UPSC Exam Pattern

Basically, to ace the UPSC exams, knowing the UPSC exam pattern is of utmost importance. Everything that you’ll ever learn and prepare for during your IAS preparations will have to ultimately be calibrated to the IAS exam pattern. That’s how important the topic of the UPSC exam pattern is. 


The UPSC test is divided into three levels in order to get to the real deal. The Prelims round, according to the test structure, is essentially an elimination round aimed to weed out the majority of unsuitable candidates.


Then comes the second phase, often known as the Mains round, which is the heart of the UPSC tests and the most critical step in the selection process.


Finally, the Personal interview round, which is designed to examine your personality and bureaucratic acumen, is the third level of the examination pattern.


IAS Exam Pattern for UPSC Prelims

The IAS Prelims test pattern comprises of two papers, both of which are administered on the same day. In both papers, the question type is objective, with one correct answer among several multiple options.


Assuming that the table given above is able to sufficiently inform you about the total marks and time duration of the 2 papers of the Prelims exams, there are some important points that I’d like to add: 


  • Paper 1, often known as the GS paper, consists of 100 questions with negative marking. Every correct answer will get you 2 points, while each incorrect response will cost you 1/3rd of that, or. 66 points You will not receive or lose any marks if you opt to leave questions unanswered.
  • Paper 2, often known as the CSAT paper, has 80 questions, the majority of which have negative grading. Each correct answer is worth 2.5 points, whereas incorrectly answering a question with negative marking is worth 1/3rd of that, or.83 points. Certain questions designed to test your decision-making abilities will not penalise you if you answer them incorrectly. In addition, queries that are left unanswered will not earn or cost you any points.


IAS Exam Pattern for UPSC Mains

The UPSC exam format for the Mains examination consists of nine exams administered over a period of 5-7 days. If and only if you pass the UPSC Prelims tests, you will be eligible to take the UPSC Mains exam.


This entails obtaining more than the declared cut-off marks in Paper 1 and a minimum of 33% in Paper 2 of the Prelims test.


Having said that it should be duly noted that, unlike the Prelims exam, the UPSC Mains exam consists of only Descriptive/subjective type questions of a total of 1750 marks, meaning you’d have to elaborately write your answers instead of choosing the right ones from among a host of choices.



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