Important changes in UPSC civil services examination process

Last Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Oct 14 • General, UPSC • 553 Views • No Comments on Important changes in UPSC civil services examination process

Countless candidates take the UPSC Civil Services Exam each year, pouring in tremendous effort to crack this prestigious government examination. Known for its rigor, the exam unfolds in two main phases—Prelims and Mains—culminating in a personal interview. Success here opens doors to elite roles like IAS, IPS, and IFS, shaping India’s top administrators.

The Prelims exam includes two objective type papers. These have multiple choice questions and each paper is of 200 marks. So, the Prelims exam is of 400 marks. Time allocated for each paper is 2 hours. The main objective of this exam is to shortlist the candidates for Mains. The marks obtained in Prelims are not taken into consideration while preparing final merit list.

 

Then come the Mains exam. It is the most crucial part of entire examination process. It comprises of 9 papers (subjective). Out of these 9 papers, two are qualifying papers (300 marks each). The remaining 7 papers are as follows:

 

GS Paper I-IV

Essay Paper and

Optional Paper I-II.

 

Each of these 7 papers carries 250 marks. And, only the total marks obtained in these 7 papers are considered while preparing merit list.

 

The final round, known as the Personality Test or Interview, awaits candidates who clear the Mains stage. A distinguished panel assesses the candidate’s reasoning skills, moral integrity, and overall personality through a detailed conversation. The panel refers to the candidate’s Detailed Application Form (DAF), which captures personal background, career aspirations, and goals, using it to probe depth and authenticity.

 

After all the rounds are completed, the result is declared. Mostly, the result is declared within 2 weeks after the final interview round is completed. After the result is declared, the separate and combined cut-off marks are declared for Prelims and Mains. Soon after the declaration of cut-off marks, the mark sheets are dispatched to the qualified candidates only. The mark sheet has much more detailed information about the scores of Prelims and Mains and Personality test. And, then at last, UPSC releases the answer key for Prelims exam.

Now after this phase, there are some changes made in the further process of allocating the cadre and Foundation training.

 

The change in Service/Cadre allocation process:

 

Till now, the service allocation/cadre allocation was decided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) based on the merit list and then the candidates were sent to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) for Foundation training.

However, as per the latest amendment in this process, it is proposed that service/cadre allocation should be done after the Foundation Training. And, the service /cadre allocation will be done, based on the combined score obtained in Foundation training and Civil Services exam.

 

Foundation training

 

After registration for Foundation training, candidates are sent to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (Mussoorie). During their training, they come to know about their duties, responsibilities and their powers.

About the Author:

laxmi Nagar is a part of the education team at oureducation.in. She has been writing for various online platforms such as Blogs, Websites, Kindle Store, etc. She is also into writing about Education and academics and has more than 5 years of experience now as a content writer and blogger. Her articles are really appreciated and have also received the good rating on Kindle Store.

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