The Civil Service Preliminary Exam 2015 - Union Public Service Commission Test

The first of a two phase rigorous testing process, the civil service preliminary exam 2015 was conducted in August this year. A competitive examination that is conducted across the country in numerous venues, the Civil Service Examination (CSE) is a step towards acquiring a job in the Government of India’s civil service segment, categorized into various areas of work.

Recruitment Process-

Recruitment happens through an evaluation of aptitude, knowledge base, general awareness of current affairs and personality tests, of which

Indian Administrative Services (IAS),
Indian Foreign Services (IFS),
Indian Police Service (IPS)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS)

are allotted to the highest percentile respectively, IAS being approximately only the top 0.03%.

The civil service preliminary exam 2015, following an established pattern, consists of two segments, both objective papers –

One General Studies
Aptitude.

The preparation process roughly requires an applicant to cover the prescribed syllabus by the UPSC, keep track of current affairs spanning politics, economics and general news, and have the aptitude to solve problems regarding rational and logical reasoning.

Eligibility Criteria -

The eligibility criteria specified by the government has four main prerequisites; the candidate must be an Indian citizen, he or she must be between the age of 21 years and 32 years (increased from 29 this year), and should have necessarily completed his or her education and have degree from an institute that falls under the purview of the University Grant Commission under section 3, Act, 1956 or established under a Parliamentary Act. The applicant is eligible if he or she has a degree from any recognized university, the subjects are not restricted.

> Every candidate is allowed a maximum of six (increased from 4 this year) attempts in both the civil service preliminary examination and the civil service main examination.

> While the examination pattern has remained generally the same in the past years, the civil service preliminary exam 2015 can be taken as the most recent example for candidates who wish to apply in the coming years.

> The first of the two parts, the General Studies Paper-1 is the chief qualifying factor for the main UPSC civil service exam, while the candidate is required to get a minimum or 33% in the General Studies Paper-2, the marks of which are not counted in the aggregate marks of the candidate.

The only change that is visible as per the civil service preliminary exam 2015 is in the eligibility criteria, where

>> The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has increased the upper age limit of the General (unreserved) category candidates to 32, the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe to 37 & the Other Backward Classes to 35.

>> The number of attempts has been increased from the civil service preliminary exam 2015 as well, to unlimited attempts for an SC/ST candidate, nine attempts for an OBC candidate and six attempts for a General category candidate.

>> The last demarcation has been made for the physically handicapped candidates, where the upper age limit has been hiked to 42 years, 45 years and 47 years for the unreserved, OBC and SC/ST applicants respectively, with the number of attempts being unlimited for the OBC and SC/ST applicants and 9 for the unreserved candidates.