UPSC Prelims 2025 is the first phase of the UPSC Civil Services Examination, followed by the UPSC Main and the Interview. It is a screening round and consists of two papers- the General Studies I and the General Studies II Paper. The General Studies II Paper is commonly called the Civil Services Aptitude Test, or CSAT.
Prelims are qualifying in nature- therefore, their score doesn’t get added to the candidate’s final score. However, a candidate’s Prelims score is extremely essential, as the success rate of Prelims is a mere 1%. Thus, candidates need to have complete information about the exam to form a well-rounded preparation strategy and secure a high score to proceed to the next round.
Before getting into the details of the UPSC Prelims, here are some key exam highlights.
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UPSC: Key Highlights |
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Name of the Exam |
UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2025 |
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Conducted by |
Union Public Service Commission |
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Level |
National |
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Exam Frequency |
Annual |
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Mode of the Exam |
Pen and Paper Mode/Offline |
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Test Centres |
Across Nation |
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Exam Stages |
03 Stages- Preliminary Exam, Main Exam, and Personality Test |
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Exam Fee for Prelims Exam |
Rs.100 |
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Official Website |
https://www.upsc.gov.in/ |
As per the official UPSC Notification, UPSC Prelims is scheduled for 25th May 2025.
Additionally, UPSC Mains 2025 is scheduled for 22nd August 2025. The Personality Test Round will tentatively be held in the first few months of 2026, based on past years’ trends. The important dates for the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2025 are as follows.
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UPSC 2025 Exam Dates |
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Event |
Date |
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Release of Notification - UPSC CSE 2025 |
22.01.2025 |
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UPSC Online Registration for UPSC CSE 2025 (Begins on) |
22.01.2025 |
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Deadline to Apply For UPSC CSE 2025 |
21.02.2025 |
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UPSC CSE Prelims 2025 Exam |
25.05.2025 |
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UPSC CSE Prelims 2025 Result |
June (Tentative) |
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UPSC CSE Mains 2025 Exam |
22.08.2025 |
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Personality Test Round |
Jan- April 2026 (Tentative) |
UPSC released its official notification on 22nd January 2025. The notification is the only credible source of information for any proposed changes in the number of vacancies, eligibility criteria, exam pattern, syllabus etc.
As per the notification, the UPSC Prelims Exam is on 25th May 2025. The registration for the Prelims started from 22nd January 2025 and went on till 21st February 2025.
For more details about the UPSC Notification 2025, read the linked article.
UPSC Prelims consists of 2 papers held on one day- namely, the General Studies I and General Studies II Paper.
Each paper carries 200 marks each and lasts for 2 hours. The GS I Paper consists of 100 questions and has a negative marking of 0.66 marks for each wrong answer. CSAT consists of 80 questions with a negative marking of 0.83 for each incorrect answer.
Candidates need to score equal to or more than the cut-off marks in the GS-I Paper and 33% marks in CSAT to qualify. Following is the UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern.
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UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern |
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Paper Name |
Type |
Number of Questions |
Time Duration |
Marks |
Negative Marking |
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General Studies I |
Objective |
100 |
2 hours |
200 |
0.66 |
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General Studies II (Civil Services Aptitude Test) |
Objective |
80 |
2 hours |
200 |
0.83 |
UPSC releases the eligibility criteria in the official notification. Following are the broad parameters that a candidate must meet in order to be eligible for UPSC Prelims.
Following is the UPSC Prelims Eligibility Criteria according to the official UPSC notification. A candidate must meet these broad parameters in order to be eligible for UPSC Prelims.
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UPSC Eligibility Criteria |
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Age Limit |
21 to 32 years |
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Age Relaxation |
OBC - 3 years SC/ST - 5 years PwBD - 10 years |
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Educational Qualification |
Graduation (Bachelors) |
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Nationality |
Indian Citizens Only |
For more details regarding UPSC Exam age relaxations for special categories, read about UPSC Exam Eligibility Criteria in detail.
UPSC Registration 2025 is now closed. The registration for Prelims started from 22nd January 2025 and closed on 21st February 2025. It was followed by a correction window from 22nd to 28th February 2025.
The first step to being well-prepared for any exam is to have a clear understanding of the syllabus. Following is the UPSC Prelims Syllabus for the GS I and GS II Paper.
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UPSC Prelims Syllabus |
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Paper |
Syllabus |
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General Studies I Paper |
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General Studies II Paper (CSAT) |
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Candidates are given a choice between numerous UPSC Prelims Exam Centres, pan-India. These centres are allotted on a first come, first served basis so it is recommended that candidates register early to secure their preferred exam center.
Following is the list of UPSC Prelims Exam Centres.
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UPSC Prelims Exam Centres |
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Agra |
Dispur |
Kohima |
Rajkot |
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Ahmedabad |
Faridabad |
Kolkatta |
Ranchi |
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Aizawl |
Gangtok |
Kozhikode (Calicut) |
Sambalpur |
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Ajmer |
Gautam Buddh Nagar |
Leh |
Shillong |
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Aligarh |
Gaya |
Lucknow |
Shimla |
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Almora (Uttarakhand) |
Ghaziabad |
Ludhiana |
Siliguri |
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Ananthapuru |
Gorakhpur |
Madurai |
Srinagar |
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Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) |
Gurgaon |
Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) |
Srinagar (Uttarakhand) |
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Bareilly |
Gwalior |
Mumbai |
Surat |
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Bengaluru |
Hyderabad |
Mysuru |
Thane |
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Bhopal |
Imphal |
Nagpur |
Thiruvananthapuram |
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Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) |
Indore |
Nasik |
Tiruchirapalli |
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Chandigarh |
Itanagar |
Navi Mumbai |
Tirupati |
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Chennai |
Jabalpur |
Panaji (Goa) |
Udaipur |
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Coimbatore |
Jaipur |
Patna |
Varanasi |
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Cuttack |
Jammu |
Patna |
Vellore |
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Dehradun |
Jodhpur |
Prayagraj (Allahabad) |
Vijayawada |
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Delhi |
Jorhat |
Puducherry |
Vishakhapatnam |
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Agartala |
Dharwar |
Kochi |
Raipur |
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Ananthapuru |
Gorakhpur |
Madurai |
Srinagar |
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Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) |
Indore |
Nasik |
Tiruchirapalli |
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Jamshedpur |
Pune |
Vijayawada |
Warangal |
The UPSC Prelims Admit Card will be released on the official UPSC website. It can be expected 1-3 weeks prior to the exam date. Admit Cards have to be printed and carried on the day of the exam. Therefore, aspirants are advised to keep checking the official UPSC Website for the same.
Although the date for the UPSC Prelims Result has not been announced by UPSC yet, past years’ trends have shown that the result is usually announced a month after the exam. So, the result of UPSC Prelims 2025 can tentatively be expected in June.
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There are 2 papers in UPSC Prelims held on one day, the General Studies I and General Studies II Paper, which is also called Civil Services Aptitude Test or CSAT. To qualify for the Main, candidates must score more than the cut-off in the GS-I Paper and more than 33% in CSAT.
UPSC Prelims consists of 2 papers- GS I and CSAT. Each paper carries 200 marks each and lasts for 2 hours. The GS I paper has 100 questions and a negative marking of 0.66 marks for each incorrect answer. CSAT consists of 80 questions with a negative marking of 0.83 for each incorrect answer.
Yes, final year students can apply for UPSC Prelims, provided they get their degree before the Main examination, since proof of passing the degree examination has to be provided in the Detailed Application Form.
