Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission - Provincial Civil Services Exam 2023

Update: The UPPSC PCS Answer Key 2023 has been published by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission. On May 18th, 2023, the official UPPSC Answer Key was released, providing candidates with the opportunity to review their performance. The Prelims examination for PCS 2023 was conducted on May 14th, 2023. Candidates can access and download the UPPSC PCS Answer Key PDF for Sets A, B, C, and D from the provided in the linked article.

The UPPSC PCS 2023 prelims exam was conducted on 14th May 2023. The mains exam for UPPSC PCS will start from 23rd September 2023 onwards. UPPSC holds a Provincial Civil Services Examination, simply called the PCS Examination. As All-India IAS Exam recruits candidates for central services; PCS Exam recruits candidates for UP state services.

Aspirants to know the A to Z of other State Service Commission Exams can go through the List of PSC Examinations with Important Details here.

In this article, you will get the latest updates about the UPPSC PCS Exam 2023. The year-wise significant information about PCS Exams is also provided.

What is UPPSC?

UPPSC stands for Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission. It is the rightful authority to conduct the state services’ examination to recruit candidates for Group A and Group B services of the UP state government.

• The UPPSC Answer Key for the Prelims Exam has been officially released by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission on May 18th, 2023. The purpose of the UPPSC PCS Prelims Exam was to shortlist eligible candidates for the UPPSC PCS Mains Exam. Candidates who have appeared in the UPPSC Prelims Exam can compare their responses with the provided official answers to get an idea of their scores. If needed, candidates can also submit objections to the UPPSC Answer Key by paying the required fee until May 24th, 2023.
• On 3rd January 2023, UPPSC Exam Calendar 2023 was released by the commission.  As per the notification, the Combined State/ Upper Subordinate Service or UP PCS Exam 2023 will be conducted on May 14. The exam for Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) and Range Forest Officer (RFO) will also be held on the same day.
• The candidates can check UPPSC Prelims 2022 question paper for practice. It will help in PCS 2023.
• The candidates can check out the UPPSC Prelims Admit Card 2023 from the linked article. The UPPSC 2023 Prelim exam is scheduled to be conducted on 14 May 2023 (Sunday) from 09: 30 AM to 11:30 AM and from 02:30 PM to 04:30 PM in 28 centres.
• The Last Date for UPPSC 2022 Receipt of Examination Fee On-line in the Bank: is April 12, 2022 while the last date for offline application is on 16 April 2022
• The UPPSC PCS Prelims 2021 result has been declared by the Commission on 1st December 2021.
• The UPPSC has released PCS 2021 Prelims Answer Key for GS papers I and II on their official website. The Prelims exam was held on 24th October 2021.

UPPSC 2023 – Prelims, Mains & Interview

PCS Exam has three stages:

• Prelims
• Mains
• Interview

The dates of UPPSC Pre, Mains and Interview 2023 can be checked from the official UPPSC Calendar given below:

UPPSC PCS Exam Calendar 2023:-Download PDF Here

The UPPSC PCS 2023 application form was exclusively released on the official UPPSC website on March 3, 2023. It is important for candidates to thoroughly review all the information pertaining to the UPPCS 2023 notification and application process. The Commission initially announced 167 vacancies for the exam, but later revised it to 173 vacancies. The UPPSC PCS Answer Key 2023 becomes available once the UPPSC Prelims examination is conducted without any issues.

 UPPSC 2023 – PCS Exam 2023

The application process will start soon. The brief details can be checked below:

For UPPSC preparation, a pragmatic approach would be to align it with the UPSC IAS Exam preparation.

Many state commissions are modeling their syllabus and/or exam pattern with that of the Union Public Service Commission.

For the candidates’ reference:

• UPSC Syllabus
• IAS Eligibility Criteria

How different is UPPSC preparation from UPSC preparation?

The main difference between UPSC preparation and UP PCS exam preparation is that in the latter candidates have to study details (history, geography, polity, current affairs) about the state of Uttar Pradesh as well.

For the most part, the preparation strategy for both focus on NCERT books and notes, standard reference books (such as Laxmikanth’s Polity) and Current Affairs preparation.

Here, you can find UPPSC study material (books and notes) and daily Current Affairs:

1. Download NCERT books PDF from this link
2. Check out the NCERT notes on Ancient History, Medieval History, Modern Indian History, Art/Culture, and Geography.
3. Daily News Analysis
4. Download Yojana Magazine Gist
5. Find PIB Summary here.

For the current affairs part, approximately 10-12 months of coverage is recommended.

If you are simultaneously preparing for the UPSC Civil Service Exam as well, then a one-stop preparation guide can be found on our UPSC 2022 page.

Also, an important part of preparation is going through the previous years’ question papers and doing MCQ solving practice for Prelims and answer writing practice for Mains.

The UPPSC PCS Exam details are as follows:

• Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) conducts the Provincial Civil Service Exam (PCS Exam) to recruit for state-level services. The selected PCS officers can be promoted to IAS officers later in their careers.
• The recent change in the pattern of the UP PCS Exam has made it quite similar to the UPSC Exam Pattern. Now, like the IAS exam, there are 4 GS papers and the choice of only one optional subject in PCS Mains.
• On April 1, 1937, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) came into being with its headquarters at Prayagraj (then Allahabad).
• The current UPPSC chairman (2022) is, Dr. Manoj Soni. His term of office will end on 27 June 2023. Earlier  Shri Sanjay Shrinet. Earlier, 1993 Batch IAS Officer, Shri Sanjay Shrinet was the UPPSC chairman. Apart from the UPPSC chairman, there are five other members.

The current UPPSC members (2022) are:

1. Smita Nagaraj
2. M. Sathiyavathy
3. Bharat Bhushan Vyas
4. T. C. A. Anant
5. Rajiv Nayan Choubey

The working of the UPPSC is regulated by:

1. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (Regulation), 1976
2. The Uttar Pradesh State Public Service Commission (Regulation of Procedure Act, 1985)
3. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Rules 2011.

The list of UPPSC Exams is given below:

1. PCS Exam (Combined State/Upper Subordinate Examination – Prelims, Mains)
2. Review Officer (RO)/Assistant Review Officer (ARO) Examination (Prelims, Mains)
3. Additional Private Secretary (APS) Examination
4. Assistant Registrar Examination
5. Combined State Engineering Examination
6. Assistant Prosecuting Officer Examination
7. UP Nyayic Seva (Junior Division) Examination

For other important state examinations, aspirants can check the table below: