UPSC 2023

UPSC CSE Interview 2022 Update: The first phase of the interviews was held from on 30th January 2023 to 10th March 2023 for a total of1026 candidates. Second phase will be conducted from 13th March 2023 to 21st April 2023 for 918 candidates. The third phase of the interviews will be conducted for 518 candidates from 24th April 2023 to 18th May 2023.

Union Public Service Commission has released the schedule of UPSC Civil Services Examination 2023. The candidates who missed the UPSC Cut Off by 1 or 2 marks in 2022 can re-apply for UPSC 2023. Whether it is your first attempt or last, go through this article to learn about the UPSC Exam 2023 Application Process, Notification Date, Syllabus and more. 

About UPSC Exam

UPSC Civil Services Examination is largely called UPSC Exam or IAS Exam. It is an annual examination conducted by the sole authority – Union Public Service Commission. Deriving its functions entailed under Article 320, UPSC conducts various examinations for appointment to the services of the Union. All such examinations are mentioned in the official UPSC Calendar 2022. 

Civil Services Examination takes place in three stages:

UPSC 2023 Prelims

As per the official notice by the UPSC, IAS Exam Prelims 2023 is scheduled for 28th May 2023. 

A few important points about CSE Prelims are briefly mentioned below:

1. It is the first stage of the UPSC Exam. 
2. It has two papers: GS-I and CSAT.
3. Both the papers are of objective type (MCQ).
4. GS 1 has 100 questions, while CSAT has 80. 
5. There is a provision of negative marking for each wrong answer. 
6. CSAT paper is of qualifying nature. Only those candidates passing with the minimum of 66 marks in this paper get their GS Paper 1 checked. 
7. Marks of both the prelims papers are not considered for the final merit list. 

To know about the syllabus, exam pattern, and negative marking in UPSC Prelims, visit the linked article. 

Boosters for UPSC 2023 Prelims

To enhance your UPSC Prelims preparation, make use of the following links:

UPSC 2023 Mains

The official examination calendar released by the UPSC has notified the date of UPSC 2023 Mains. The CSE Mains is scheduled from September 2023 onwards. 

Learn about some important points about this stage of the UPSC exam, mentioned briefly below:

1. It is a theory-based paper. Therefore, unlike prelims where a candidate has to select the right answer out of the given options (MCQ); in mains examination, one has to write subjective answers. 
2. There are nine papers, out of which two language papers are of qualifying nature. 
3. A candidate has to secure at least 30 percent in Indian language paper and 25 percent in English Language paper, failing which the remaining papers (GS, Essay & Optional) are not evaluated. 
4. Marks scored in the language papers are not considered in the final evaluation.
5. The candidate has to select one optional subject from the list of 48 subjects listed by the Commission. There are two optional papers. (Please Note – Two Papers are based on the optional subject selected by the candidate).
6. While language papers are of 300 marks; the remaining seven papers are of 250 marks each. 

To learn about the strategy of each paper of UPSC Mains, check the linked article. 

Boosters for UPSC 2023 Mains

To strengthen your UPSC Mains preparation, make use of the following links:

Once through the Mains syllabus, aspirants can start off with UPSC Mains Answer Writing. Here, we post questions tailored to suit the exam trend. This practice gets you familiar with your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to penning down what you have learnt so far. 

UPSC 2023 Interview

Only those candidates who will qualify mains examination would be summoned to take UPSC 2022 interview. The first phase of the interviews was held from on 30th January 2023 to 10th March 2023 for a total of1026 candidates. Second phase will be conducted from 13th March 2023 to 21st April 2023 for 918 candidates. The third phase of the interviews will be conducted for 518 candidates from 24th April 2023 to 18th May 2023. Usually, the number of candidates who take the personality test is twice the number of vacancies allotted for that year. 

Learn about the process of the IAS Interview in the linked article, where we have given a detailed explanation about it, kinds of questions asked and guidance tips. 

Interested candidates can also read on what to do if they fail in a UPSC interview.

How to apply for UPSC 2023?

UPSC releases an official notification mostly in the month of February. An interested candidate has to download it from the official website of the Commission. After going through the instructions, syllabus and exam pattern of the CSE, the candidate has to apply for the preliminary stage online. 

The UPSC Online registration and application process is explained elaborately in the linked article.

Note:

UPSC 2023 Eligibility

The Commission releases eligibility criteria for the recruitment year with its official notification. The eligibility criteria include:

• Eligibility Criteria for General Category
• Eligibility Criteria for SC/ST
• Eligibility Criteria for OBC
• Eligibility Criteria for PwBD

Candidates can also seek age exemption for the examination given they fulfil the required eligibility criteria. 

The basic eligibility criteria for UPSC 2022 considering the general category:

• Minimum age limit – 21
• Maximum age limit – 32
• Number of attempts – 6
• Minimum Educational Qualification – Graduate Degree/Final Year Student

Get all important eligibility-related information for UPSC 2022 in the below-mentioned links:

1. Age Limit for IAS 2022
2. How many attempts for OBC in UPSC
3. How many attempts for SC in UPSC
4. How many attempts for General in UPSC

Also, get answers to the following most frequently asked questions by visiting the links:

UPSC 2023 Preparation

Candidates must often hear the word ‘integrated preparation’ whenever it comes to UPSC preparation. It means one must prepare for prelims and mains together. As the sources of preparation don’t differ much for both these stages, candidates should opt for a blended strategy encompassing tips and tricks for each. 

First, let us name all the important subjects asked in the UPSC Exam:

1. History – Ancient, Medieval. Modern Indian, World
2. Indian Polity – Governance, Constitution
3. Geography – India, World
4. Economy – Indian Economy
5. Environment – Ecology
6. Art & Culture
7. Science & Technology 
8. Ethics

Each of these subjects can be studied using some very important books, some referred by even IAS toppers every year. Let us go through the list of some of these below:

The above-mentioned books can be complemented with the following reference books:

1. Norman Lowe’s Mastering Modern World History
2. Rajiv Ahir’s Brief History of Modern India
3. Subhash Kashyap’s Constitution of India
4. Ramesh Singh’s Indian Economy
5. G.C. Leong’s Certification Physical and Human Geography
6. Majid Hussain’s Environment & Ecology

One very important part of the UPSC Exam is Current Affairs. Though there is no dedicated section for this, questions from various subjects are influenced by the events of national and international importance. 

BYJU’S has multiple initiatives that cover current affairs. Such could be checked below:

Candidates can also complement their self-made notes with BYJU’S classroom notes on important subjects:

1. NCERT Notes on Ancient History
2. NCERT Notes on Medieval History
3. NCERT Notes on Modern History
4. Indian Polity Notes for UPSC
5. Indian Economy Notes for UPSC
6. Environment and Ecology Notes for UPSC
7. Science and Technology Notes for UPSC
8. NCERT Notes on Art and Culture

Tips to study for UPSC Exam 2023:

1. Download the UPSC Syllabus and rote learn it. One should get so comfortable with the syllabus that they know which topic comes under which paper after memorizing it completely. 
2. Start with NCERT Books as they form the base of the candidate in any topic. Further, one can use reference books to fill in the gaps. 
3. From the beginning, choose an optional subject with careful analysis and start preparing it. Get the list of optional subjects from the linked article. 
4. Make notes of only those topics that are harder to understand, and keep revising them often. Learn how to make notes for UPSC in the linked article.
5. Candidates should opt for periodic revisions of the notes they prepare throughout their UPSC journey. The best revision techniques for UPSC are mentioned in the linked article.
6. Take one good prelims test series and appear for the mock tests religiously. Using these, learn, unlearn and relearn the important facts. 
7. One can start with UPSC Mains test series when they have covered more than 50 percent of their syllabus of each of the subjects. 

Also, go through => IAS Hindi

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