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Civil Services Examination 2018 Notification Issued, Check Dates, Eligibility And Other Details

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday, February 07, 2018 issued a notification announcing date and procedure for applying for Indian Civil Services Examination 2018 also known as ‘IAS Exam’ on its official website. The last date for receipt the application form is March 6, 2018. The prelims examination will be held on June 3, 2018, while the main exam is likely to be scheduled in September 2018.

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by UPSC for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Administrative Service (IAS) , Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and others. The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of the examination is expected to be approximately 782 which is around 198 less than last year.

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Approximately 782 vacancies in the prestigious IAS, IFS and IPS  would be filled through the Civil Services Examination in 2018. While the last year there was the recruitment of around 980 vacancies. The last date for receipt of the application for the preliminary examination is March 6, 2018, till 6:00 pm. The examination will be held on June 3, 2018.

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Year Civil Services Vacancies
2011 880
2012 1091
2013 1228
2014 1364
2015 1164
2016 1079
2017 980
2018 782

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Aspirants are required to check eligibility conditions and instructions before applying for the exam, exclusively through the UPSC official website. Candidates shall be issued an e-admit card three weeks before the commencement of the examination and will be available on the official website.

Services and Posts Through UPSC Civil Services Examination

UPSC aims to recruit personnel for the Services and Posts mentioned below:
(i) Indian Administrative Service.
(ii) Indian Foreign Service.
(iii) Indian Police Service.
(iv) Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’.
(v) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(vi) Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’.
(vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(viii) Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’.
(ix) Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration).


(x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’.
(xi) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(xii) Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’.
(xiii) Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
(xiv) Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’.
(xv) Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’
(xvi) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’.
(xvii) Indian Information Service(Junior Grade), Group ‘A’.
(xviii) Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’.
(xix) Indian Corporate Law Service, Group “A”.
(xx) Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade).
(xxi) Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group ‘B’.
(xxii) Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group ‘B’.
(xxiii) Pondicherry Civil Service, Group ‘B’.
(xxiv) Pondicherry Police Service, Group ‘B’.

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Civil Services Examination 2018 Schedule

Availability of Application Form February 8, 2018, to March 6, 2018
Last Date to fill the Form  March 6, 2018, till 6:00 pm.
Release of Admit Card for Prelims Exam May 13, 2018
Prelims exam of IAS Offline Exam June 3, 2018
Result of IAS Prelims Exam Aug/Sep 2018
Mains Exam of IAS September 2018

Eligibility Criteria for CSE 2018

  • The applicant must be an Indian National to be eligible for IAS and IPS posts and services. For other posts, the applicant could be citizen of India, a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or Tibetan refugee, or a person of Indian origin who migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India. The non-citizens must possess a certificate of eligibility issued by the Government of India.
  • The appearing candidates must have a degree from a recognized university incorporated by an Act of Central OR State Legislature in India OR Other educational institution established by Parliament Act OR announced to be deemed university under section-3 of the UGCA), 1956 or have an equivalent degree.
  • Age and Attempts Limit for CSE 2018 – 

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on August 01, 2018

Category Upper age limit No. of attempts
General 32 Years (must have been born not earlier than 2nd August 1986 and not later than 1st August 1997.) 06 Attempts
OBC 35 Years 09 Attempts
SC/ST 37 Years No Limit
PH (Blind, Deaf, Orthopedic) 42 Years GEN/OBC= 9 Attempts

SC/ST= No bar

J & K Domicile GEN=37 Yrs, OBC= 40 Yrs, SC/ST=40 Yrs, PH=50 Yrs No bar
Disabled servicemen, disabled from duty. GEN=37 Yrs, OBC=40 Yrs, SC/ST=40 Yrs. No bar

READ More: Engineering Graduates Dominate UPSC Civil Services Exam

How to Apply?

Aspirants can apply online on the official portal https://www.upsconline.nic.in. The applications will be accepted only through online mode. Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above-mentioned website.

Step 1 – Visit the official website – https://upsconline.nic.in

Step 2 – Click on the top notification, that reads, ONLINE APPLICATION FOR VARIOUS EXAMINATIONS OF UPSC

Step 3 – Click on “Click Here for PART I”

Step 4 – Read through the detailed instructions, click on Yes and proceed to Register Yourself

Step 5 – After Part-I, click on “Click Here for Part II” and login with your Registration ID

Step 6 – Pay the application fee online or take a printout of challan to pay in cash

Step 7 – Complete the application process and take a printout of the confirmation page

Direct Link – https://upsconline.nic.in/mainmenu2.php# 

As per the official notification, “Applicants should note that there will be a ceiling on the number of candidates allotted to each of the Centres except Chennai, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur. Allotment of Centres will be on the ‘first-apply-first allot’ basis, and once the capacity of a particular Centre is attained, the same will be frozen. Applicants are, thus, advised that they may apply early so that they could get a Centre of their choice.” Therefore, applicants must apply at the earliest and get a convenient centre.

Examination Fees

Candidates (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH Candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay a fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred only) either by online or offline mode.

Pay by Cash” mode will be deactivated at 23.59 hours of 05.03.2018 i.e. one day before the closing date. Such applicants who are unable to pay by cash on the closing date i.e during banking hours at SBI Branch, for reasons whatsoever, even if holding valid pay-in-slip will have no other offline option but to opt for available online Debit/Credit Card or Internet Banking payment mode on the closing date i.e. till 18:00 Hours of 05.03.2018.

Civil Services Examination 2018 Pattern

Notifications are out for both Civil Services Exam as well as Indian Forestry Services Exam – both having a common Preliminary exam (objective), but separate Main exam (written). UPSC Conducts Civil Services Examination (CSE) in two stages-

  • In the preliminary round, two objective-type papers (general studies and aptitude test) will be asked for the selection of candidates. There will be negative marking for wrong answers by a candidate in the objective type question papers.
  • The main examination, consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type followed by a personality test (interview) for the various Services and posts announced.

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Scheme of Exam

Candidates who pass the preliminary exam will qualify for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination. They will have to apply online again in a new form provided to them. The main examination is likely to be held in September 2018. For any further query, the candidates can visit the official website.

The Commission will publicly disclose the scores of the candidates (obtained in the written examination and interview/personality test). The disclosure will be made only for those candidates who appear in the interview and are not finally recommended for appointment. Candidates will be required to give their options at the time of the interview while acknowledging the e-summon letter mailed to them for the interview. A candidate may opt out of the scheme also and in that case, his/her details will not be published by the Commission.

This is the toughest examination in India, with more than 900,000 applicants having a success rate of 0.1% – 0.3%, one of the lowest in the world. The entire process from the notification of the preliminary examination to the declaration of the final results takes nearly one year.

Interested and Eligible candidates can apply for the examination before the last date. If you have any queries regarding UPSC Civil Services Examination, please post on our Aftergraduation Forum or in below comment box and we would be happy to help you. Stay in touch with us for more on higher education, Professional course, Career Enhancement Programmes, Entrance exams update, among education other information through Linkedin, Facebook, and  Twitter.

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