Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has invited online applications for the Civil Service (Preliminary) Examination 2021 on its official website. Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the exam online at the UPSC official website upsconline.nic.in till March 24, by 6.00 PM.

The UPSC CSE Prelim 2021 is scheduled to be held on June 27. The exam will be conducted to fill 712 vacancies at various Central Government departments through all-India Services such as Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), etc.

Here’s UPSC Civil Services Prelim Exam norification.

Eligibility criteria

Age Limit: The candidates must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years as on August 1, 2021. Upper age relaxation applicable to candidates falling under the reserved category.

Educational Qualification:

A Bachelor’s degree in any field is acceptable to be eligible for UPSC CSE Prelims.

For those aspiring to join the India Forest Service, a Bachelor’s degree with at least one of the subjects namely Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology.

Examination fee

Candidates applying for the recruitment examination are required to pay a fee of Rs 100, by March 24 (6.00 PM), except for the Female/ SC/ ST/ PwBD candidates who are exempted from the fee payment.

According to the official notification, “Candidates opting for cash payment must note that the “Pay by Cash” mode will be deactivated at 23.59 hours of 23.03.2021 i.e. one day before the closing date; however applicants who have generated their Pay-in-Slip before it is deactivated may pay at the counter of SBI Branch during banking hours on the closing date.”

UPSC Civil Service (Prelim) Exam pattern:

The UPSC competitive examination will comprise of two successive stages:

  1. Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and
  2. Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

The preliminary examination will consist of two objective-type papers (MCQ) and carry a maximum of 400 marks. Only those candidates who would be declared qualified in the Preliminary Examination by the Commission will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination.

Application form details

The online application contains two parts. In Part-I, candidates will have to fill in the basic information. On submission of details, candidates will be prompted to check the details and make corrections, if any, in the application.

In Part-II Registration consists of filling up Payment details (except for fee exempted candidates), uploading of Photograph, Signature, Photo Identity Card Document, selection of examination centre and Agreeing to Declaration. Registration of Part-I & Part-II will be treated as valid from 04-03-2021 to 24-03-2021 (6.00 PM).

Steps to apply for UPSC Civil Services prelims exam 2021:

  1. Visit the official website upsconline.nic.in
  2. Click on “ONLINE APPLICATION FOR VARIOUS EXAMINATIONS OF UPSC”
  3. Click on, “Click Here for PART I”
  4. Fill in the details, make changes, if any, and submit
  5. Make the fee payment.