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The three-stage structure of the Civil Services Examination, with paper-wise marks, durations, negative marking and exactly which marks decide your rank. Read alongside the full syllabus and eligibility rules.
| Paper | Questions | Marks | Duration | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS Paper 1 | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | Decides cutoff |
| CSAT (Paper 2) | 80 | 200 | 2 hours | Qualifying — 33% (66 marks) |
One-third of a question’s marks are deducted per wrong answer: −0.667 in GS Paper 1 (2 marks/question) and −0.833 in CSAT (2.5 marks/question). Unattempted questions cost nothing.
GS in the morning session, CSAT in the afternoon. Prelims 2027 is scheduled for 23 May 2027 per the UPSC Calendar.
See how the 2026 paper actually played out — question-wise — in our UPSC Prelims 2026 answer key and subject-wise analysis.
Nine descriptive papers of 3 hours each. Two are qualifying (Paper A: an Indian language, Paper B: English — 300 marks each, 25% to pass); seven count for merit:
| Paper | Marks |
|---|---|
| Essay | 250 |
| GS 1 — Heritage & Culture, History, Geography, Society | 250 |
| GS 2 — Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice, IR | 250 |
| GS 3 — Economy, Tech, Environment, Security, Disaster Management | 250 |
| GS 4 — Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude | 250 |
| Optional Paper 1 | 250 |
| Optional Paper 2 | 250 |
Mains is won with writing practice. Use the Mains PYQ bank, daily answer writing and the free Mains 2027 Marathon plan.
The Personality Test carries 275 marks with no minimum qualifying marks. Final merit = Mains 1750 + Interview 275 = 2025 marks. Prelims marks play no role in the final ranking. For real score distributions, see our UPSC 2025 marks analysis of 958 candidates and the 2025 cutoffs.
One-third of the marks assigned to a question are deducted for every wrong answer in both Prelims papers. In GS Paper 1 each question carries 2 marks, so a wrong answer costs 0.667 marks. In CSAT each question carries 2.5 marks, so a wrong answer costs 0.833 marks. There is no negative marking for unattempted questions.
No. CSAT (Paper 2) is only qualifying — you need 33% (66/200). The Prelims cutoff is calculated only on GS Paper 1 marks of candidates who clear CSAT.
No. Prelims is purely a screening stage. The final merit list is prepared from Mains (1750 marks) plus Interview (275 marks) — a total of 2025 marks.
No. Paper A (Indian language) and Paper B (English) are qualifying papers of 300 marks each — you need 25% in each. Their marks are not added to the 1750-mark Mains total.
Each Mains paper is 3 hours long. The nine papers are conducted over several days. Blind candidates and candidates with certain disabilities receive compensatory time as per the notification.
GS Paper 1 has 100 questions (200 marks, 2 hours). CSAT has 80 questions (200 marks, 2 hours). Both are objective-type with four options each.
Top scorers typically attempt 85–95 questions in GS Paper 1 using calculated elimination rather than attempting only sure-shot questions. Intelligent guessing — eliminating two options and choosing between the remaining two — is statistically profitable. This is the core of the Sherlocking methodology taught at UnlockIAS.
Our mocks replicate the exact UPSC pattern — 100 questions, 2 hours, one-third negative — with question-level analytics on your elimination decisions.
Pattern as per the official UPSC Civil Services Examination notification — upsc.gov.in . Last updated: June 2026.