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UPSC Selection Process 2025, All Stages in Details

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The UPSC Selection Process 2025 begins now, and Stage 1 will be conducted in June 2025. Here’s the complete UPSC Selection Process 2025 described in detail.

UPSC Selection Process 2025: The Union Public Service Commission is allowed to select officers in the government of India. The Civil Services Examination, or CSE, is conducted annually to choose eligible applicants for civil services. It is a 3 stage UPSC selection process taken through CSE and takes almost one year.

The UPSC Selection Process comprises prelims, mains, interviews, document verification, and a medical examination. Candidates must clear each stage separately to be inducted into the most coveted jobs. The UPSC Selection Process for 2025 finally begins with the release of application forms and is completed with the publication of the final merit list.

UPSC selection process

The UPSC selection procedure is a merit-based transparent procedure for recruiting candidates to around 24 civil services. After the three significant steps, a medical examination and document verification occur. Each stage has a particular requirement the candidate must fulfil for a recommendation.

Here is the stage-wise selection process for the UPSC CSE exam:

UPSC Selection Process 2025
Stage Stage Name Nature Total Marks Purpose
Stage 1 Preliminary Examination Qualifying in nature 400 To screen candidates for the Main Examination
Stage 2 Mains Examination Marks included in the merit list 1750 Comprehensive assessment of candidates’ knowledge and understanding of various subjects
Stage 3 Personality Test Scores considered for merit list 275 Identify the candidates’ personality, communication skills, and best for administrative roles

UPSC Selection Process 2025 Overview

The UPSC Selection Process has three steps, which filter aspirants to IAS, IPS, IFS, and other services. The official notification said the UPSC CSE 2025 exam process didn’t change. Those who cleared this stage would receive admission cards for the UPSC Preliminary test, which consists of two papers. Then, follow the Mains for filtered candidates through UPSC.

UPSC Selection Process 2025 Overview
Name No. of Papers Name of Papers Nature of Papers
UPSC Prelims  2 Papers General Studies

CSAT

Objective
UPSC Mains 9 Papers
  • Indian Language
  • English
  • Essay
  • General Studies-I
  • General Studies -II
  • General Studies -III
  • General Studies -IV
  • Optional Paper 1
  • Optional Paper 2
Descriptive
UPSC Interview Oral Exam Personality Test
Final Selection UPSC Mains + Interview Marks = 2025 Marks

UPSC Selection Process 2025 Prelims

UPSC Selection Process 2025 will start with the Prelims Exam. Its two objective-type papers are General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II, more commonly called CSAT—Civil Services Aptitude Test. UPSC Prelims is an initial screening test that reduces the number of candidates to a few thousand for the next rounds.

The total marks for this round are 400 marks, but it is not taken into the final merit list as it is qualifying in nature. However, for CSAT, the criterion is 66.67 marks out of 200, whereas the pass criteria for GS varies yearly with a cut-off. So, the UPSC Prelims process scheduled for June 16, 2024, will be:

UPSC Prelims Process 2025
Particular Detail
Mode of Exam Offline OMR Based
Language of Exam Hindi & English
Types of Questions MCQ type
Total Papers Two
Paper I General Studies 100 Questions
Paper II CSAT 80 Questions
Shift GS: 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM
CSAT: 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Total Marks 400 Marks
Negative Marking GS: 0.66 Marks
CSAT: 0.83 Marks
Passing Marks GS: UPSC Cut off
CSAT: 66.67 Marks
Time Allotted 2 Hours/Paper

UPSC Selection Process 2025 Mains

After clearing the preliminary exam, candidates must gear up for the next big challenge: the main examination. UPSC Mains 2025 is the second stage. Here, candidates must appear on nine papers, each lasting three hours. Of these, 2 qualify with marks of 25% and 7 merit, for which a cutoff is released, only selecting the candidates for the UPSC interview stage.

The UPSC Mains subjects, history and geography, polity, social justice, economic development, and biodiversity, would assess the applicants’ deep understanding and critical thinking skills. One must remember that the total marks in UPSC’s selection process equals 1750, for which results are taken in the final. The practice of writing answers and articulation ability will become the sole success mantras for cracking the UPSC CSE Mains level.

UPSC Mains Process 2025
Paper Name of Paper Time Duration Maximum Marks
Qualifying Papers
Paper A Indian Language 3 Hours 300
Paper B English 3 Hours 300
Merit Papers
Paper I Essay 3 Hours 250
Paper II General Studies-I 3 Hours 250
Paper III General Studies -II 3 Hours 250
Paper IV General Studies -III 3 Hours 250
Paper V General Studies -IV 3 Hours 250
Paper VI Optional Paper 1 3 Hours 250
Paper VII Optional Paper 2 3 Hours 250
Total 1750 Marks

Also read: Most Important Topics in UPSC

UPSC Recruitment Process 2025 Interview

The third and final step of the selection process conducted by UPSC is Personality Test. Known as the UPSC interview, the personality test tests personality traits, leadership qualities and skills essential for a civil service officer. All the candidates who qualify for the Mains cut-off are invited to the IAS Interview. As part of the UPSC interview process, a team of experts analyses their decision-making capability, problem-solving ability, ethical values, etc.

They will grant marks out of 275 based on candidates’ performance in a 20—to 30-minute discussion at the UPSC headquarters in New Delhi. Candidates must show the interviewer that they are suitable officers to be selected at this stage.

UPSC Interview Process 2025
Particular Details
Reporting Time Forenoon Session: 9:00 AM
Afternoon Session: 1:00 PM
Dress Code Formals
Duration 20 to 30 minutes
Total Marks 275
Candidates Called Twice the number of vacancies
Venue Union Public Service Commission Officer, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069

UPSC Selection Process 2025 DV and Medical Examination 

Document Verification (DV) is part of the UPSC selection process. It is administered simultaneously with the UPSC interview. Your original documents, uploaded to UPSC Mains DAF, have been scrutinized for authenticity and accuracy.

After the interview, applicants are subjected to a Medical Examination in which their physical and mental soundness is assessed against the standard indicated in the notice. This stage is more or less crucial for technical services, like IPS, because the selected candidates need to be capable of efficiently discharging duties attached to their respective roles.

Document Verification: All original candidate documents are verified to ensure a candidate meets the age criteria and requisite educational qualification norms for eligibility in UPSC.

Medical Examination: The candidates are subjected to an elaborate medical examination the day next after the UPSC CSE interview and DV in a government hospital that would confirm if they qualify under the set medical standard by the commission.

UPSC Selection Process 2025 FAQs

Q1 How many stages are in the UPSC exam?

Ans: There are three stages in the UPSC exam: Prelims, Mains, and Interview.

Q2 How long is the UPSC Selection Process?

Ans The duration for the UPSC exam varies, but it takes around one year.

Q3 What is the UPSC Selection Process?

Ans Candidates have to appear in the prelims exam, which is qualifying in nature. After that, UPSC Mains and an interview with shortlisted candidates follow.