Civil job/IAS/IPS, these are some of the ranks in the Indian Bureaucracy which is the dreams of many students. Sought as one of the toughest exams of India, it has given some of the best Indian officers. Students study day and night to get a good rank and selection in the UPSC exam. But, the outbreak of coronavirus has put a halt on the UPSC exams to this year. The Union Public Service Commission has notified the postponement of the UPSC Prelims 2020.
Earlier the UPSC Prelims was going to held on 31st May 2020, but the notice has brought a lot of panic amongst the students.
UPSC Preliminary 2020 Timeline
The timeline as released by the UPSC official website is given in the below table:
| Important Events | Dates |
| Notification Date | 12-02-2020 |
| Last Date of Payment of Fees | 03-03-2020 |
| UPSC Prelims Exam | 31-05-2020 (Delayed) |
| Total Vacancy | 796 |
UPSC Prelims Delay Notice
Check the official delay notice here
On 4 April 2020, the UPSC announced postponing the date of the CSE Preliminary exam. The UPSC Prelims was decided to be held on 31st May 2020 but amid the worsening condition of COVID-19. It was decided by the board to defer the exam citing serious safety issues of the aspirants. The board also said that fresh dates of the aforesaid exams will be announced after 20 May. The board said that it will monitor the situation at that point of time and then decide the fresh dates. This news has lowered the esteem of many aspirants who have prepared for the UPSC exams. But they should remember that health is more important at this point in time.
UPSC Exam Pattern
Check out the syllabus of UPSC
We will now discuss the Exam pattern of the CSE Prelims and Mains as well:
CSE Preliminary Exam
The CSE preliminary exam will be solely objective-based, it will have two papers. The questions asked in this level will be from mainly General studies, to have a detailed idea refer to the given table:
| Subject | Question | Marks | Duration |
| Paper 1 – General Studies | 100 | 200 | 2 hours |
| Paper 2- CSAT | 80 | 200 | 2 hours |
Paper 1 and 2 are compulsory, they also carry negative marking with them. For each wrong answer, 1/3rd marks will be deducted from the total marks.
UPSC Mains Exam Pattern
The Mains of the UPSC is the make or break point of the exam, this is the toughest part of the whole selection process. This is an entirely descriptive based exam and students have to write the answers to the question asked. The pattern of the CSE Mains is very different from the Preliminary exam in every aspect. There is a total of 9 papers for which a candidate has to appear, it includes optional and language papers also.
| Subject | Marks | Duration |
| Paper 1- Indian Language | 300 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 2- English | 300 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 3- Essay | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 4- General Studies I | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 5- General Studies II | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 6- General Studies III | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 7- General Studies IV | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 8 – Optional paper I | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 9- Optional paper II | 250 marks | 3 hours |
Personality Test
This is the 3rd and the last stage of the UPSC exam, where the students are judged and assessed on their personality. This phase also judges the decision-making skills of the student. This is the stage of the CSE exam where the student is trial and tested for his leadership, communication skills. This stage carries 275 marks and the student has to qualify this level with decent marks for final selection.
