Last Updated on July 28, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

There’s a lot of confusion regarding UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exams. Many students don’t even know the proper sources to look for the dates of various Central Government related exams. What students resort to, in order to get the necessary information are poorly written blog posts. Often, these blog posts are even more misleading! That’s why I decided to put up a post that’ll give you better idea of the working of UPSC. Once you read this, you’ll have no problem in knowing the dates of exams, syllabus, study material, procedures related to the exam etc.

First of all, let us know what exactly UPSC is. Let’s know the types of exams and recruitment it makes.

What is UPSC?

UPSC, as I said before, stands for ‘Union Public Service Commission’. It is a central agency that deals with recruitment of candidates to various Central Government job posts.

For example, some of the well known exams conducted by them are- Civil Services examination, examinations related to Indian Railways, examinations related to Armed Forces of India etc. Now you get the idea, don’t you?

How to know more details about UPSC exams?

For this purpose, there are two main official sites that they made. In addition to them, there are also many blogs and sites that provide information related to UPSC.

But majority of these sites and blogs provide just partial information. That’s why I ask students to just refer the two official sites of the Commission.

I’ll just show you around both the sites and help you know them better. Once you read this, you’ll be able to keep yourself updated with the right information from the official sources.

upsc.gov.in- Dates, Syllabus, Question Papers, Results etc

This is the first official site that I’d like to introduce. The site looks like this-

I’ll run through some of the most important sections of this site. These sections are what you should make the most use of-

1- Examination

The ‘Examination’ section can be found on the top of the navigation bar. This section provides you with some important details like- calendar of the exams for that particular year (it is provided in Hindi and English version!), Cut-off marks, e-Admit card, Exam Timetable, Answer key, Written results, Final results, do’s and don’ts etc.

If you want to know more about exams, make use of the ‘Calendar for Exams’ option. Also, cut-off marks, Answer keys of previous years etc will also come handy!

2- Previous Year’s Question Papers

Yes, they also provide you with the question papers of previous years! Just make use of this section and you’ll find a treasure of papers!

The question papers are arranged year wise. Thus, if you want papers of the year 2010, just click on the corresponding link. You’ll be provided with question papers of the academic year 2010 for exams like- Civil Services, Railways, NDA (National Defence Academy), CDS (Combined Defence Services) etc.

3- Recruitment

This is also a very important section. Here, you’ll find direct recruitment and its associated content. For example- Online Recruitment Application forms, Recruitment test details, Recruitment advertisements, Results, Interview dates etc.

I guess these are the most important options that you should make use of in this site. Because all you need to know can be obtained from here.

It provides notifications like- exam dates, interview dates etc. It provides previous years’ question papers, through which you may get an idea of the exam’s syllabus and blueprint! And after giving the exams, the results can also be known making use of it!

The next big question is-

How to apply for these exams?

Earlier, I told you that there are two important sites. And the second one will address this question of ours!

Use upsconline.nic.in to apply for exams

Visit the above mentioned site. It is very easy to use and simple site. The screenshot is given below-

As you can see, the homepage of this site gives you the link to apply for various exams. On clicking the link, only those exams will be shown, which are going to be conducted by the UPSC soon.

To apply, follow the below procedure-

1- Visit upsc.gov.in and take a look at the exam timetable. Note down when the ‘date of notification’ and ‘last day for applying’ are.

2- After that, when the date comes, visit upsconline.nic.in and apply for the exam.

That’s it! Wasn’t that very simple?

Usually, the process of applying for an examination takes place in two parts- part 1 and part 2. Part one consists of entering information like- Name, parents’ name, age, Date of birth, academic qualifications etc.

Part 2 consists of uploading scanned photo, specimen of signature etc and selecting an exam centre. This has to be followed by making the payment.

Also read:

GATE Tips

SSB Interview tips

Join IAF

Indian Army Soldier Recruitment

So, if you are planning to appear for UPSC exams better bookmark the above mentioned official sites and keep checking them regularly. You will also get additional details like- syllabus, question papers of previous years etc.

Vishnu Nambiar

I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.

I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.