New Delhi: Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released the notification of the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2021 on March 4, 2021. The last date for receipt of applications is March 24, 2021, till 6 p.m.
UPSC CSE notification: Least number of vacancies
As per the UPSC notification, this year, the number of vacancies decreased to 712 from 796 in 2019.
It is the least number of vacancies notified after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in the Centre. In 2014, the number of vacancies notified was 1291.
Decreased in the number of vacancies will impact on the competition as the number of candidates clearing preliminary examination will decrease.
Eligibility
The candidates must hold a graduate degree. Those who have appeared for an examination which would render them educational qualifications for the commission’s examination are also eligible for UPSC Civil Services Examination.
However, they have to produce proof of passing the requisite examination along with their application for the Main Examination.
Apart from educational eligibility, the candidates must be in the age group of 21-32 years as on 1st August 2021.
What is attempt?
The number of attempt for OC candidates is six. However, the number of attempts for candidates belonging to OBC and PwBD categories is nine. There is no limit on the number of attempts for the candidates belonging to SC and ST categories.
Appearing in either of the preliminary papers will be considered as an attempt. However, only applying for the examination is not considered an attempt.
Plan of examination
Civil Services Examination consists of two stages
- Preliminary
- Main
Although, the preliminary examination is qualifying in nature, only a few thousand students qualify it out of lakhs of candidates who appear in the exam.
Those who qualify in the preliminary examination will become eligible for the main examination. The marks obtained in the main examination are considered for ranking the candidates.
Examination Fee
The fee for the preliminary examination for General/EWS/OBC male is Rs. 100. However, females and candidates belonging to SC, ST and PH are exempted from making the payment of the fee.
For further details, candidates can read the official notification released by UPSC (click here).