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UPSC Civil Services Examination 2026

The IAS Exam 2026, like every year, will be conducted in three stages by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The first stage is the Civil Services Preliminary Examination, which is a qualifying test for the Mains. It consists of two objective-type papers, each with a duration of two hours. Candidates who clear the Prelims become eligible to appear for the Mains Written Examination. Those who qualify the Mains will then be called for the final stage – the Personality Test (Interview).

TIME TABLE FOR MAINS EXAMINATION 2025

Date (Day)	Forenoon Session 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon	Afternoon Session 2:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M.
22.08.2025 (Friday)	Paper-I Essay	No Paper
23.08.2025 (Saturday)	Paper-II General Studies-I	Paper-III General Studies-II
24.08.2025 (Sunday)	Paper-IV General Studies-III	Paper-V General Studies-IV
NEXT WEEKEND
30.08.2025 (Saturday)	Paper-A Indian Language {Assamese / Bengali / Bodo / Dogri / Gujarati / Hindi / Kannada / Kashmiri / Konkani / Maithilli / Malayalam / Manipuri / Marathi / Nepali / Odia / Punjabi / Sanskrit / Santhali (Devanagari / Olchiki Script) / Sindhi (Devanagari / Arabic Script) / Tamil / Telugu / Urdu}
30.08.2025 (Saturday)	Paper-B English
31.08.2025 (Sunday)	Paper-VI Optional Subject - Paper 1 {Agriculture / Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science / Anthropology / Botany / Chemistry / Civil Engineering / Commerce & Accountancy / Economics / Electrical Engineering / Geography / Geology / History / Law / Management / Mathematics / Mechanical Engineering / Medical Science / Philosophy / Physics / Political Science & International Relations / Psychology / Public Administration / Sociology / Statistics / Zoology / Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese / Bengali / Bodo / Dogri / Gujarati / Hindi / Kannada / Kashmiri / Konkani / Maithilli / Malayalam / Manipuri / Marathi / Nepali / Odia / Punjabi / Sanskrit / Santhali / Sindhi / Tamil / Telugu / Urdu / English}	Paper-VII Optional Subject - Paper 2 {Agriculture / Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science / Anthropology / Botany / Chemistry / Civil Engineering / Commerce & Accountancy / Economics / Electrical Engineering / Geography / Geology / History / Law / Management / Mathematics / Mechanical Engineering / Medical Science / Philosophy / Physics / Political Science & International Relations / Psychology / Public Administration / Sociology / Statistics / Zoology / Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese / Bengali / Bodo / Dogri / Gujarati / Hindi / Kannada / Kashmiri / Konkani / Maithilli / Malayalam / Manipuri / Marathi / Nepali / Odia / Punjabi / Sanskrit / Santhali / Sindhi / Tamil / Telugu / Urdu / English}

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About 2026 Prelims

The UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination for 2026 is scheduled to be held on 24th May 2026. It serves as the entry point for all aspiring IAS, IPS, IFS, and other civil service roles.

UPSC Prelims Exam Timings

Prelims Exam Time

The Prelims exam comprises two papers:

Paper I – General Studies (Morning Session): 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Paper II – CSAT (Afternoon Session): 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Mains Exam Time

The Mains examination consists of 9 descriptive papers, held in two sessions:

Morning Session: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Afternoon Session: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

UPSC Civil Services Exam Schedule 2026

Exam Stage	Date	Day
Notification Release	12 February 2026	Thursday
Last Date to Apply	4 March 2026	Wednesday
Preliminary Exam	24 May 2026	Sunday
Main Examination	18 September 2026 (onwards)	Friday
Interview / Personality Test	To Be Announced	-