The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a national competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service.
It is also familiarly referred to as the UPSC examination, and UPSC CSE and is conducted in 3 phases:
| Paper | Subject |
|---|---|
| 1st Stage | A preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (Paper I consisting of General Studies and Paper II, referred to as the Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT) |
| 2nd Stage | A main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted. |
| 3rd Stage | Personality test (interview). |
