Examination Schedule
Publication of Notification: Late November, or early
December of the previous year. For example, the notification for CSE
2005 would come out in November-December 2004. The notification for
CSE 2004 was published on the 29th of November 2003. The last date for
the submission of the application forms is exactly one month from the
publication of notification. There is some relaxation, however, for
those staying in distant areas. Reception of Acknowledgement
Card: You will receive the acknowledgement card for your application
form (unless you submit your application directly, in which case you will
receive the acknowledgement immediately) about one month from the last date
of submission of application forms. Thus, by late January or early February
you should receive your acknowledgement card. Reception of Admit Card:
You will receive your Admit Card one month previous to the Prelims Exam.
Preliminary Examination: The Prelims is usually held on the third
Sunday of the month of May. The 2003 Prelims was held on 18th of May 2003.
The 2004 Prelims will be held on the 16th of May 2004. Release of
Prelims Result: The result to the Preliminary Exam is usually released
in late July or early August. The 2003 Prelims result was released on the
6th of August. Reception of Mains Application Form: Those who
succeed at the Prelims stage will receive a detailed application form for
the Mains Exam, along with a copy of the Gazette of India, within two weeks
of the release of Prelims result. I received my form on the 19th of August
2003. Mains Examination: The Mains Exam is held over a one month
period in October-November. There are nine papers in all, and you will have
to go to the exam centre on five days. This year, the GS papers were held on
the 17th of October, the Essay and English compulsory papers were held on
the 18th of October, and the Indian language paper was held on the 19th of
October. The optional papers are held later, and the schedule would differ
depending upon your choice of optionals. Release of Mains Result:
The Mains result is released usually in the month of March.
Interview: Those who succeed at the Mains stage would receive a call
letter for a personality test to be held at the UPSC headquarters in New
Delhi. The interview is held in April-May, and your interview could
fall on any day during this interval. |
