India: Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

Overview

UPSC is India's constitutional recruiting body for the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service and other All India and Central Civil Services — recruiting through the Civil Services Examination, one of the world's most competitive public-service exams. Each Indian state also runs its own State Public Service Commission (the same role BPSC plays in Pakistan) for state-level civil service posts.

About Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts India's central government recruitment exams, most famously the Civil Services Examination for the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service and other elite central services, alongside numerous other technical and specialist recruitment exams. Its exams run in structured stages — typically a preliminary objective exam, a main written exam and a personal interview — over a multi-month annual cycle rather than a single test date.

Coverage & Financial Benefits

• Constitutional body with over a century of history recruiting for India's top civil services
• Structured three-stage process: preliminary exam, main exam and interview
• Reservation categories published transparently for each recruitment cycle

Requirements & Eligibility

• Indian citizenship (with limited exceptions for a few services)
• Meeting the age and educational-qualification criteria for the specific exam and category

Required Documents

How to Apply

1. 1Confirm the specific exam and post you're eligible for, since UPSC runs numerous distinct exams beyond the well-known Civil Services Examination, each with its own eligibility criteria.
2. 2Register and apply online through UPSC's official portal within that exam's specific application window, published on UPSC's own fixed annual calendar.
3. 3Prepare for the exam's full multi-stage structure (preliminary, main, interview where applicable), since UPSC's process runs over several months rather than a single sitting.