UPPCS Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

Three successive stages: a Preliminary (objective, multiple choice), a Main (conventional, written) and a Viva-Voce (personality test).

Stage 1: Preliminary

Paper II cannot be skipped and cannot be scored on: a candidate will be disqualified in case he does not appear in both papers, it must be passed at 33 per cent, and after that it contributes nothing. Everything that decides who reaches the Main is in the 150 questions of Paper I. Answers go on OMR sheets in three copies, filled with a black ball point pen only; the candidate keeps the third copy.

Negative marking: four options to every question, and one third (0.33) of the marks for a question is deducted for a wrong answer. More than one answer counts as wrong even if one is correct. A blank carries no penalty. One third against four options is steeper than the quarter most national examinations apply, so a pure guess loses marks on average.

Stage 2: Main (Written), conventional type

Eight compulsory papers, three hours each. The optional subject is gone, and the 1200 marks it would have carried are General Studies instead. General Hindi carries a minimum mark as may be determined by the Government or the Commission.

Question papers are in English and Hindi; answers may be in English (Roman script), Hindi (Devanagari) or Urdu (Persian script), a language paper as a whole in one of them. The standard is that of a Bachelor's degree holder. Write the roll number only in the space on the cover, or marks are deducted; write the name anywhere, and the candidate may be disqualified. Illegible handwriting draws a deduction too.

Stage 3: Viva-Voce, 100 marks

It tests general interest, general awareness, intelligence, character, expression and general suitability for the service. One hundred marks out of a final total of 1600 is among the lowest interview weightings of any civil services examination in the country.

Marks are moderated under the Supreme Court's guidelines in writ petition No. (C)165/2005, Sanjay Singh v. U.P. Public Service Commission, which is why a raw mark and a published mark can differ.

The whole syllabus is in the advertisement itself: Appendix 2 is the plan of examination, Appendix 3 the Preliminary syllabus, Appendix 4 the Main rules and syllabus.

Preliminary, Paper I: General Studies-I (150 questions, 200 marks)

• Current events of national and international importance.
• History of India and the Indian National Movement: a broad understanding of social, economic and political aspects, and a synoptic view of the freedom movement, the growth of nationalism and independence.
• India and World Geography, physical, social and economic; only general understanding expected for the world.
• Indian Polity and Governance: Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj and Community Development, public policy, rights issues, economic policy and Indian culture.
• Economic and Social Development: sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives, and population, environment and urbanisation.
• Environmental ecology, biodiversity and climate change, at general awareness level without specialisation.
• General Science as a well educated person who has not specialised would know it.

Preliminary, Paper II: General Studies-II (100 questions, qualifying at 33 per cent)

Comprehension; interpersonal and communication skills; logical reasoning and analytical ability; decision making and problem solving; general mental ability; and Elementary Mathematics, General English and General Hindi up to Class X.

General English covers comprehension, voice, parts of speech, transformation, direct and indirect speech, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, idioms and fill in the blanks. General Hindi covers the Devanagari alphabet, word and sentence formation, sandhi and samas, synonyms and antonyms, idioms and proverbs, tatsam and tadbhav words, common errors, and the principal dialects of Uttar Pradesh.

Main: General Hindi (150) and Essay (150)

General Hindi is comprehension, precis, official correspondence (government and semi-government letters, telegrams, office orders, notifications, circulars), word knowledge and usage, and proverbs and idioms. Not literature.

The Essay paper has three sections and the candidate writes one essay of 700 words from each, at 50 marks apiece: A, literature and culture, social and political spheres; B, science, environment and technology, economy, agriculture, industry and trade; C, national and international events, natural calamities (landslide, earthquake, deluge, drought), and national development programmes.

Main: General Studies I to VI (200 marks each)

GS V and VI, 400 of 1500 marks, are about Uttar Pradesh alone, and national civil services material does not cover them.

Age

21 to 40 on 1 July 2026, so born not earlier than 2 July 1986 and not later than 1 July 2005. For Principal, Government Intermediate College the range is 30 to 40. Date of birth is accepted only as entered in the High School Certificate, and a form without it is rejected.

A candidate claiming more than one concession gets only one, whichever is more beneficial.

The Chief Minister Fellowship weightage

Under the Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Relaxation of Age Limit and Weightage for Research Scholars of Chief Ministers Fellowship for Competitive Examinations) Rules, 2026, a scholar who completed the programme also gets marks added in the Main examination, reckoned on the last date of application:

Qualification

A Bachelor's degree of any recognised University, held by the last date for applications. A candidate still appearing in the qualifying examination is not eligible. Specific posts need more:

Two years in the Territorial Army or an NCC "B" certificate earns preference, other things being equal.

Physical standards for the uniformed posts

Standards also apply to Superintendent of Jail, District Commandant Home Guards, Excise Inspector and Deputy Jailor.

Reservation and other conditions

• Vertical reservation for SC, ST, OBC and EWS of U.P.; horizontal for dependants of freedom fighters of U.P. (sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters only), women, ex-servicemen, persons with disabilities and outstanding sports persons of U.P.
• Candidates who are not permanent residents of U.P. get no reservation and no age relaxation. An SC or OBC candidate from another state competes as unreserved.
• For a woman candidate, only a caste certificate from the father's side is valid.
• A reserved candidate moves to the unreserved list in the final selection only if no concession in a qualifying standard was used at the Preliminary or Main; the Commission notes a High Court stay on this point.
• A man with more than one wife living, or a woman married to a man with a wife living, is ineligible unless the Governor grants an exemption.
• The Commission gives no advice on eligibility. A forged document means debarment from all UPPSC selections forever and action under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The selection will be made on the basis of total marks obtained by the candidates in Main (Written) Examination and Interview. The Preliminary only selects who sits the Main. For some posts, the service rules make the written examination alone decisive.

The minimum efficiency standard

35 per cent for SC and ST candidates and 40 per cent for all others, in the Preliminary and in the Main. A candidate below it is not placed on the merit or select list and is treated as disqualified, even if otherwise inside the fifteen-times shortlist.

Between the Preliminary and the Main: a second application

Successful candidates fill up another application form and pay a second fee. They sit the Main against the same roll number, and must enclose self-attested copies of all mark sheets and certificates supporting every claim, or the candidature is cancelled.

At the interview

• A prescribed form is filled before the interview, and all original certificates are verified, with four passport photographs, two attested by a head of department or institution or a Gazetted Officer.
• Post preferences are asked at the interview and treated as final. This is where a candidate ranks Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Block Development Officer and the rest, and the order cannot be revised.
• Serving Central or State government employees bring a No Objection Certificate.

Selected candidates undergo a medical examination, and the uniformed posts the physical standards. Malpractice, indiscipline, misbehaviour or canvassing can cancel the candidature and debar from future examinations; the Uttar Pradesh Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, dated August 6, 2024 applies, which is a criminal statute; and the marks of a cancelled candidate are not provided.

The advertisement gives a range rather than a figure per post: Sixth Pay Commission Rs. 9300-34800 with Grade Pay Rs 4600 (Naib Tehsildar at Grade Pay Rs 4200) to Rs. 15600-39100 with Grade Pay Rs 5400.

Uttar Pradesh dearness, house rent and other allowances are paid on top at the rates notified from time to time. The advertisement prints no monthly figure.

Which point in that range a candidate reaches depends on two things: the final rank, and the order in which posts were listed at the interview, which is final. Deputy Collector and Deputy Superintendent of Police sit at the top. They enter the Provincial Civil Service and Provincial Police Service, from which promotion to the IAS and IPS is made through the UPSC's select list, and that prospect is what makes them the most contested choices.

Some posts carry extra age room for serving staff: five years or the years served, whichever is less, for Account and Audit Officer and Marketing Officer under Mandi Parishad; up to five years for Finance and Accounts Officer (Urban Development) for those who served in a Centralised Service, a Palika or the State Government.

Pay, probation and promotion after appointment are governed by the service rules in Appendix-5, among them the Food and Civil Supplies (Weights and Measures), Food Safety and Drug Administration, Panchayat Raj Department (Groups A and B), Secretariat Management Officer and Manager, Educational (General Education Cadre), and Co-operative and Panchayat Audit Service rules.

One Time Registration first

No UPPSC application is possible without an O.T.R. number from otr.pariksha.nic.in, obtained 72 hours before submitting the online application on uppsc.up.nic.in. A candidate who finds the advertisement three days before the closing date may not be able to apply at all. Category and personal details come from the O.T.R., so a reserved category of U.P. must be declared there, with the certificate on the proforma in Appendix-1.

The application then runs in four stages: authenticate with O.T.R. and fill the essential qualification; Application Part-2 with addresses and preferential qualifications; fee payment through SBI MOPS, printing the transaction slip; and preview and final submission. Choosing "I do not agree" at the Declaration drops the application.

Fees, paid separately for each stage

Dependants of freedom fighters, women and skilled players pay according to their original category.

No hard copy goes to the Commission at the Preliminary stage. Hard copies with self-attested certificates are sent when a press communique asks for them, and with the Main application, which must carry the High School certificate. Applications after the last date are not accepted in any circumstances, and an application without photograph or signature may be summarily rejected. All later information goes by SMS and email to the contacts linked in the O.T.R.

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission conducts the examination from 10, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Prayagraj 211001, with a Camp Office at Lucknow. One set of papers fills posts in more than thirty departments of the State government.

Which department a candidate joins follows from rank and the post preferences given, once and finally, at the interview. Where a department's rules ask for a specialised qualification, the department decides equivalence; otherwise any degree from a university established by law counts, with AICTE-recognised technical degrees treated as equivalent.

The Preliminary is held at various centres in the districts of U.P. No centre list is published and no preference is asked: the date, centre and roll number come on the e-Admit Card, and no change in centre or venue is permissible.

Both Preliminary papers are on the same day, Paper I from 9.30 to 11.30 A.M. and Paper II from 2.30 to 4.30 P.M., and a candidate who sits only one is not evaluated at all. Use a black ball point pen on the OMR sheet; no whitener, blade, pin or rubber, and improperly blackened circles are not evaluated.

The Main dates and venues are notified to candidates who clear the Preliminary. The Viva-Voce is at the Commission's premises in Prayagraj. The Commission publishes a Debarred Examination Centre List and a Debarred and Rejected Applicant List on its website.

The O.T.R. must be obtained 72 hours before applying, which moves the real deadline for a first-time registrant to about 24 July 2026.

UPPSC publishes an Examination Calendar each year. The 2026 calendar, issued from Prayagraj on 30 January 2026, lists this examination among some fifty running from February to December. Vacancies may still rise or fall, and requisitions received before the Preliminary result may be added, so the number of posts is not settled when the Preliminary is sat.

The e-Admit Card is downloaded from the Commission's Download Admit Card page under Candidate's Corner, selected by advertisement. It carries the date, time, venue and roll number, and the same roll number is used at the Main. Notices also go by SMS and email to the contacts linked in the O.T.R. An admit card is not a finding of eligibility, which is scrutinised later.

Bring the e-Admission Certificate and a black ball point pen to the Preliminary, and keep the third copy of the OMR sheet until the result. For the interview, bring the prescribed form, all original certificates, four passport photographs (two attested), and a No Objection Certificate if in government service. In any correspondence quote the examination, advertisement number, O.T.R. number, application ID, name, date of birth, father's or husband's name and roll number. Helpdesk: 0532-2407547.

After a cycle closes the Commission also publishes a merit-order list of candidates who qualified for interview but were not selected. Published marks are moderated under Sanjay Singh v. U.P. Public Service Commission, so they will not match a candidate's own count. The rule moving reserved candidates to the unreserved list is subject to a High Court stay in Bhavna Yadav and 06 Others Vs. State of U.P. and 02 Others.

Results appear only under What's New and the Notice Board on uppsc.up.nic.in, with a Success Stories and Toppers List alongside. Nothing comes by post.

Part of the threshold is fixed before the examination: 33 per cent in Preliminary Paper II; the minimum efficiency standard of 40 per cent, or 35 for SC and ST, at both the Preliminary and the Main; and a General Hindi minimum set by the Government or the Commission. Beyond that the cut-off is wherever the fifteen-times candidate falls at the Preliminary and the three-times candidate at the Main.

UPPSC publishes cut-offs as marks of the last selected candidate, category and group-wise. The Preliminary 2015 document is the clearest example of the format:

Special Recruitment that year: SC 281, ST 246, OBC 301, Female 281. In 2015 both Preliminary papers counted, out of 400; today the merit is Paper I alone, out of 200, so the figures show the format, not a target. Note too that OBC cut off level with General in the Executive group and highest of all in Special Recruitment.

Spend effort where marks count

The Preliminary is a gate, Paper II a pass-and-forget, and the 1500 marks of the Main are what select. Thirty-three per cent of Paper II is 66 marks at Class X level; sit two or three timed papers, confirm you clear it comfortably, and move on, because marks above 66 are worth nothing.

Two papers on Uttar Pradesh

GS V and VI are 400 of the 1500 marks, and a candidate who prepares only GS I to IV has covered 73 per cent of the written examination. Build them from the State's own sources: the UP Budget and Economic Survey, State schemes and One District One Product, the Jal Shakti Mission in UP, the State's national parks, dialects and freedom fighters, and the structure of its Commission, High Court and State Election Commission.

Write by hand, at length

Eight three-hour papers, with stated deductions for illegible handwriting. Write full papers by hand and check your legibility at hour three. The Essay paper is three essays of 700 words in three hours, one from each section, so practise to that word count and an hour each. General Hindi is precis and official correspondence, learnable in a few weeks and routinely left too late.

Guess carefully in Paper I

At a one-third penalty with four options, a pure guess loses on average, and two options marked count as wrong. At 150 questions in 120 minutes you have 48 seconds each; Paper II gives 72 seconds. Answer when you have cut to two options, and leave pure guesses.

Use the Commission's own papers

UPPSC publishes previous year question papers back to 2013, filterable by examination, year, paper code (Paper 01 to Paper 10) and series code (A to F, P to S). The series hold the same questions in different orders. Sit the two Preliminary papers on one day with the three-hour gap between them, as on the real day.

Before the closing date

• Get the O.T.R. number at least 72 hours before applying.
• Check age against 1 July, and remember only one concession applies. Non-residents of U.P. get no reservation or relaxation.
• Keep the High School certificate safe, as the only proof of date of birth.
• Work out your post preference list well before the interview; it is asked once and is final.

UPPSC publishes its own previous year question papers, free, under Candidate's Corner: Download Previous Year Question Papers. The Combined State / Upper Subordinate Services Examination is listed, with papers back to 2013, filterable by year, paper code and series code.

Papers are added after each examination, usually once the answer key process is complete. They give the level and phrasing of real questions, but not the cut-off, which is published separately.

• Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, where all applications are made
• All Notifications and Advertisements, with each advertisement's instructions, apply links and dates
• Advertisement A-1/E-1/2026, PCS 2026, dated 25.06.2026, with its five appendices: 1, certificate proformas; 2, plan of examination; 3, Preliminary syllabus; 4, Main rules and syllabus; 5, service rules
• Examination Calendar
• One Time Registration, needed 72 hours before applying
• Check status of application
• Download admit card
• Previous year question papers, back to 2013
• Cut-off marks, Preliminary 2015 (both papers counted then, out of 400)
• General and Miscellaneous Guidelines
• Success stories and toppers list

10, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Prayagraj 211001, Camp Office at Lucknow. Helpdesk 0532-2407547.

Do my Preliminary marks count toward selection?

No. Selection is on total marks in the Main (Written) and Interview. The Preliminary shortlists fifteen times the vacancies for the Main and its marks are then discarded.

Does Paper II of the Preliminary count?

Not even toward the Preliminary merit, which is built on Paper I. Paper II is qualifying at 33 per cent, 66 of 200, but must be sat: missing either paper disqualifies.

What is the examination pattern?

Preliminary: two objective papers of 200 marks and two hours, Paper I with 150 questions and Paper II with 100. Main: General Hindi 150, Essay 150 and six General Studies papers of 200, totalling 1500. Viva-Voce: 100. Final total 1600.

Is there an optional subject?

No. The Main is entirely compulsory papers.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, in the Preliminary: one third (0.33) of the marks for a wrong answer. More than one option marked counts as wrong. A blank costs nothing.

How much of the Main is about Uttar Pradesh?

Two full papers, GS V and VI, 400 of 1500 marks.

What is the age limit?

21 to 40 on 1 July; for 2026, born between 2 July 1986 and 1 July 2005. Five years' relaxation for SC, ST and OBC of U.P., skilled players and State Government employees; fifteen for persons with disabilities of U.P.; three plus service for ECOs and SSCOs. Only one concession applies.

I am from another state. Do I get reservation?

No. Non-residents of U.P. get neither reservation nor age relaxation, and compete as unreserved.

What qualification do I need?

A Bachelor's degree of any recognised University by the last date of application. A few posts need post-graduate or specialised qualifications.

How many vacancies are there, and how many make it?

About 500 in 2026, which may change. Roughly 7,500 reach the Main and 1,500 the interview.

What is the minimum efficiency standard?

A floor beneath the cut-off at both written stages: 35 per cent for SC and ST, 40 per cent for others. Below it, a candidate is disqualified even inside the shortlist.

Do I apply once or twice?

Twice, with two fees: ₹125 (₹65 for SC and ST) for the Preliminary, then ₹225 (₹105) for the Main, with all certificates enclosed. The same roll number is used at both.

When do I choose which post I want?

At the interview, once and finally. That list and your rank decide the post and the grade pay.