UPPSC PCS 2024 Exam Pattern: Prelims & Mains News Exam Pattern

Uttar Pradesh Combined State/ Upper Subordinate Exam 2024 ( UPPSC UPPCS )

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Rachit Kumar Saxena

Rachit Kumar SaxenaManager-Editorial

Updated on Dec 11, 2024 13:43 IST

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission mentioned the UPPSC Prelims exam pattern in the official notification. The Commission will conduct the UPPSC Prelims exam 2024 on December 22, 2024 as per the official exam pattern and UPPSC syllabus mentioned in the official notification. The exam will be conducted in offline mode in all the districts. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission released the UPPSC 2024 notification on January 2, 2024. The candidates should see, download and internalise the UPPSC 2024 exam pattern because it will immensely help the candidates in scoring better in the UPPSC 2024 exam. The candidates should read the official notification to understand the UPPSC exam pattern fully to score better in the exam. The Commission notified the prelims and main exam pattern separately in the official notification. 

The candidates are suggested to see and check the previous year's question papers to internalise the UPPSC 2024 exam pattern. UPPSC PCS exam pattern explains how the UPPCS prelims and main exam will be conducted. The UPPSC PCS exam 2024 will be conducted in three stages. The stages of the exam are

  • Prelims exam
  • Main exam
  • Personality Test(Viva-voce)

Q:   Can I crack UPPSC without coaching?

A:

It is a very subjective consideration. Each candidate should assess his or her potential and weaknesses by analysing the previous year question papers and decide accordingly.  The candidates should take advice from seniors, mentors and see the Toppers videos for the right strategy and plans. In case, the candidates need feels that he or she needs guidance, then he or she must join the coaching. 

The UPPSC Prelims 2024 exam will be conducted in July 2024. The Commission is expected to release the UPPSC prelims exam date soon on its official website.

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Q:   What are the minimum qualifying marks for UPPSC exam, and how do they differ for different categories?

A:

The minimum qualifying marks for UPPSC exam vary for different categories, with SC/ST candidates required to score 35% in both the Prelims and Mains exams, while other categories must score 40% in both stages. The cut off marks are determined by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) based on various factors, including the number of vacancies, the difficulty level of the exam, and the normalization process to maintain uniformity.

The cut off marks are released stage-wise and category-wise on the official website of UPPSC after the exams are conducted.

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Q:   What is the UPPCS exam date 2024?

A:

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission postponed the UPPSC 2024 prelims exam to July 2024. The Commission will release the UPPSC 2024 admit card online in July 2024. The Commission released the official exam calendar and notified all the dates. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission releases its exam calendar in December/January every year to notify the prelims and main exam dates of all its exam. These dates are very helpful for the candidates because they can accelerate their preparation as per the dates notified in the official exam calendar.

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UPPSC PCS Exam Pattern 2024 for Prelims

UPPSC PCS prelims exam is a Multiple Choice Objective type question paper where the candidates are required to select the correct option from the given four choices. UPPSC continued with the existing UPPSC prelims exam pattern. In the current pattern, there are two papers in the prelim exam. The time allotted for each paper is two hours. The details are as follows:

Paper Name

No. of Questions

Marks

General Studies – I

150

200

General Studies– II(Aptitude)

100

200

Total

400

The General Studies paper–II (Aptitude) is only qualifying in nature and the candidates need to score only 33% (66 marks) in it to qualify for the main exam. The UPPSC PCS prelims exam is a screening exam only. It filters out the candidates and reduces the number of candidates for the main exam. The marks secured by the candidates in the UPPSC PCS prelims exam are not counted for the final merit. But it is a very important stage of the exam as the candidates need to qualify in the prelims exam to appear in the main exam.

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Q:   Is there any negative marking in UPPSC Exam?

A:

The candidates should note that there is a negative marking in the UPPSC Prelims exam. The candidates should mark their answers carefully because the negative marking reduces the score drastically if the answers are not marked judiciously. The negative marking in the UPPSC PCS prelims exam is summarised below:

UPPSC General Sudies Paper 1 Marking Scheme
AnswerMarks Assigned
Correct Answer1.333
Incorrect Answer- (1.333/3)

The candidates should note that there is a negative marking of same quantum in the UPPSC prelims General Studies paper 2 also. 

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Q:   What are the core subjects in the UPPSC PCS Prelims Syllabus?

A:

In most cases, the candidates prepare for various exams simultaneously. There are certain core topics which are common to all the competitive exams. The candidates are suggested to prepare them well so that they can score better in the exam. Some of these topics are given below:

  • History
  • Geography
  • Economy
  • Indian Polity
  • Environment Studies
  • Current Affairs

In addition to the above, the candidates are suggested to prepare the important festivals, celebrations and local folklores of the regions of Uttar Pradesh for the prelims and Mains exam. 

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Q:   How do I prepare for UPPCS Exam?

A:
The UPPSC changed the exam pattern for the UPPCS main exam by removing the optional subject and introduced two Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge specific questions. For these two papers, the candidates should learn about the local traditions and the folklores of the state. Uttar Pradesh is a diverse state having various climate systems and geographical features. The candidates should prepare all the important information about the state. The candidates should focus on the Current Affairs and the factual information. The candidates should start preparing the basics with the NCERT Books and Daily Newspaper. Complete the NCERT of History, Geography, Economics and Sociology first and then read the dedicated books for each subject supplemented with the Newspaper.
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Negative Marking in the UPPSC Prelims Exam 2024

The candidates should note that there is a negative marking in the UPPSC Prelims exam. The candidates should mark their answers carefully because the negative marking reduces the score drastically if the answers are not marked judiciously. The negative marking in the UPPSC PCS prelims exam is summarised below:

UPPSC General Sudies Paper 1 Marking Scheme
Answer Marks Assigned
Correct Answer 1.333
Incorrect Answer - (1.333/3)

The candidates should note that three incorrect answers will eat up the marks scored by one correct answer and the resultant score of these four questions will be zero. There will be no deduction of marks for the questions left unattempted.

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Q:   How many attempts are there in UPPCS Exam?

A:
The candidates need not to worry about the number of attempts in the UPPSC PCS exam because there is no limit to the number of attempts in the exam. The candidates can appear in the UPPSC PCS exam till they confirm to the age limit criteria as prescribed in the official notification. The upper age limit is the only restriction for applying. The upper age limit for the General Category candidates is 40 years. The Commission also provide age relaxation to the reserved category candidates.
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Q:   Is the UPPSC PCS syllabus for prelims and main approximately same?

A:

No, there is a vast difference in the prelims and Mains syllabus of the UPPSC PCS exam. Firstly, the structure of the prelims and main exam is vastly different. The UPPSC PCS prelims exam is an objective type exam and the main exam is a descriptive exam. 
The traditional core subjects such as 

  • History
  • Geography
  • Economy
  • Indian Polity
  • Environment Studies
  • Current Affairs

have common topics in prelims and main exam.
But the main exam has two state-specific papers, an ethics paper and, a Hindi paper which makes it a different ball game altogether.

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Q:   Is UPPCS exam held every year?

A:
Yes, the UPPCS is the premiere exam of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) and it conducts the UPPCS exam every year without fail. The UPPSC maintains the exam calendar and almost all the exams are conducted based on that calendar. UPPSC Prelims 2023 will be conducted on May 14, a fortnight before the IAS prelims exam 2023. The Commission releases the notification every year to recruit the candidates for the posts notified in the official notification. The official notification also mention the number of UPPCS vacancies.
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UPPSC PCS Main Exam Pattern 2024

Instead of the optional subjects, the Commission introduced two papers related to the Uttar Pradesh local folklores. These papers will be descriptive in orientation. UPPSC main exam is a descriptive type exam where the candidates are required to write the essay-type conventional answers in the answer booklet provided by the Commission. The Commission asks analytical questions in the paper. The score of the candidates will be based on how the candidates describe their answers in the shortest word limit. Brevity is the key to success in the UPPSC main exam. There are four general studies papers instead of two papers general studies. UPPSC has changed the nature of the exam altogether. Previously, the two general studies paper were objective-type offline papers, but now there are four descriptive-type question papers.  Besides, a new paper of Ethics was introduced.

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The structure of the UPPSC PCS main exam is as follows

Description

Duration of Paper

Marks

General Hindi

3 Hours

150

Essay

3 Hours

150

General Studies (First Paper)

3 Hours

200

General Studies (Second Paper)

3 Hours

200

General Studies (Third Paper)

3 Hours

200

General Studies (Fourth Paper)

3 Hours

200

Optional Subject - Paper 1 General Studies (Fifth Paper)

3 Hours

200

Optional Subject - Paper 2 General Studies (SixthPaper)

3 Hours

200

Sub-Total (Written Test)

 

1500

Personality Test (Viva-Voce)

25 - 45 minutes

100

Grand Total

1600

The duration of each of the paper will be three hours. The marks secured in the UPPSC main exam will be considered for the final UPPSC result. The higher marks ensure selection in the UPPSC exam.

UPPSC PCS Main (Interview) Exam Pattern

There is no set pattern for the UPPSC PCS interview and it differs from candidate to candidate and board to board. The interview is conducted on the office premises of the UPPSC in Prayagraj. The candidates need to report at the office on the assigned date. In the interview process, all the original documents related to the academic records and professional experience are verified by the office staff and the candidates are assigned to a particular interview board. Each board i

Besides the exam pattern, the number of candidates passing the prelims exam was also changed recently. Now the number of candidates passing the prelims exam is restricted to thirteen times the number of vacancies. This ratio was 18 times earlier. It made the prelims exam tougher. Also, the number of candidates passing the UPPSC PCS main exam will be two times the number of vacancies.

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Q:   Is the UPPSC PCS Main exam pattern changed?

A:

No, the UPPSC PCS main exam pattern was not changed but the Commission removed the Optional subject from the main exam and introduced the General Studies Paper 5 and 6. These papers will ask the Uttar Pradesh specific topics and questions related to the local folklore of the state.

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission under the directives of the State Government, removed the optional subject from the main exam. The UPPSC Main exam is conducted as the offline exam in the pen and paper mode.

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Q:   How many exam centres are there for UPPCS main exam?

A:

There are three exam centres for UPPSC main exam. The Commission conduct the UPPSC Main exam in three cities only. These cities are Prayagraj, Lucknow and Ghaziabad. The Ghaziabad is added lately after the demand of the candidates. The UPPSC main exam is a descriptive type exam conducted offline.

The UPPSC Prelims exam is conducted in 51 districts across the state.

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Q:   How many papers are there in the UPPSC PCS Main Exam?

A:
There are 8 question papers in the UPPSC PCS main exam. All the papers are compulsory and the marks secured in all the papers are counted for the final merit. The UPPSC Main exam is a descriptive type exam where the candidates are required to write conventional essay type answers in the answer sheet provided by the Commission. In UPPSC prelims exam, there are two question papers where the second paper is qualifying only and the UPPCS Prelims General Studies paper 1 marks are calculated for the merit list.
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UPPSC UPPCS Exam Pattern 2024 FAQs

The candidates can see here important questions related to UPPSC UPPCS exam pattern.

Q:   What is the expected cutoff for UPPSC UPPCS 2023 prelims exam?

A:

The candidates can see below the UPPSC 2023 expected cutoff. The cutoff is expected to remain high because of the factual questions and the repeated questions asked in the exam.

Category

Cutoff 

Unreserved

115 to 125

Scheduled Caste of Uttar Pradesh

92 to 94

Scheduled Tribes of Uttar Pradesh

81 to 86

OBC of Uttar Pradesh

112 to 115

EWS 

114 to 117

Dependant of Freedom-Fighter of Uttar Pradesh

105 to 108

Female

100 to 110

Ex-Serviceman of Uttar Pradesh

102 to 108

Differently Abled Persons of Uttar Pradesh

95 to 100

PB

92 to 99

PD

76 to 83

BA/OA/OL

95 to 100

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Q:   What is the selection process for UPPSC PCS Exam?

A:

The UPPSC PCS exam selection process involves three stages. It takes around one year to complete the selection process of the exam. The selection process for the UPPSC PCS Exam consists of three stages: 

  1. Preliminary Examination
  2. Main Exam (Interview)

Candidates first need to clear the Preliminary Exam, followed by the Main Exam, and finally, the Interview stage to be considered for selection

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Q:   Why UPPSC UPPCS Exam Analysis is important?

A:

The UPPSC PCS exam analysis is important for the candidates who have appeared in the exam as well as for the candidates preparing for the exam. The UPPSC exam analysis will provide a clear idea about the difficulty level of the UPPSC PCS paper and the important areas from where the questions have been asked in the paper.

The candidates can see the exam analysis such as the guiding force for the next year exam paper. The canddiates can see here the exam analysis video of the candidates who appeared in the exam.

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UPPSC UPPCS Exam

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Answered a week ago

Yes, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission released the UPPSC Admit card 2024 for the prelims exam on December 12, 2024. The candidates can download their admit card from the official website - uppsc.up.nic.in. The Commission released two direct links for the candidates to download their UPPS

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