The UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination 2026 is nearing its finish line, with August 29 marking the penultimate day of the nine-day exam window that began on August 21.
Candidates are competing for 933 vacancies this cycle, spanning the IAS, IPS, IFS and other central civil services, with the exam set to conclude on August 30.
Each day of the exam runs in two sessions, forenoon from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and afternoon from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM, covering the Essay, four General Studies papers and two optional papers.
Thirty-three of this year’s 933 vacancies are reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, in line with UPSC’s standard reservation policy for the exam.
Around 10 lakh candidates typically apply for the Civil Services Examination each year, with only about 900 to 1,000 eventually making it through all three stages of selection.
Each exam day runs in two sessions, a forenoon slot from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and an afternoon slot from 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM, except the opening day, which was reserved solely for the Essay paper.
The UPSC released the Mains admit card on August 14, 2026, allowing candidates to download their e-admit cards using their registration ID or roll number.
Roughly 10 lakh candidates apply for the Civil Services Examination each year, with only around 900 to 1,000 ultimately selected across the IAS, IPS, IFS and other allied services.
The 933 vacancies for this year’s cycle include 33 posts reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, part of UPSC’s broader reservation framework for the exam.
Candidates who clear the Mains stage will proceed to the Personality Test, commonly known as the interview round, the final stage of the three-tier Civil Services Examination process.
The Civil Services Examination remains one of the most competitive recruitment processes in India, with a selection ratio of roughly one in a thousand applicants in a typical year.
Photo via Unsplash, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (representative exam-writing image)
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