The Answer Key of the civil services of Prelims examination 2015, of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has been announced on 23rd August 2015. Both the papers carry 200 marks each (total 400 marks); this exam is designed to serve as a screening test only. The syllabus for Preliminary Exams Paper-I is of General Studies which includes mainly the current affairs for which the candidates have to update themselves with the national and international happenings all over.

 

The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC every year in three stages - preliminary, main and interview - to select candidates for prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among other services.

 

Lakhs of candidates try their luck every year, but only less than 0.5% make to the services. A total of 9,45,908 candidates had applied for the civil services exam this year. Only 49% of the total candidates or 4,65,882 candidates took the examination.

 

UPSC had decided to make Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) a qualifying paper for the civil services exams following protests from various students' organisations. The examination format was revised in such a way that from this year Paper-II will be considered only as a qualifying paper. A candidate needs to score merely 33% in this paper and it will not be added to the total. A candidate qualified for mains in a particular year will be eligible to appear for main exams of that particular year only.