UPSC CSE Mains Exam Date 2024 was announced by the Union Public Service Commission. The UPSC CSE Mains 2024 is scheduled to take place from 20 to 29 September 2024. Earlier UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 was conducted on 16 June 2024 and the result for the same was announced on 1 July 2024. Those who have successfully cleared the UPSC CSE 2024 Prelims are eligible to appear in the UPSC CSE Mains 2024.

UPSC CSE Mains Exam Date 2024

UPSC Civil Services Main Examination 2024 will be held from 20 to 29 September 2024 in two shifts i.e. from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon and 2:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M. for those who are shortlisted to appear for the UPSC CSE Mains 2024. Check the below table for detailed UPSC CSE Mains Schedule 2024:-

UPSC CSE Mains Exam Pattern 2024 Schedule
Date/ Day	Forenoon Session (9:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon)	Afternoon Session (2:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M.)
20.09.2024 (Friday)	Paper-I Essay	No Paper
21.09.2024 (Saturday)	Paper-II General Studies-I	Paper-III General Studies-II
22.09.2024 (Sunday)	Paper-IV General Studies-III	Paper-V General Studies-IV
28.09.2024 (Saturday)	Paper-A Indian Language {Assamese / Kannada / Bodo / Bengali / Dogri/ Gujarati / Hindi / Kashmiri/ Konkani / Maithilli / Malayalam / Manipuri / Nepali / Odia / Punjabi / Marathi / Sanskrit / Santhali (Devanagari / Olchiki Script)/ Sindhi (Devanagari / Arabic Script) / Tamil / Telugu / Urdu}	Paper-B English
29.09.2024 (Sunday)	Paper-VI Optional Subject-Paper-1 {Agriculture / Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science / Anthropology / Botany / Chemistry / Civil Engineering / Commerce & Accountancy / Economics / Electrical Engineering / Geography / Geology / History / Law / Management /Mathematics / Mechanical Engineering /Medical Science / Philosophy / Physics / Political Science & International Relations / Psychology / Public Administration / Sociology / Statistics / Zoology / Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese / Bodo / Dogri / Gujarati / Hindi / Bengali / Kannada / Kashmiri / Konkani / Malayalam / Manipuri / Marathi / Maithilli / Nepali / Odia / Telugu / Punjabi / Sanskrit / Santhali / Sindhi / Tamil / Urdu / English}	Paper-VII Optional Subject-Paper-2 {Agriculture / Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science / Anthropology / Botany / Chemistry / Civil Engineering / Commerce & Accountancy / Economics / Electrical Engineering / Geography / Geology / History / Law / Management /Mathematics / Mechanical Engineering /Medical Science / Philosophy / Physics / Political Science & International Relations / Psychology / Public Administration / Sociology / Statistics / Zoology / Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese / Bengali / Bodo / Dogri / Hindi / Kannada / Nepali / Kashmiri / Gujarati / Konkani / Urdu / Maithilli / Malayalam / Manipuri /Odia / Punjabi / Sanskrit / Santhali / Sindhi / Marathi / Tamil / Telugu / English}

UPSC Civil Services Main Exam Pattern 2024

UPSC CSE Mains 2024 will take place from 20 to 29 September 2024. Those who are going to appear in the UPSC Mains 2024 should be familiar with the UPSC CSE Mains Pattern 2024. Understanding the examination pattern and preparing for the exam accordingly will give you an extra edge to score well. Below we are providing a detailed UPSC CSE Mains Exam Pattern 2024:-

Duration and Extra Time:

Each paper lasts 3 hours.
Candidates with a scribe get an additional 30 minutes.

Paper Types:

Qualifying Papers: Paper A and Paper B (Language papers), each worth 300 marks. You need 75 marks (25%) in each to have your other papers evaluated.
Merit Papers: The remaining 7 papers, each worth 250 marks. These are used to determine your final score.

Total Marks and Final Result:

The total marks for the merit papers are 1750.
This score contributes to the final merit list or result.

Minimum Marks Requirements:

Qualifying Papers: At least 75 out of 300 marks (25%).
Merit Papers: At least 10% of the marks to be eligible for the cutoff.

Essay Paper:

Write 2 essays, each worth 125 marks.
Choose one topic from each of the two sections, each with 4 topics.

General Studies Papers:

GS I, II, III: 20 questions per paper. 10 questions are worth 15 marks each, and 10 questions are worth 10 marks each.
GS IV (Ethics Paper): Two sections:
- Section A: About 15 questions worth 10 marks each.
- Section B: 6 case studies, each worth 20 marks.

Optional Papers:

Optional Paper 1 & 2: 8 questions each. Questions can be worth 10, 15, or 20 marks.

UPSC CSE Mains Admit Card 2024

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will release the UPSC CSE Mains Admit Card on its official website about 3-4 days before the exam in September 2024. You must present this admit card at the exam centre; otherwise, you won't be allowed to take the exam.

To download your 2024 admit card, follow these steps:

Visit the official UPSC website.
Click on the "ADMIT CARD" tab on the homepage, choose "E-Admit Cards for various Examinations of UPSC," and then select "Download Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2024 Admit Card."
Enter your Registration Number and Password. Your IAS Admit Card will appear on the screen.
Download the PDF of your admit card and print two or three copies for your records.

Make sure to have your admit card with you on the day of the exam!