The results of the Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination (UPSC CSE) Mains 2024 have been declared.
At an All-India level, 2,845 aspirants have been declared qualified for the Personality Test to be conducted in New Delhi from January 2025. According to the notification, about 1,056 aspirants are likely to be certified for appointments to various positions, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS the Group A and Group B Services.
A few more aspirants are also likely to be selected as the government maintains a reserve list every year.
The three-tier examination comprises the Preliminary, the Main and the Personality Test. At an All India Level, over 5.5 lakh aspirants are expected to have appeared for the Preliminary conducted in May 2024, out of which 14,627 were declared qualified for the Mains according to a predetermined ratio. The Main examination was held in the last week of September 2024.
Aspirants who did not qualify
Candidates who have not qualified the Main, would no doubt be disappointed. They would have to analyse the reasons for not reaching the qualifying marks and take remedial steps. This exercise would be meaningful only when the marks list is released by UPSC.
Until then, they should continue their preparation for the CSE 2025 examination in the ‘Prelims cum Main’ mode till March and then shift to the ‘Prelim only’ mode.
Aspirants who qualified
All aspirants who have qualified should start their preparation for the Personality test immediately.
They should fill in the Detailed Application Form - II , which will be sent to them shortly by the UPSC with the utmost care, as the information provided by them in the DAF-I (which they have submitted earlier) and DAF-II would provide the foundation for the questions that would be asked in the Personality Test. Apart from conventional questions, they should be ready to face situation-based questions designed to test skills like leadership, decision-making, and ability to withstand pressure.
In effect, the personality test would test the aspirants' aptitude for governance, administration, policy and planning. Focusing on current issues that raise questions on governance and policies is of paramount importance.
(Gopalakrishna V, Director, Brain Tree in Hyderabad. The contributor has been training aspirants for the Civil Services examination for the last three decades. He can be contacted at braintreeindia@gmail.com)
