Main Examination

The Main Examination consists of nine papers with a maximum of 2300 marks.

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Paper-I	One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the 18 languages included in the VIIIth Schedule to the Constitution (Qualifying Paper)	300 Marks
Paper-II	English (Qualifying Paper)	300 Marks
Paper-III	Essay	200 Marks
Papers IV & V	General Studies (300 Marks for each paper)	600 Marks
Papers VI, VII, VIII & IX	Any two subjects (each having 2 papers) to be selected from the prescribed optional subjects (300 marks for each paper)	1200 Marks
Total Marks for Written Examination		2000 Marks
Interview Test		300 Marks
Grand Total		2300 Marks

Total Optional Subjects : 51

Note:
1. Candidates have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers, viz, Paper-I and Paper-II, in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in English
2. Candidates who have opted for an Indian Language as language medium for the Main Examination have an option of being interviewed either in English or in the same language which they have opted for the Main Examination.
3. The papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature; the marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
4. The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subjects of only such candidates will be evaluated as attain such minimum standard as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion for the qualifying papers on Indian Language and English.
5. The paper-I on Indian Languages will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the North-Eastern States of Arunachanl Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and also for candidates hailing from the State of Sikkim.
6. For the Language papers, the script to be used by the candidates will be as under

List of optional subjects (Literature) for Civil Services Main Examination (Total 26)

Arabic	Gujarati	Manipuri	Sanskrit
Assamese	Hindi	Nepali	Sindhi
Bengali	Kannada	Oriya	Tamil
Chinese	Kashmiri	Pali	Telugu
English	Konkani	Persian	Urdu
French	Marathi	Punjabi	German
Malayalam	Russian

List of Optional Subjects - Civil Service Main Examination (Total 25)

Agriculture	Mathematics	Animal Husbandry & Vetinary Science
Mechanical Engineering	Botany	Medical Science
Chemistry	Philosophy	Civil Engineering
Physics	Commerce & Accountancy	Political Science & International Relations
Economics	Psychology	Electrical Engineering
Public Administration	Geography	Sociology
Geology	Statistics	Indian History
Zoology	Law	Management
Anthropology

1. Candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combinations of subjects:
   1. Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration;
   2. Commerce & Accountancy and Management;
   3. Anthropology and Sociology;
   4. Mathematics and Statistics;
   5. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
   6. Management and Public Administration;
   7. Of the Engineering subjects, viz., Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering–not more than one subject.
   8. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science.
   
   
2. The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
3. Each paper will be of three hours duration. Blind candidates will, however be allowed an extra time of thirty minutes at each paper.
4. Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers viz. Papers I and II above in any one of the languages in cluded in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in English.
5. Candidates exercising the option to answer papers III to IX in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the version in the language opted by them.

   Candidates should, however, note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases, their script(s) will not be valued for being in an unauthorised medium.

6. The question papers other than language papers will be set both in Hindi and English.