About UPSC Civil Services Examination
The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) is India's most prestigious competitive exam, conducted annually to recruit officers for IAS, IPS, IFS and 22+ allied services. It is a three-stage process: Preliminary, Mains, and Personality Test (Interview).
UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus
- GS Paper I: History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Environment, Science, Current Affairs (100 Q, 200 marks)
- CSAT Paper II: Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Math, Decision Making (80 Q, 200 marks — qualifying)
- Negative marking: 1/3 for wrong answers in GS Paper I
MockMantra UPSC Prelims Series
Our UPSC CSE mock tests integrate 10-year PYQ trends, NCERT-based questions, and current affairs from the last 12 months. Each test is followed by a performance map showing your UPSC-specific weak areas.
How many attempts are allowed in UPSC CSE?+
General category candidates get 6 attempts till age 32. OBC gets 9 attempts till 35. SC/ST have unlimited attempts till age 37. The number may change — always verify with the official UPSC notification.
Is CSAT Paper 2 qualifying or competitive?+
CSAT Paper 2 is qualifying in nature. You need to score at least 33% (66 marks out of 200) to qualify. Marks from Paper 2 are not counted toward your Prelims merit list.
How many mock tests should I attempt for UPSC Prelims?+
Top UPSC selections typically attempt 30–50 full Prelims mock tests. More important than quantity is deep analysis — spend 2x the time on analysis that you spent taking the test.