The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India. The Civil Services Examination (CSE) includes the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS).It is conducted in three phases-

1. Preliminary Examination :

A preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II also popularly known as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT).

2. Mains Examination :

A Main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted followed by a interview.

Interview Examination :

Personality Test-- The Personality Test or Interview is the third phase of UPSC Civil Service Examination. The Mains qualified candidates will be called for their interview conducted by the UPSC. The duration of the personality test is not fixed but it depends on the interviews.