Around 14,627 took the UPSC Mains exam in 2024. Out of them, 2,845 students have qualified for UPSC Interview 2024. UPSC conducts this exam each year to select candidates for important government positions like IPS, IAS, IFS, IRS, and others. The Prelims exam took place on May 16 June, 2024, and those who passed appeared for the Mains from 20 to 29 September, 2024. In 2023, a total of 13,35,697 students applied for the UPSC exam. Usually, around 1 million students attempt the exam every year. However, only 0.2% of all candidates pass the exam. This article provides information about the number of students who appeared for the UPSC Civil Services exam in the last few years.
How Many Candidates Qualified Prelims 2024?
On June 16, 2024, about 13.4 lakh students took the UPSC Prelims exam at 79 centres across India. There were 1105 vacancies. Only 14627 students scored above the cut-off and can move on to the Mains round. The Prelims is the first step in the recruitment process. Those who pass the Prelims exam can move on to the mains stage. In the next step, these candidates filled out the UPSC DAF form within a certain time frame. Around 13 lakh people took the exam, but only 14,627 made it to the next round. This shows how tough the exam is.
Number of Students Appeared for Mains 2024
The UPSC Prelims result was declared on Julu 1, 2024. Out of 13.4 lakh candidates, only 14627 candidates scored enough to move to the UPSC Mains. These 14627 candidates filled out the DAF-1 form for UPSC Mains 2024. Most of them appeared for the mains exam from September 20th to 29th, 2024. After the result, candidates will be selected for the personality test in Dholpur House, New Delhi.
How Many Candidates Appear for UPSC? - Trend Analysis
The number of candidates appearing for the UPSC exam over time has significantly increased over the years. Here is a trend analysis of UPSC Examination selection over the past 17 years:
| Year | Number of Students applied | Number of Students Who appeared for Prelims | Number of Students Who qualified for Mains | Number of Students Who appeared for Interview | Number of Students Who Cleared the Exam |
| 2007 | 333680 | 161469 | 9158 | 1883 | 553 |
| 2008 | 325433 | 167035 | 11669 | 2136 | 734 |
| 2009 | 409110 | 193091 | 11894 | 2431 | 881 |
| 2010 | 547698 | 269036 | 12271 | 2589 | 989 |
| 2011 | 499120 | 243236 | 11837 | 2415 | 965 |
| 2012 | 550080 | 271442 | 12795 | 2674 | 999 |
| 2013 | 776604 | 324279 | 14800 | 3001 | 998 |
| 2014 | 947428 | 446623 | 16706 | 3308 | 1122 |
| 2015 | 945908 | 465882 | 15008 | 2797 | 1236 |
| 2016 | 1128262 | 459659 | 15382 | 2961 | 1078 |
| 2017 | 969065 | 462848 | 13300 | 2564 | 1056 |
| 2018 | 1065552 | 500484 | 10419 | 1992 | – |
| 2019 | 1135261 | 493972 | 11845 | 2034 | 829 |
| 2020 | 1057948 | 4,82,770 | 10,564 | 2,053 | 796 |
| 2021 | 1093948 | 508619 | 10000 | – | 761 |
| 2022 | 11,35,697 | 5,73,735 | 13,090 | 2,529 | 933 |
| 2023 | 13,00,000 | - | 14624 | 2916 | - |
Last updated on November, 2025
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Candidates Appeared for UPSC CSE 2024-25 FAQs
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