UPSC Full Form, Union Public Service Commission

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body in India, established under Articles 315 to 323 of the Indian Constitution. 

UPSC Full Form
Table of Contents

UPSC Full Form is the Union Public Service Commission. Considered to be one of the most competitive and challenging exams, the Union Public Service Commission is responsible for conducting this exam. UPSC Civil Services Examination is conducted by UPSC in three phases- Prelims, Mains and Interview. The UPSC Prelims Exam is of objective type and the UPSC Mains is descriptive in nature. UPSC is responsible for conducting examinations for IAS, IPS, IFS and various other positions. 

UPSC Full Form 

UPSC Full Form is the Union Public Service Commission. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body in India, established under Articles 315 to 323 of the Indian Constitution. 

Union Public Service Commission History 

The Civil Service was set up in the year 1923 under the chairmanship of Lord Lee of Fareham with equal numbers of Indian and British members. In 1924, the Public Service Commission was set up after the recommendation of the report. According to the Lee Commission, the following points were important- 

  • 40% of future recruitment should be British
  • 40% of Indians should be directly recruited
  • 20% of Indians from provisional services should be promoted

In 1926, the first Public Service Commission was set up by Sir Ross Barker as the chairman on 1st October. The body was without any power as a limited advisory body. In 1935, the Government of India Act 1935, changed the Federal Union Public Service Commission and became the Union Public Service Commission on 26 January 1950.

UPSC Functions

The duties of UPSC are mentioned under Article 320 of the constitution. The UPSC Full Form is the Union Public Service Commission and the functions. Functions of UPSC include:

  • Managing appointments to the services of the union. 
  • Development of recruiting schemes
  • Consultation on matters relating to recruitment, appointment, pension claim, promotion or transfer, disciplinary cases, or other matters given to them. 

Examination conducted by UPSC

UPSC conducts various examinations for group A, group B and various other positions. List of examinations include:

  1. Indian Statistical Service Examination (ISS)
  2. Indian Forest Service Examination (IFS)
  3. Indian Civil Services Examination (ICSE) for recruitment to IAS, IPS, IRS, etc officers
  4. Combined Medical Services Examination
  5. Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS)
  6. Various Recruitment Tests for UPSC EPFO, and other exams
  7. Indian Engineering Services Examination
  8. Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination
  9. National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination (NDA)
  10. Indian Economic Service Examination (IES)
  11. Central Armed Police Forces (ACs) Examination

UPSC 2025 Exam Dates

Event

Date

UPSC Exam Calendar 2025

26 April 2024

UPSC 2025 exam notification

22 January 2025

UPSC 2025 exam application form

22nd January 2025 to 18 February 2025

UPSC 2025 admit card

To be released

UPSC 2025 Civil Services Prelims exam

25 May 2025

UPSC 2025 Civil Services Mains exam

22 August 2025

UPSC Eligibility Criteria 2025

In order to appear for UPSC 2025, aspirants are required to meet the eligibility criteria. Following are the necessary eligibility criteria that have to be met:

Age Limit

21 to 32 years

Age relaxation

As per the category (mentioned below)

Educational Qualification for UPSC Civil Services

Graduation from any recognized university

Nationality

Indian

UPSC Exam Number of Attempts

The UPSC Exam allows candidates to take upto the following number of UPSC attempts: 

  1. General Category/ EWS Category– 6 attempts
  2. OBC candidates – 9 attempts
  3. SC/ST – no bar on the number of attempts (they can take the exam until they reach the upper age limit)

UPSC Exam Pattern 2025

The UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam Pattern is as follows:

Name of the Paper

No of Questions    

Marks Allotted 

Time Allotted  

Nature of Exam

Paper I: General Studies (Objective-type)

100

200

2 hours

The score will be considered for Cut-off

Paper-II: General Studies-II (CSAT) (Objective-Type)

80

200

2 hours

Qualifying Nature- Candidates will have to score 33% to qualify CSAT.

 

Paper

Subject

Duration

Total marks

Time Allotted

Nature of paper

Type of Paper

Paper A

Compulsory Indian language

3 hours

300

3 hours

Qualifying

Descriptive  

Paper B

English

3 hours

300

3 hours

Qualifying

Descriptive

Paper I

Essay

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

Paper-II

General Studies I

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

Paper III

General Studies II

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

Paper IV

General Studies III

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

Paper V

General Studies IV

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

Paper VI

Optional I

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

Paper VII

Optional II

3 hours

250

3 hours

Merit

Descriptive

UPSC 2025 Important Books 

The following books are important for UPSC 2025 Preparation- 

Name of the Book

Author’s name

Indian Polity

M. Laxmikanth

Important Judgments that Transformed India

Alex Andrews George

Important Acts that Transformed India

Alex Andrews George

Ancient and Medieval India

Poonam Dalal Dahiya

Indian Art and Culture 

Nitin Singhania

Certificate Physical And Human Geography

Goh Cheng Leong

Geography of India

Majid Husain

Modern Indian History

Sonali Bansal and Snehil Tripathi

Science and Technology

Ravi P. Agrahari

Environment and Ecology

Vaishali Anand

Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

Niraj Kumar

 

Other Related Posts of UPSC 2025

UPSC Syllabus 2025

UPSC Exam Pattern

UPSC Age Limit

IAS Salary

UPSC Exam Date 2025

UPSC Optional Subjects List

UPSC Calendar 2025

UPSC Mains 2025

UPSC Prelims 2025

UPSC Interview

UPSC Result

UPSC Cut Off

UPSC CSAT Syllabus

UPSC Books

UPSC Admit Card

UPSC Previous Year Papers

UPSC Answer Key

IAS vs IPS

Latest UPSC Exam 2025 Updates

Last updated on Feb, 2025

UPSC Notification 2025 was released on 22nd January 2025.

→ The UPSC Vacancy 2025 were released 1129, out of which 979 were for UPSC CSE and remaining 150 are for UPSC IFoS.

→ As per UPSC Notification, the last date to apply is 18th February 2025.

→ The UPSC Prelims 2025 is scheduled to be conducted on 25th May 2025 and UPSC Mains 2025 will be conducted on 22nd August 2025.

→ Apply once through it and aspirants can apply for various government exams conducted by UPSC.

→ The UPSC Selection Process is of 3 stages-Prelims, Mains and Interview.

→ Also check Best IAS Coaching in Delhi

UPSC Full Form FAQs

Q1. What is UPSC salary?+

Q2. Is IAS and UPSC same?+

Q3. What is UPSC job work?+

Q4. Which subject is best for UPSC?+

Q5. What are the 12 subjects for IAS?+

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