{"id":12225,"date":"2026-03-14T12:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T06:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=12225"},"modified":"2026-03-14T12:13:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T06:43:32","slug":"upsc-prelims-exam-timings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/upsc-prelims-exam-timings\/","title":{"rendered":"UPSC Prelims Exam Timings 2026, GS Paper I and CSAT Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UPSC Prelims Exam Timings 2026<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Candidates must report to the UPSC Prelims Exam Centre <\/span><b>at least 1 hour before<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the\u00a0 UPSC Prelims Exam Timings 2026. The <\/span><b>gates shall be closed 30 minutes before<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the start of the exam which will be conducted on 24th May 2026.\u00a0 The <\/span><b>morning shift<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the exam starts at <\/span><b>9:30 AM.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Thus candidates must report to the venue between 8:30-9 AM in order to avoid any last moment confusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UPSC strongly advises candidates to report at least 1 hour before to the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/upsc-exam-centres-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>UPSC Prelims Exam Centre 2026<\/strong><\/a> in order to have adequate time to settle down on the designated seat and complete the check in formalities like document verification and frisking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UPSC Prelims Exam Timing 2026 Schedule<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The exam is set to be conducted in 2 shifts\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Morning Shift- Starting from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Afternoon Shift - Starting from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As per guidelines on UPSC Prelims Admit Card 2026, the gates of the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/upsc-prelims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>UPSC Prelims 2026 Exam<\/strong><\/a> Centre shall be closed 30 Minutes before the commencement of the exam. No entry will be permitted beyond this time in the exam centre.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>For comprehensive and result-oriented preparation, aspirants should join the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/all-courses\/upsc-prelims-test-series\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Vajiram and Ravi UPSC Prelims Test Series 2026<\/strong><\/a>, designed to strengthen conceptual clarity and exam-oriented practice.<\/p>\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\">\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paper<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\">\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gate Closing Time<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\">\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Start Time<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\">\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">End Time<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\">\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Duration\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paper 1: General Studies (GS)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">9:00 AM<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">9:30 AM\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">11:30 AM\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 Hours<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paper 2: Civil Services Aptitude Exam (CSAT)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2:00 PM<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2:30 PM<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">4:30 PM<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<td>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2 Hours\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UPSC Prelims Exam Timing 2026 Essentials<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Candidates should ensure that they have once visited the UPSC Prelims Exam Centre 2026 before 24th May in order to plan their travel in advance. To ensure a smooth entry in to the centre adhere to the UPSC Guideline.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carry the essential documents mentioned in Admit Card<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Avoid carrying electronic gadgets as safekeeping of the same cannot be ensured by the commission or centre authorities<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dress in plain and simple attire in order to have smooth frisking<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Due to 3 hour break between the 2 shifts, ensure that you are carrying some light meal with you and adequate water to avoid dehydration<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UPSC Prelims Exam Timing 2026 Final words<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reporting on time will enable the candidates to focus better on exam. Last minute hurry and hassles makes one prone to committing errors in exam due to preoccupation of brain with the tension of formalities to be done before the exam.\u00a0 Ensure that you follow the timings on the Admit card and give your undivided attention to the exam.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 93.7962%;height: 723px\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td class=\"tb-color\" style=\"width: 97.53%;text-align: center;height: 25px\" colspan=\"2\"><strong>Other Related Posts of UPSC 2026<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 25px\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 38.3033%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-syllabus\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>UPSC Syllabus<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 59.2267%;text-align: center;height: 25px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/upsc-exam-pattern\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>UPSC Exam Pattern<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr 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Registration<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UPSC Admit Card mentions UPSC Prelims Exam Timing 2026. Paper will be held in two shifts and candidates are advised to be inside the exam centre premises 30 mins before the scheduled time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":12172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[910,1305],"class_list":{"0":"post-12225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-cse-exam","8":"tag-upsc-prelims","9":"tag-upsc-prelims-exam-timings-2025"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12225"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24573,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12225\/revisions\/24573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}