The UPSC successfully conducted the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2026, on May 24, 2026, in offline mode using OMR sheets. More than eight lakh aspirants participated in the exam against a total of 933 vacancies. The commission has completed the answer sheet evaluation and officially announced the results on its official website, shortlisting 13,343 candidates for the next stage.
If you are among those who appeared for the preliminary examination, please note that the result is available as a merit list in PDF format. This list contains the roll numbers of the qualified candidates. You will find your roll number in the document only if your score in the examination meets or exceeds the minimum qualifying criteria.
To clear the preliminary examination, it is mandatory to secure at least a 33% score in Paper 2 (Civil Services Aptitude Test – CSAT) and meet the category-wise cut-off marks in Paper 1. Notably, the Union Public Service Commission prepares the merit list based exclusively on the candidates’ performance in Paper 1. The result has been officially released on 15 June 2026.
The cut-off marks to pass the preliminary examination will be made public by the commission with the final results. For reference, we have prepared an expected category-wise cut-off mark by analysing different factors such as the number of vacancies, reservation policy and the number of candidates. Please go through the table to check the same for your category.
| Category | Expected 2026 Unofficial Cutoff Range | 2025 Official Actual Cutoff | Recommended Safe Target Score |
| General | 85 – 95 Marks | 92.66 Marks | 100+ Marks |
| OBC | 83 – 94 Marks | 92.00 Marks | 98+ Marks |
| EWS | 82 – 92 Marks | 89.34 Marks | 95+ Marks |
| SC | 72 – 85 Marks | 84.00 Marks | 90+ Marks |
| ST | 68 – 82 Marks | 82.66 Marks | 86+ Marks |
As the result for the examination is now live, you can follow the step-by-step instructions available below to check your qualifying status.
- Go to the official website of the Union Public Service Commission at https://upsc.gov.in/.
- Find and click on the option that reads ‘Written Results’, and then click on the ‘Examination Written Results’ and get redirected to the next page.
- Now, you have to click on the ‘Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2026,’ option to download the merit list in PDF format.
- Open the result file and search for your roll number to check that you passed the examination.
| Merit List PDF | Click Here |
Candidates who will pass the preliminary examination will be called for the second stage, the main examination. The UPSC will conduct it from August 21, 2026, which will last for five days. You may check the examination schedule from the table below.
| Day | Session | Time | Paper | Subject |
| Day 1 (Friday) | Forenoon | 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Paper I | Essay |
| Day 2 (Saturday) | Forenoon | 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Paper II | General Studies I (History, Geography, Society) |
| Afternoon | 02:00 PM – 05:00 PM | Paper III | General Studies II (Polity, Governance, IR) | |
| Day 3 (Sunday) | Forenoon | 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Paper IV | General Studies III (Economy, Science, Environment) |
| Afternoon | 02:00 PM – 05:00 PM | Paper V | General Studies IV (Ethics, Integrity, Aptitude) | |
| Day 4 (Next Saturday) | Forenoon | 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Paper A | Compulsory Indian Language |
| Afternoon | 02:00 PM – 05:00 PM | Paper B | English Language | |
| Day 5 (Next Sunday) | Forenoon | 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Paper VI | Optional Subject – Paper 1 |
| Afternoon | 02:00 PM – 05:00 PM | Paper VII | Optional Subject – Paper 2 |
After the main examination result, shortlisted candidates will be called for the interview, and then the UPSC will prepare the final selection list based on participants’ performance in the last two stages of the selection process.