The Union Public Service Commission has released the admit cards for the Civil Services Mains Examination (UPSC CSE 2026). Candidates can download them by visiting the official website http://www.upsc.gov.in. The examination will be conducted in two shifts from August 21 to August 30. Candidates who were selected in the Preliminary Examination will be eligible to appear for this. The timetable has already been released.
How to Download the Admit Card
- Go to the official UPSC website upsc.gov.in .
- Go to the “What’s New” section and click on the link for the UPSC CSE Mains Admit Card.
- A new page will open on the screen. Log in by entering your mobile number and OTP/URN and password/email and password.
- Now the candidate dashboard will open. Click on the “Examinations” option in the top menu.
- Click on the link to download the admit card.
- Check it carefully and download it.
- For future reference, candidates can take a printout and keep it with them.
UPSC CSE Mains Time Table
The UPSC CSE Mains Examination will be conducted in two shifts. The first shift will run from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Meanwhile, the second shift will be conducted from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM. On August 21, Paper-1, i.e., Essay Writing, will be held in the first shift. No examination will be conducted in the second shift.
On August 22, Paper-2 (GS-1) will be held in the first shift, and Paper-3 (GS-2) will be held in the second shift. On August 23, Paper-4 will be held in the first shift, and Paper-5 will be held in the second shift. On August 29, Paper-A (Indian Language) will be held in the first shift, and Paper-B (English) will be held in the second shift. On August 30, Paper-6 will be held in the first shift, and Paper-7 will be held in the second shift.
Exam Pattern
The UPSC CSE Mains Examination will be of a total of 1750 marks. Selected candidates from this will be allowed to appear for the Interview and Personality Test. There will be a total of 9 papers. Papers A and B will be related to languages, each carrying 300 marks. There will be two papers related to the optional subject (Paper-6 and Paper-7) and 4 papers related to General Studies, each carrying 250 marks. Meanwhile, Paper-1 (Essay Writing) will also be of 250 marks. The exam will be conducted in offline mode.