What are the total marks for the UPSC ESE (IES) Prelims Exam 2025?

The UPSC (ESE) IES 2025 prelims exam carry a total of 500 marks. Paper 1: 200 marks Paper 2: 300 Marks

Is there a negative marking in the UPSC IES 2025 Prelims exam?

Yes. In UPSC IES 2025, there is a negative marking. As per the official notification, there are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as a penalty.

What is the total marks allocation for the UPSC IES 2025 personality test or interview?

The commission allocated 200 marks for the UPSC IES 2025 personality test or an interview. This is the third stage, or the final stage, of the UPSC IES exam. The first stage is the preliminary examination, and the second stage is the Mains examination.

Is the interview for UPSC IES qualifying in nature?

No, the interview of UPSC IES exam is not qualifying in nature. The number of candidates to be summoned for Personality Test will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. The Personality Test will carry 200 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks). Marks obtained by the candidates in the Preliminary Examination, Mains Examination and Personality Test would determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted to the several services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preference expressed by them for the various services/posts as per the official notification.

Who conducts the UPSC IES 2025 Personality Test?

UPSC appoints a panel of experts to conduct the personality test for the IES or ESE examination. The panel includes senior officers and technical experts. The personality test or interview is a crucial stage of the UPSC IES selection process. It is conducted at the UPSC Bhawan in New Delhi.

What is the main purpose behind conducting the IES Personality Test?

The main purpose of conducting the UPSC IES face to face interview is to know about the candidates overall character, including mental alertness, critical thinking, leadership qualities, intelligence, honesty, confidence, depth of understanding of several concepts, communication skills, understanding of ground realities, etc.

How many papers are conducted by the UPSC in the IES Mains exam?

The UPSC IES 2026 Stage 2 is the Mains Exam. The examination comprises two papers. Both papers are based on the candidates' chosen engineering discipline. Details of subjects are provided below: Civil Engineering Mechanical Engineering Electrical Engineering Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

What is the duration and total marks for each paper in the UPSC IES 2025 Mains exam?

Candidates can check below in detail: Each paper in the Mains exam is of three hours duration. Each paper carries 300 marks. Total marks: 600

What is the type of questions and mode of the UPSC IES 2026 Mains exam?

The UPSC IES 2026 Mains exam will be conducted on June 21, 2026. It is a descriptive type exam. That assesses candidates' technical knowledge and problem-solving abilities in engineering disciplines. The Engineering Services Mains Examination consists of two conventional-type papers in engineering disciplines, each with a duration of three hours and a maximum score of 600 (300 marks in each paper).

When was the UPSC IES 2025 Mains exam conducted?

The UPSC ESE (IES) 2025 Mains exam was conducted on August 10, 2025. Only those candidates who were declared by the Commission qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year was eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Mains Examination. Further, the Marks obtained in Preliminary Examination by the candidates who were declared qualified for admission to the Mains Examination was counted for determining their final order of merit.

UPSC IES Exam Pattern 2025: Know Prelims & Mains Marking Scheme, Exam Duration

173 Students Q&A

Exam On - 21 Jun '26

Updated on Sep 4, 2025 09:01 IST

By Shikha Goyal, Assistant Manager

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the Engineering Service prelims exam on June 8, 2025. The UPSC IES 2025 Mains exam was conducted on August 10, 2025. The Commission mentioned the Engineering Stream-wise syllabus in the official notification. The Commission conducted the IES 2025 exam as per the exam pattern notified in the official notification. The IES exam pattern is an important component of the exam preparation. The candidates are suggested to practice with the previous year question papers to know and internalise the IES exam pattern.

Q: What are the UPSC IES 2026 exam dates?

The UPSC released the calendar for the year 2026 on the official website. The UPSC IES prelims 2026 notification and application was released on September 26, 2025 and the last date to apply was October 16, 2025. The IES prelims exam will be conducted on February 8, 2026. On the other hand, UPSC IES 2026 Mains exam will be conducted on June 21, 2026.

Q: What is the total number of papers conducted by the UPSC IES 2025 Preliminary Exam?

The commission conducted the UPSC Preliminary Exam 2025 on June 8, 2025. The prelim exam consists of two papers Paper 1 (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) and Paper 2 (Engineering Discipline Specific). Both papers are objective in nature and conducted in an offline mode.

Q: When will the UPSC IES 2025 prelims exam be conducted?

The UPSC ESE (IES) 2025 Prelims exam was conducted on June 8, 2025. Candidates downloaded their UPSC admit card for ESE 2025 after logging in with their One-Time Registration (OTR) number and password.

Q: In which mode was the UPSC IES 2025 Prelims exam conducted?

The Commission conducted the UPSC IES 2025 Prelims exam in an offline mode. It was held on June 8, 2025 at various centres across the country.

Table of contents

UPSC ESE (IES) Prelims Exam Pattern & Negative Marking 2025
UPSC ESE(IES) Main Exam Pattern 2025
UPSC ESE (IES) Interview 2025
UPSC ESE (IES) Exam Pattern FAQs 2025

UPSC ESE (IES) Prelims Exam Pattern & Negative Marking 2025

Union Public Service Commission mentioned the IES 2025 exam pattern in the official IES 2025 notification. The Commission did not change the IES exam pattern and the candidates need not worry about any change. UPSC IES 2025 notification was released on September 18, 2024. The Commission mentioned important topics of the IES 2025 syllabus in the official notification. The last date to apply for IES 2025 exam was November 22, 2024. Along with the other rules and regulations, the Commission also released the IES 2025 exam dates.

Candidates who qualify IES 2025 preliminary examination will be allowed to appear for the main examination. The number of candidates selected to sit for the IES Main examination is 6 to 7 times to the number of available vacancies. The UPSC ESE (IES) exam is conducted based on the official syllabus mentioned in the official notification. UPSC will release a list of qualified candidates after successful conduct for the written examination. There is a provision for negative marking in the IES examination. UPSC ESE (IES) 2025 syllabus is mentioned in the official notification in detail. The marking scheme is as below:

There are four options given as answers, one-third of the marks assigned to that particular question will be deducted for every wrong answer
If the candidate selects more than one option as their answer then the case will be treated as a wrong response and will be eligible for a negative marking
In case there is no response to the question, no negative marking will be done.

IES 2025 examination is conducted according to the following plan:

Stage 1 of the IES examination has 2 papers. Take a look below at IES 2025 preliminary exam pattern

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-I Civil Engineering
Paper-I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude)	2 hrs.	200
Paper-II (Civil Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		500

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-II Mechanical Engineering
Paper-I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude)	2 hrs.	200
Paper-II (Mechanical Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		500

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-III Electrical Engineering
Paper-I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude)	2 hrs.	200
Paper-II (Electrical Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		500

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-IV Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering
Paper-I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude)	2 hrs.	200
Paper-II (Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		500

UPSC IES (ESE) 2025 Prelims Exam: Negative Marking

There is a provision of negative marking in the USPC ESE (IES) prelims exam as per the following.

Marks assigned for correct answer	Marks to be deducted for incorrect answer
2 Marks	0.66

UPSC ESE(IES) Main Exam Pattern 2025

Stage 2 of the IES examination has 2 papers. Take a look below at IES 2025 main exam pattern

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-I Civil Engineering
Paper-I ( Civil Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Paper-II (Civil Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		600

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-II Mechanical Engineering
Paper-I ( Mechanical Engineering )	3 hrs.	300
Paper-II (Mechanical Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		600

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-III Electrical Engineering
Paper-I ( Electrical Engineering )	3 hrs.	300
Paper-II (Electrical Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		600

Subject	Duration	Maximum Marks
Category-IV Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering
Paper-I ( Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering `)	3 hrs.	300
Paper-II (Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering)	3 hrs.	300
Total		600

UPSC ESE (IES) Interview 2025

Stage 3 of the UPSC IES 2025 recruitment process will be the personality test cum interview of a total of 200 marks.

The candiates will be arranged in the merit list as per their marks secure in all the stages of exam. The candidates need to check their names in the final merit list of their engineering branch.