Combined Geo-Scientist Selection Process
Last verified 31 Jul 2026
UPSC Combined Geo-Scientist selection runs through the stages below, each of which must be cleared in sequence.
- Stage-I — Preliminary Examination (objective)
- Stage-II — Main Examination (descriptive)
- Stage-III — Personality Test
Exam pattern by stage
| Paper | Subjects | Questions | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage-I Paper-I | General Studies | Objective | 100 | 2 hours |
| Stage-I Paper-II | Subject specific — Geology / Hydrogeology, Geophysics or Chemistry | Objective | 300 | 2 hours |
| Stage-II Paper-I to III | Subject specific, conventional | Descriptive | 200 each | 3 hours each |
| Stage-III | Personality Test | — | 200 | — |
Document verification
UPSC verifies eligibility against original documents only after a candidate has qualified for the Interview or Personality Test. Until that point, admission to every stage is purely provisional — the issue of an e-Admit Card does not mean your candidature has been cleared. A candidate can therefore sit and clear a paper and still be found ineligible later.
Final merit
Merit is prepared from the marks that count for this examination, and posts are allotted by merit-cum-preference against the confirmed vacancies. Ties are broken by rules published by the Commission — typically the marks in the compulsory papers, and where those are equal, seniority in age.