UPSC Successfully Conducts Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Across 83 Cities
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) successfully conducted the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026, including the Indian Forest Service (Preliminary) Examination, on 24 May 2026 at 2,072 examination centres across 83 cities nationwide. Around 67% of the registered candidates appeared for the examination, reflecting the large-scale participation of aspirants from across the country.For the first time, UPSC introduced real-time face authentication technology at all examination venues to strengthen transparency, security, and fairness in the examination process.
The system, developed in collaboration with NeGD and NIC, reportedly functioned successfully across all centres and marked a major step towards preventing impersonation and ensuring the integrity of the examination process.UPSC Chairman Dr. Ajay Kumar appreciated the coordinated efforts of officials, staff, and technical teams involved in conducting the examination smoothly.
The examination was held in two sessions โ General Studies (Paper-I) in the morning and CSAT (Paper-II) in the afternoon โ under strict adherence to examination protocols and institutional guidelines.Delhi recorded the highest number of applicants with over 70,000 candidates across 144 venues, while Leh (Ladakh) recorded 308 candidates across two centres. UPSC also ensured adequate arrangements, including drinking water, medical support, shaded waiting areas, sanitation facilities, and accessibility support for PwBD candidates.
In a significant move towards greater transparency, UPSC announced that it will release the provisional answer key after the examination process, allowing candidates to submit representations before the final answer key is published.The Commission stated that the successful conduct of the examination reflects the combined efforts of multiple stakeholders and the continued strengthening of institutional mechanisms aimed at ensuring fairness, efficiency, and credibility in the examination system.
