CHENNAI: More than 26,000 civil service aspirants who appeared for the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination across Tamil Nadu on Sunday walked out of examination centres describing the paper as one of the toughest in recent years, with many struggling to complete the lengthy and highly analytical question paper within the allotted time.
In Chennai alone, 23,120 candidates were allotted centres, of whom 16,626 appeared for the examination. Five UPSC observers and five senior IAS officers from the state government supervised the conduct of the examination.
“The paper was extremely lengthy, and the pattern itself felt different this time. The questions were time-consuming, and most candidates struggled to finish within the stipulated time. A majority of the questions were current affairs-orientated. Compared to General Studies, the second paper (CSAT) was slightly easier, but it was still tough. It has left even well-prepared candidates unsure of the outcome,” said a candidate who appeared for the examination in Anna Nagar.
Dr T Sankara Saravanan, Additional Director (Competitive Exams), All India Civil Services Coaching Centre, Government of Tamil Nadu, said first-time aspirants were likely to be the most affected, as this year’s paper was comparable to the 2023 prelims, widely regarded as one of the toughest UPSC papers in recent years.
“The cut-off, which in recent years has remained in the high-80s to low-90s range, had dropped to around 75 in 2023 due to the difficulty level. This year too, it could fall in the 75–85 range,” he said.
Saravanan said the paper underscored the growing importance of newspaper reading and conceptual clarity, with very few static questions and most being dynamic and linked to current affairs.
“In some cases, two questions were clubbed into one, making them more complex and time-consuming,” he said, adding that the paper was longer than usual at 51 pages, compared with the typical 45 pages.
In Puducherry, the preliminary examination was held at 7 centres. Out of 2,239 candidates who had applied for the examination, 1,546 candidates appeared for it. 693 candidates did not appear for the exam.
Last year, more than 700 candidates from TN cleared the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination, allegedly the highest in nine years. The number of aspirants from the state appearing for the examination has also risen steadily in recent years, aided by initiatives such as the Tamil Nadu government’s Naan Mudhalvan scheme, which provides a monthly scholarship of `7,500 to 1,000 UPSC aspirants.