The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) issued a notification on February 7 announcing date and procedure for aspirants of Indian Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2018 at upsc.gov.in. The online application forms are now live. The Union government will hire 782 officers to fill up vacant positions in the prestigious Indian Public Services through the civil service exam 2018.

While last year, the commission declared to recruit around 980 officers -- which was considered to be the lowest in the past five years -- this year it seems to further go down. The number of vacancies to be filled on the result of civil services examination 2018 is expected to be approximately 782.

Out of the said number, 32 vacancies are reserved for those in the physical handicapped category, as reported by the commission. The last date for receipt of application for the preliminary examination is March 6, 2018 till 6 pm. The examination will be held on June 3.

How to apply?

1. Visit the official website upsc.gov.in.

2. Read the notification released by the commission before you begin to fill in the form as it has all the detailed information.

3. The application consists of two parts.

4. Part 1, candidates will have to enter all the basic details and academic qualifications. Fill in all the requirements along with language preference and optional paper choice.

5. Once you are done entering all the information in Part 1, read it twice before clicking submit.

6. Part 2, choose your exam centre, upload the scanned photograph and signature keeping in mind the required size.

7. Pay your application fees. Both online and offline mode are available to you for payment.

Candidates are required to apply online by using the website upsconline.nic.in. Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above-mentioned website. Brief Instructions for filling up the “Online Application Form” are given in Appendix-II.

Interested candidates are recommended to check eligibility conditions and instructions before applying for the exam by visiting the official website upsc.gov.in. The notification provided by the commission has every detail like eligibility conditions, how to apply, exam fee structure, syllabus of the exam for various subjects and all other required information.

UPSC is conducted in three successive stages: Preliminary (objective type), Main (written) and the final stage comes to personal interview. Candidates who pass the UPSC Preliminary Exam will qualify for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination. They will have to apply online again in the new form which will be provided on the official website.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2018 05:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).