Hello,
I've tried to answer some of the most commonly asked questions while filing the UPSC CSE Prelims form through this post.
Please read what follows carefully so that you are able to fill your application form properly.
General Instructions :
If you have made a mistake while filing the form, please fill the form again. The UPSC will consider your last filled form as the final one and will issue an admit card on the last/latest filled application form.
If you fill the form and do not appear for both the papers of the Prelims stage, only then would the attempt would not be counted. If you appear for any one of the Prelims papers, the attempt would then be counted.
The details in your final form submitted to commission cannot be changed or altered with under any circumstances. This means you cannot change your language/medium, venue or optional preferences once you have filled the final/last/latest form.
Specific Instructions :
Name : Please enter your exactly as per your Class Xth passing certificate. Even if your name appears differently on any of Identity, further education, or caste related documents, you must only put your name exactly as per your Xth Passing certificate.
Date of Birth : Please enter the date of birth exactly as per your Class Xth passing certificate. Even if your date of birth appears differently on any of Identity, further education, or caste related documents, you must only put your date of birth exactly as per your Xth Passing certificate.
Name of Parents : Please enter the name of your parents exactly as per your Class Xth passing certificate. Even if your name of your parents appears differently on any of Identity, further education, or caste related documents, you must only put name of your parents exactly as per your Xth Passing certificate.
Marital Status : Unless a decree of divorce has been granted by the appropriate court of law, your marital status would remain as married. It is okay if during the course of the year, the divorce is finally granted as you can inform the commission later on via an email. Your current status has to be entered and an on going divorce case does not make a person a divorcee. Rest options are self-explanatory.
Reservation : You must be in possession of the relevant certificate while applying. If you do not have the relevant certificate, it is recommended that you should apply in the General Category. If you are able to get the relevant certificate before the last date of submitting the application, you can apply again with the certificate details. Your last submitted form would be considered by the Commission. You would be able to at-least secure a Centre of your choice in the first go when you don't have the relevant certificate. OBC Non Creamy Layer Candidates are requested to ensure that the caste mentioned on their certificates is as per Central OBC List. Some of such candidates may require an additional certificate certifying the caste as per Central OBC List. The same can be checked at http://socialjustice.nic.in/UserView/index?mid=76674. OBC NCL Candidates to be please check the validity of the certificate before filing in the details. Some of the certificate numbers might contain symbols such as '/' which may not be accepted while filing the form, in such a case, mention the certificate number without such symbols. Please do not mention the name but only the designation of the issuing authority on your certificate. For example - Tehsildar/SDO, XYZ District, ABC State. EWS Candidates to be please check the validity of the certificate before filing in the details. While both OBC NCL and EWS Certificates usually have a validity of one year as they are income based, in OBC NCL the candidate's income is not counted as family income while in EWS, the candidates income is counted in the family income.
Minority : This has nothing do with reservation and asks you to identify your religion if it. All religions except Hinduism are a minority and should be filled accordingly.
Benchmark Disability : This is for candidates with a physical disability. You do not need to produce a certificate of the same while filling the Prelims form.
Education : If you are in final year, then please select appearing in the qualifying examination. For everyone else, please choose already passed the qualifying examination. Degrees in Agriculture/Engineering/or with at-least 'x' as a subject is used to identify candidates eligible for the forest services. If you have a BSc degree with any of such choices, you may eligible for the same. If you have a BA Degree with multiple subjects such as Political Science, History etc, you can choose any subject as your graduation choice as it would not make a difference as you would not eligible for forest services anyway. If your University does not have a CGPA conversion chart then simply convert your CGPA into a percentage. Precise details for the same will be asked in the DAF later during the Mains Stage.
Address : You are absolutely free to write any address of communication you may have. It is okay if it bound of change over the course of time. It is also okay if your address of communication does not match the address mentioned in your ID Documents. Your permanent address is used to general verification after you have cleared the written stages of the exam.
Age Relaxation : Only if you need to claim age relaxation will you choose in affirmation, else you will select 'no' as an option.
Number of Attempts : If you appearing in 2021 for the first time, then please select 0.
Photo and Signature : Please use a signature you will remember on the day of the exam hall. It is okay if the signature you use now is different from any other documents. The purpose of the signature is to verify your identity at the exam hall when you sign the attendance sheet. There is absolutely no need of a photo in a formal dress. There is absolutely no need for men to be clean shaven as well. As long as the photo is clear and conforms to the size guidelines, you have nothing to worry about. You can google search 'resize image' and click on any of the free website to resize your photo and signature as per Commission requirements.
Student of Arunachal Pradesh/Manipur/Meghalaya/Mizoram/Nagaland/Sikkim can claim exemption from writing qualifying regional language paper. No proof of domicile needed at the time of filing the Prelims application form but may be needed at a later stage while filing Mains form.
If you have any query beyond this, feel free to get in touch via any medium and I shall ensure to get back to you at the earliest.
Wishing you the very best of luck :)