UPSC conducted the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026 on May 24 at centres across the country. The exam included two objective-type papers — General Studies (GS) Paper 1 and the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) or Paper 2.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has published the provisional answer key for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) Preliminary Exam 2026 on its official website, upsc.gov.in. Candidates who appeared for the examination can now check and download the answer key online.
UPSC conducted the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026 on May 24 at centres across the country. The exam included two objective-type papers — General Studies (GS) Paper 1 and the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) or Paper 2.
Here’s the PDF of answer keys for GS 1
Here’s the PDF of answer keys for GS 2
According to the schedule shared by the commission, candidates can submit objections from the third day after the examination date till 6 PM on the seventh day. This gives candidates five days to raise representations against the provisional answer key.
Candidates should carefully compare the provisional answer key with their recorded responses before submitting objections. UPSC will review all representations received during the objection period before preparing the final answer key.
UPSC has issued separate provisional answer keys for both papers conducted in the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026 — GS Paper 1 and CSAT Paper 2. Candidates can check the answer key according to their question paper set to estimate their scores.
The commission considers marks obtained in GS Paper 1 for the prelims cut-off. CSAT Paper 2 remains qualifying in nature. Candidates must secure the minimum qualifying marks in CSAT along with the required cut-off marks in GS Paper 1 to qualify for the Mains examination.
For more details, candidates can visit the official UPSC website, upsc.gov.in.
