Tough GS-1 paper keeps UPSC aspirants on edge in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Around 66% of the 44,205 aspirants who registered for the Civil Services Preliminary Examination in Hyderabad showed up for the exam on Sunday. The turnout this year was higher than last year’s 59% in the city.

UPSC conducted the exam nationwide across 83 centres, with Hyderabad and Warangal being Telangana’s two venues. The exam was held in two sessions, from 9.30 am to 11.30 am and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm. For the first paper, 29,609 appeared while 14,596 remained absent, and for the second, 29,262 were present while 14,943 remained absent. The number of notified vacancies this year stands at 933, down from 979 in 2025.

In-charge district collector C Narayana Reddy visited multiple centres throughout the day to inspect arrangements. As per details provided by the collector’s office, at the University College of Science in Saifabad, where a special centre had been set up for 119 visually impaired candidates, 82 were present and 37 absent. At Govt Polytechnic College in Masab Tank, 254 of 384 registered candidates appeared. At St Ann’s College for Women, 788 of 1,152 candidates sat for the exam. The Collector directed officials at each centre to strictly follow UPSC regulations and ensure no difficulties were faced by candidates.

Outside the centres, families waited through the afternoon heat, some sitting on pavements, others under trees, unwilling to leave until the candidates walked out. Kalpana Ramshettywar had been there since 9am in the morning, waiting for her daughter Pratiksha.

“We came from Nagpur only for her exam and have been staying here at a hotel. The heat is too bad here. Still, we waited here for her as we are nervous too about her exam,” Kalpana said.

Pratiksha, who travelled from Chandrapur near Nagpur for the exam, quit her job at Samsung to prepare full time. Both her parents, retired state govt employees, have supported her through her preparation. She had previously cleared the engineering services examination up to the interview stage and is now focused on IAS and IPS. On Sunday, she found Paper 2 lengthy and tiring. “The comprehension was not as usual. The first paper was factual and well balanced between current affairs and factuality. I am expecting over 70. The second paper, however, was extremely lengthy. I don’t even know what all I attempted, I have to figure it out yet. Too less time for such a big paper,” she said.

While Paper 2 was manageable, Paper 1 caught many aspirants off guard. “The current affairs section was totally different from last time. We needed more time for the kind of questions that came. The second paper was not very tough, and better compared to last year,” said an aspirant Ramesh.

Charan, a student from Institute of Aeronautical Engineering who hopes to join the IAS, called it a mixed experience. “Paper 2 was moderate but Paper 1 was surprisingly tough,” he said. His family is based in Warangal.

Srikanth, who accompanied his friend Archisha appearing for the first time, said she had been working with a company and had studied at IIM Kozhikode, and found the paper decent overall. “The heat is just too bad. I have been here since morning. I am now keeping a cab booked so that we can leave immediately after the exam.”

According to Gopala Krishna, director of Brain Tree, a Hyderabad-based coaching institute, the paper had a dominant emphasis on current affairs with a focus on govt programmes and policies. “Being conversant with current affairs on a regular basis and strong in the core areas is the ability required to qualify for such a paper,” he said. Current affairs and general knowledge together accounted for 34 questions, followed by 19 on history of India, 12 on Indian polity and governance, 11 on environmental ecology, ten on economic and social development, eight on general science, and six on Indian and world geography.

The expected qualifying marks for Paper 1 are 79 for the general category, 76 for OBC, 75 for EWS, 71 for SC, and 68 for ST. Last year’s cut-off for the general category stood at 92.66. Results are expected in the second week of June, as per director Gopala Krishna.

Tight security measures were in place, with one or more traffic police personnel at every centre depending on the size and occupancy, to manage minor traffic jams. Accompanying them were law and order police to ensure exams were conducted peacefully without disturbance. The Malkajgiri police had the previous day imposed Section 163 of the BNSS, prohibiting the assembly of four or more persons within a 200-metre radius of all UPSC exam centres from 6 am to 7 pm.