UPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam 2020 Postponed – New date to be announced on 20th May
UPSC Prelims 2020 is postponed as per a recent notification by UPSC officials. However, New exam dates have not been finalized yet. As per the latest updates, the UPSC body will take a call on this on 20th May’20 about the exam date.
This news came just before Admit Cards were to be issued to the students appearing in the exam. Finally, UPSC Prelims 2020 postponed and a fresh date will be announced on May 20th.
Postponement of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination was a widely asked question these days. Earlier, this exam was supposed to take place on the decided date i.e. 31st May’20.
UPSC gave a clear statement that students will be told about the new date and at least one month prior notice will be given to the aspirants. Subsequently, this will give students enough time to prepare.
Public Service Commission UPSC released a press conference dated today i.e. 4th May 2020. Read the complete press release on the official website of UPSC. It is clearly stated the new exam date is not decided yet. And, it will be done post fair assessment.
| Exam Name | Status of the Exam | Old Date of the Exam | New Date of the Exam |
| UPSC Prelims 2020 | Postponed/Deferred | 31st May’20 | To be announced on 20th May’20. |
Reason for Prelims Exam Postponement
The main reason for the postponement was the two week extension of Lockdown.
This doesn’t seem as a surprise to us because we understand that conducting the exam in this pandemic will be very risky.
Conducting the exam takes a huge amount of logistics because almost 10 Lakhs of candidates are due for the examination. Managing such a vast number of students across India is nearly impossible amidst COVID-19 outbreak.
Similarly, the Haryana government also cancelled its Civil Services 2020 Exam. Other exams such as NDA, AIIMS, LIC etc were already cancelled due to pandemic. See the list below of all the deferred exams.
What other Exam got deferred other than UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2020?
(a) Personality test for remaining candidates for the Civil Services Examination, 2019;
(b) Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2020;
(c) Combined Medical Services Examination, 2020;
(d) Central Armed Police Forces Examination, 2020 and
(e) the NDA & Naval Academy Examination, 2020.
Former Union Public Service Commission Chairman Vijay Singh stated that this decision will delay the whole recruitment process but it’s not worrisome whatsoever.
What students should do in the wake of postponement of Prelims Exam 2020
There is no need to panic and we see it as an extended opportunity for the UPSC candidates. You should be more focused towards the examination than ever because competition is going to increase.
Impact on the Prelims Exam Questions
UPSC Syllabus is vast and no amount of time is enough to complete the syllabus. This postponement is actually a blessing in disguise for all the UPSC aspirants.
You should focus on the weak subjects and current affairs section. Read about the various government initiatives to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Most importantly, you are likely to get more questions related to it in your UPSC exam.
You should also read more about the Global situation and shaking relationships of the countries due to the Corona Outbreak. We believe that the majority of questions may be asked in the exam pertaining to these topics.
Wait for dates to be announced on May 20 and try to revise your syllabus as much as you can. Perhaps, this year is the best year for the UPSC aspirants in perspective of preparation time.
I personally feel that many students will leverage this extended time and will try to cover all the areas which they missed in their early stage preparation. Union Public Service Commission have notified that they will announce the date at least one month prior and this clearly indicates that candidates will have more time in their hand to prepare.
Impact on the Whole Selection Procedure
The UPSC recruitment process will indeed get delayed. We feel that the second level Civil Services exam known as the Mains exam also may get deferred.
UPSC 2019 qualified candidates are still waiting for the personality test to be conducted. First, they will be assessed and then this year qualified students. We wish you all the best for the examination.
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