New Delhi, In a first, the Union Public Service Commission will release the provisional answer key for the Civil Services Examination 2026 soon after the test.
The move is aimed at enhancing transparency and upholding the highest standards of conduct of the examination, the Commission announced on Monday.
This new reform has been introduced to address the long-standing demand from candidates for publication of provisional answer keys, it said.
This step is also part of the Commission’s commitment to ensuring transparency, accountability, and strengthening candidates’ confidence in the examination system, the UPSC said in a statement, adding that it has implemented a policy of publishing provisional answer keys.
The UPSC conducts the civil services examination annually in three stages preliminary, main and interview to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service , Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service , among others.
The civil services exam is scheduled to be held on May 24.
Terming it as “a new beginning”, UPSC chairman Ajay Kumar said, for the first time, the Commission will release the provisional answer key for the civil services exam.
“This initiative reflects the Commission’s ongoing endeavour to bring greater transparency, responsiveness, and timely communication with candidates,” he said.
Kumar said the policy aims to make the examination process more participative while upholding its sanctity, integrity, and merit-based framework.
After the release of the provisional answer key, candidates of the civil services examination can submit their representations, if any, till May 31, 2026, 6 pm, through a dedicated online portal, i.e. “Online Question Paper Representation Portal ” available at https://upsconline.nic.in/login.
Candidates will be able to submit their representations by indicating the correct key as per their understanding, along with a brief description and supporting documents from three authentic sources, the statement said.
This will not only enable candidates to make an early and informed assessment of their performance in the examination but also provide them adequate time and opportunity to submit their representations, it said.
All representations received from candidates will be placed before the team of subject expert for a comprehensive and meticulous review, the UPSC said.
“These experts possess domain knowledge and subject expertise. They will carefully examine each representation, assess the supporting documents, and record their considered views regarding the correctness of the answer key for the concerned questions,” it said.
The answer key will thereafter be finalised only after due consideration of all representations received, the UPSC added.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
