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Ridhima Jindal
Updated on 21st June, 2024 , 4 min read
UPSC OMR Sheet - How to Fill, Common Mistakes & Important Dates
UPSC IAS 2024: The UPSC IAS Exam - Preliminary or Prelims was held on 16th June 2024. The UPSC Exam is conducted annually for individuals aspiring to serve the nation as a civil servant. To recruit worthy aspirants, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the UPSC Exam to recruit officers in All India Services and Central Civil Services (Group A and B). The exam is conducted in an offline mode only and a candidate can give a maximum of 6 attempts to clear the UPSC Examination, and the maximum age to appear for the last attempt is 32 years in the general category. Please take a look at the UPSC Eligibility Criteria to know more about the number of attempts and maximum age for the non-general category.
Candidates can view and download the CS - Prelims 2024 Question Paper here.
Review: UPSC CS Prelims Paper
General Studies Paper 1 | General Studies Paper 2
UPSC OMR Sheet: The UPSC OMR Sheet is given to all the aspirants appearing for the UPSC Examination. The IAS Exam is an objective type exam and candidates are given multiple choice questions for which the aspirants need to darken the circle in the OMR Sheet to mark the correct answer. The article below gives detailed instructions and information on how to correctly fill the IAS Prelims answer booklet and what mistakes should be avoided.
Check UPSC Syllabus | UPSC Exam Pattern
The UPSC IAS Exam notification 2024 was released on 5th April 2024 on the official website of UPSC - upsc.gov.in. The Civil Services Preliminary Exam was conducted on 16th June 2024 for a duration of 1 day. The Civil Services Main exam is scheduled for 25th September 2024 and will last for 5 days. Candidates can check the PDFs below to know the complete schedule of the 2024 and 2025 upcoming examinations.
UPSC 2024 Calendar | UPSC 2025 Calendar
UPSC OMR Sheet Instructions
The UPSC Exam has been declared as the toughest exam in India. Therefore in order to crack the exam, candidates must know how to fill the OMR Sheet correctly. A single mistake can lead to rejection of the answer sheet and can result in negative marking resulting in loss of the overall score. Candidates must go through the instruction booklet carefully.
Read the Common Mistakes to Avoid in the OMR Booklet
Below are the instructions mentioned in the official UPSC Notification to fill out the OMR Sheet:
- Mark the exam center, subject, and test booklet series in the designated space on top with a Black Ball Point Pen
- Following that, correctly and carefully mark the booklet series (A/B/C/D), roll number, and subject code in the circles provided. In case the test booklet series is not mentioned on the given OMR Sheet, get it replaced immediately by the invigilator
- Any changes made in roll number must be done with the initials of the aspirant and the invigilator, and the booklet should be countersigned by the latter
- Immediately after the exam starts, the aspirant must check if there are any torn or missing pages in the answer sheet or the test booklet. If found, the same must be replaced by the aspirant with the same subject code and test booklet series
- In the space provided for rough work, the candidate must not mention his name or any other information except the calculations or solving work
- The answer sheet should not be folded or mutilated in any way
- Nothing is to be mentioned on the back of the answer sheet
- The OMR Sheet is evaluated by a computer and since it is filled with a black ballpoint pen there is no scope to change an answer. hence, the candidates must be very careful while marking their responses
- The test booklet contains multiple-choice questions with 4 options each. Candidate must mark the correct answer under the correct question in the OMR Response Sheet
- The responses are marked by darkening the correct answer circle (a/b/c/d) against the correct question with a black ballpoint pen
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Decoding the UPSC OMR Sheet
To understand in detail, below is the sample of the OMR Booklet of UPSC and followed by that are the clear guidelines to fill out the sheet. As shown below the exam center and name of the subject must only be written with a black ballpoint pen either in Hindi or in English as per your preferred language. The test booklet series is mentioned in the top right corner as A, B, or C
- The following image is the topmost row of the UPSC OMR Sheet where the candidate needs to fill in their Subject Code and Roll Number. The subject code and the roll number are mentioned in the e-admission certificate. Once this is filled, the candidate also needs to darken the circle to mark their roll number and subject code.
- The candidates also need to fill out the scanned attendance sheet and darken the circle against ‘P’ to mark themselves as present.
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Let us understand the above with an example. Let's say that the subject code is 01 and the booklet series A. Now refer to the image below to know how to darken the circles.
It must be noted that the circle should be darkened completely and not just half. If the circle is not completely darkened, it will not be counted as a response.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does UPSC have OMR Sheet?
Yes. The candidates are given an OMR Sheet to record their responses to the multiple choice questions, and the candidates must darken the circle against the correct question and answer option.
In which case is an OMR Sheet rejected by UPSC?
There may be several reasons to reject a UPSC OMR Sheet. The sheet may be rejected in case the details like roll number, or answers are written and marked incorrectly, or not written at all. The sheet may also be rejected during evaluation as a result of errors made by the test personnel.
Who checks the UPSC Answer Sheets?
The UPSC OMR Answer Sheets are checked by the head examiner. First the head will evaluate random/sample sheets. Immediately after this is done, the examiner meeting starts and they reach upon the standards and yardsticks to evaluate the papers.
How are the OMR Sheets of UPSC Checked?
The OMR Sheets are checked by using a digital OMR Scanner which is specially designed to read and interpret the bubbles.
What if OMR is filled wrong?
In case a candidate has filled in the wrong response(s) in the OMR Sheet, the same cannot be changed since it is filled with a black ballpoint pen. Therefore, the candidates may end up losing marks. Hence it is advised that the OMR Sheet be filled with utmost care to avoid mistakes and rejections at the evaluation stage.
What is the full form of OMR?
The full form of OMR is Optical Mark Recognition
Is whitener allowed to be used in the UPSC OMR Sheet?
No. To avoid sabotagging the sheet or any kind of damage, the use of whitener is prohibited in the UPSC Response sheet. In case the whitener does not dry properly it will end up damaging other sheets and the sheets as a result will be rejected. However, it should be noted that there is no specific rule aginst the use of a whitener.
What happens if two options are marked for the same question?
In a case where two options are marked for the same question, no marks are allotted for that question.