Hyderabad: Engineers dominate UPSC Civil Services 2022 results
HYDERABAD: Engineers continue to dominate the Civil Services Examination, with candidates from technical backgrounds securing a significant share of top positions, according to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) report on Civil Services 2022.
Out of 1,020 successful candidates, 544 have an engineering background. The report underlines that candidates working in information technology and corporate sectors are increasingly entering the civil services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS).
A total of 11.35 lakh candidates applied for the examination in 2022, of whom 5.74 lakh appeared for the preliminary test. Around 18,905 candidates qualified for the mains, and 2,525 were shortlisted for the interview stage. Finally, 1,020 candidates were selected, including 351 women.
Among candidates with an engineering background, 1,132 reached the interview stage, and 542 were selected. Experts said nearly 80% of these candidates graduated from institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, and Indian Institutes of Information Technology. Among medical candidates who appeared for interviews, 47.50% were successful.
Limited preference for optional subjects
Optional subjects play a key role in the examination. Despite varied academic backgrounds, most candidates preferred only four subjects. Of the 18,905 candidates who wrote the mains, 2,378 opted for Political Science, followed by 1,838 for Sociology, 1,800 for Anthropology, and 1,260 for Geography.
Candidates from engineering, medical, and science streams increasingly chose humanities subjects as optional papers and achieved success. Only two candidates attended interviews in Telugu medium, while the highest number, 288, opted for Hindi.
Younger candidates and women lead
Candidates aged 24–26 formed the largest group among successful candidates. Women accounted for a higher proportion within this age bracket.
In the preliminary examination, 48.20% candidates appeared for the first time, 21.40% for the second time, and 13.10% for the third attempt. However, in the final selection, candidates succeeding in their third attempt formed the highest share at 21.90%.
Social and educational trends
Among those who applied but did not appear for the examination, the highest proportion—52.80%—was from Scheduled Tribe candidates. Among interview candidates, those with only undergraduate qualifications had a success rate of 30.40%, while postgraduate candidates recorded 43.70%.
In absolute numbers, 765 successful candidates were graduates and 255 were postgraduates.
Category-wise, candidates from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) recorded the highest success rate at 8.60%, followed by Other Backward Classes at 8.40%, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at 8.30%, and General category at 7.50%.
