UPSC will announce subject wise marks of candidates! CIC issued an advisory

There is a big update for the candidates appearing for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the UPSC to declare the subject-wise marks of the candidates who have passed the CS Mains exam. The CIC, while hearing a petition, issued an advisory to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) invoking Section 25 (5) of the RTI. CIC has issued this advisory on 24 September 2026. It is believed that after implementation of this by UPSC, transparency will be ensured.

Let’s know the whole matter in detail. Let us know on which application CIC has issued this advisory while hearing. Let’s know for how long UPSC used to release subject wise marks of CS Mains and when this system was discontinued.

Till 2018, UPSC released subject wise numbers.

UPSC does not release the subject wise marks of the successful candidates in the mains examination. Currently, only total marks obtained in Mains are released. Along with this, the total marks of the interview and the final result are released, but this system is not very old. In fact, UPSC used to release the subject wise numbers of the successful candidates in the CS Mains exam till the year 2017, but suddenly after 2018, the system of declaring the subject wise numbers was stopped.

Aniket sought 10 years of data in RTI

In fact, the CIC has issued an advisory in this regard while hearing the application of a person named Aniket Kumar Gupta. Aniket appealed under Right to Information (RTI) and sought last 10 years data from UPSC, in which Aniket sought information about the marks obtained in different papers of General Studies, Optional Subjects and Personality Test (Interview) from the successful candidates in UPSC Mains. Due to lack of information, the matter reached CIC, where UPSC and DoPT also presented their side and thereafter CIC issued an advisory.

What argument did UPSC and DoPT give?

UPSC and DoPT also presented their sides during the hearing in CIC. The UPSC, while placing its arguments before the CIC, said that the subject-wise marks obtained were personal information of the candidates and indicated its inability to disclose the same. Also the system of declaring mains total marks, interview marks and final marks was declared correct. At the same time, the DoPT argued before the CIC that private coaching centers would benefit from the release of subject-wise marks of UPSC Mains.

Who ended the system of issuing subject wise numbers?

During the hearing in the CIC, the UPSC and DoPT could not explain whether anyone had issued an order to stop the system of issuing subject-wise numbers in 2018. For example, neither of them have his file noting. During the hearing, UPSC said that after the declaration of the result, the complete data is sent to DoPT and Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, on which the CIC has given its decision.

What decision did CIC give?

During the hearing, Information Commissioner at CIC Jaya Verma Sinha objected to the decision to stop the system of releasing subject-wise numbers of UPSC Mains 2018 without any reason. The CIC admitted that UPSC has to maintain the confidence of the candidates and the public. This requires transparency. In this series, CIC issued an advisory regarding the release of subject-wise numbers.