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Engineers dominate UPSC CSE final lists, even as candidates from Humanities stream see 65% jump

From 2019 to 2023, the number of recommended candidates with bachelor’s degrees increased from 672 to 848, which is about a 26 per cent jump, even as the overall intake fluctuated in the intervening years.

Engineering still dominates UPSC CSE final lists, even as Humanities entries jump 65%: Govt report

The major difference in the trend came in the year 2022, when the Commission recommended 296 candidates from the Humanities. (Image: AI generated)

Written by: Sheen Kachroo

3 min readNew DelhiDec 12, 2025 03:01 PM IST First published on: Dec 11, 2025 at 03:17 PM IST

The dominance of engineering candidates in the UPSC CSE final lists has declined, while the humanities stream has seen a significant increase in the number of recommended candidates from 2019 to 2023. Data shared in Lok Sabha by Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh, reflects that between 2019 and 2023, the total number of final recommended candidates from the Humanities stream grew by 65.02 per cent (from 223 to 368).

In stark contrast, UPSC candidates from the Engineering stream saw their absolute numbers decline by −4.81 per cent (from 582 to 554) over the same period.

Read | Not even 40% of UPSC CSE candidates are women

The major difference in the UPSC CSE trend came in 2022, when the Commission recommended 296 candidates from the Humanities.

Stream-wise number of candidates finally recommended in Civil Services Examination during the last 5 years:

Year	Engineering	Humanities	Science	Medical Science	Total Recommended
2019	582	223	61	56	922
2020	541	193	66	33	833
2021	452	188	64	44	748
2022	542	296	114	68	1020
2023	554	368	137	73	1132

On the other hand, in the Science and Medical Science streams, between 2019 and 2023, the number of recommended candidates from Science more than doubled, soaring from 61 to 137 — an overall growth of 124.59 per cent.

On the other hand, the Medical Science stream culminated its highest tally in five years in 2020. The overall growth for Medical Science stood at 30.36 per cent (from 56 candidates in 2019 to 73 in 2023).

About 26% of CSE qualifiers hold a bachelor’s degree

Civil Services Examination data over the last five years show a sustained rise in the success of bachelor’s degree holders. From 2019 to 2023, the number of recommended candidates with bachelor’s degrees increased from 672 to 848, which is about a 26 per cent jump, even as the overall intake fluctuated in the intervening years.

S.No.	Year	Bachelor Degrees	Higher Degrees	Total
1	2019	672	250	922
2	2020	650	183	833
3	2021	585	163	748
4	2022	765	255	1020
5	2023	848	284	1132

Higher degree holders have also seen a resurgence in UPSC CSE recommendations over the last five years. In 2019, as many as 250 candidates with higher degrees were finally recommended, but the number declined to 163 by 2021. From 2022 onward, however, the trend reversed sharply, with higher-degree recommendations rising to 255 and then 284 in 2023, surpassing even the 2019 level.

Female candidates doubled in the CSE final list since 2021

Following a slight decline in 2021, when the number of recommended female candidates stood at 201, the years 2022 and 2023 saw an accelerated and dramatic increase. By 2023, the number of recommended female candidates had nearly doubled to 397 (74.63%).

S. No.	Year	Male	Female	Total
1	2019	702	220	922
2	2020	595	238	833
3	2021	547	201	748
4	2022	669	351	1020
5	2023	735	397	1132

On the other hand, the trend for male candidates recommended in the Civil Services Examination experienced a decline from 702 in 2019 to its lowest point of 547 in 2021, representing an 8.07 per cent drop from the previous year. However, this downward trend was reversed in 2022, when the number surged to 669, reflecting an increase by 22.30 per cent increase over 2021.