UPSC’s CSE notification carrying spate of errors invites sarcasm on social media

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) came out with a notification on Wednesday inviting applications for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2026, but it has ended up inviting sarcasm from aspirants instead. The reason: the spate of childish grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that its notification is replete with. There are at least 40 irritatingly glaring mistakes that riddle the entire document that is spread over 160 pages.

These mistakes range from incorrect spellings to flawed sentence construction, and these are to be found across multiple sections of the notification, including eligibility conditions, instructions to candidates, or procedural details.

Even the most basic words the notification is meant for, like “candidates” and “examination,” are not written correctly, and what irritates most is the fact that the same errors are repeated multiple times. ‘Examination’ becomes ‘Examinaiton’ on pages 2, 17, and 156, including the “How to Apply” section, and ‘Candidates’ is spelled ‘Cadidates’ on pages 2, 18, 24, and 156. 

The notification is virtually full of such shocking mistakes and typos. Beyond becomes “Beynd,” Benchmark becomes “Bechmark,” Kolkata is “Kolkatta,” Functional is spelled as “Functinal,” Abbreviations is spelled “Abbriviations,” ” Underkings” is in place of “Undertaking,” “Asssociated” instead of “Associated,” and the list goes on!

The outcome: widespread public outrage, with lakhs of serious civil service aspirants flagging the errors and expressing disappointment and sarcasm over the irony of a recruitment body that demands exceptional clarity and competence while failing to ensure the same in its own communication.

Undoubtedly, typographical errors creeping into large documents are not uncommon; however, the sheer number of mistakes—around 40—suggests a systemic lapse that points to inadequate proofreading and an apparent absence of multi-level review, which should have been done before releasing a public document of national importance.

For an institution that recruits officers for the highest echelons of governance, like IAS, IPS, IFS, and IRS officers, such lapses are not only shocking but also raise serious questions about the Commission’s own internal scrutiny and the quality of its quality control.

Though the UPSC has rectified these mistakes and made corrections in its notification, the episode underscores the need for stricter editorial checks within institutions that set standards for the rest of the country’s administrative machinery.

Being the gateway to India’s civil services, the UPSC must keep in mind that its responsibility is not only to test excellence but also to exemplify it.