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How to Raise a Question About a UPSC Prelims Answer Key

UPSC runs a formal, time-bound process for this: the Online Representation Portal for Question Paper & Provisional Answer Keys. Candidates who appeared for an examination may use it to represent to the Commission on the questions asked in that examination's papers and on the provisional answer key, within a fixed five-day window after the exam. This guide sets out exactly what that process is, who may use it, and its timing, as UPSC's own notices state them — nothing more.

Who may represent, and about what

UPSC's 2026 Civil Services Examination notice states that the Commission provides an opportunity to "the appeared candidates" — that is, candidates who sat the examination — to make representations on two things: the questions asked in the papers of the examination, and the answer key of the objective-type question paper. UPSC's standing notice on this process names the portal itself the "Online Representation Portal for Question Paper & Provisional Answer Keys," confirming that the keys open to representation at this stage are described as provisional.

The five-day window, exactly as UPSC states it

UPSC's standing notice on representations sets out the timing in three parts:

  1. The general rule. For each examination, a five-day window is fixed for appeared candidates to make representations: from the third day of the examination to 6:00 p.m. of the seventh day.
  2. Single-day examinations. UPSC's own example: if the examination is held on 1 March, representations can be submitted from 4 March to 8 March, until 6:00 p.m. The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination is a single-day examination.
  3. Multi-day examinations. For an examination held over more than one day, the date on which its last paper is held is the reckoning date for representations on all papers of that examination. UPSC's example: if the last paper of a multi-day examination is held on 1 July (with the first paper on 29 June), representations for all papers of that examination can be submitted from 4 July to 8 July, until 6:00 p.m.

How to submit a representation

UPSC's notice states that such a representation must be submitted only through the Online Representation Portal for Question Paper & Provisional Answer Keys, accessed at upsconline.nic.in/login. The Civil Services Examination notice separately describes logging in and submitting a representation under the header Examinations > Representations.

What this guide does not claim

UPSC's published notices set out who may represent, on what, how, and within what window. They do not state — and this guide does not claim — how many representations are received or reviewed for a given question, what makes a representation succeed, whether every representation receives an individual response, or when any revised key might be published. If you are looking for that level of detail, UPSC's own examination pages, including its published answer keys, are the place to check once they are available, rather than any secondhand account.

Using this window, and what to do on the day

If you plan to raise a representation, note the question number, the paper, and the specific basis for your concern at the time you notice it, so that your submission during the window is precise rather than reconstructed from memory afterwards. While you are attempting the paper itself, remember that UPSC's negative-marking rule costs you one-third of a question's marks for a wrong answer but nothing for a question left blank — a fact worth weighing if you are unsure of an answer and considering whether to guess, independent of whether you later decide to raise a representation about that question.

Practise past Prelims questions on PrepKar.

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