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Which one is tougher – UPSC or IIT JEE? Anand Mahindra gets answer from IIT graduate who took UPSC CSE

While delving deep into the difficulty level of UPSC, the chairman came across an IIT graduate who had also taken the UPSC exams and told him that the UPSC exam was more difficult than JEE Main/ Advanced.

New Delhi :- Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group, sparked the attention of the internet by sharing a post on the difficulty level of entrance exams in the country including the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and Union Public Service Commission Civil Service Exam (UPSC CSE). The 12th Fail Bollywood flick directed by ‎Vidhu Vinod Chopra inspired him to seek more details on the difficulty level and how aspirants prepare for the exam. 

Mahindra on his X (former Twitter) handle has re-shared the list of the world’s “top toughest exams”, where the UPSC exam occupied the third ranking, after IIT JEE in the second.

While delving into the difficulty level, the chairman came across an IIT graduate who had also taken the UPSC exams and told him that the latter was more difficult. The chairman added that if that is the case then this world ranking needs to be changed.

Re-sharing last year’s X post by The World Ranking, Mahindra wrote, “After seeing 12th Fail I checked around and spoke to a number of young people about the relative difficulty of our entrance exams. One of them was a graduate of IIT who was involved in a business startup but who had also taken the UPSC exam. He stated emphatically that UPSC is much tougher than the IIT JEE. I wonder if this is a commonly held perception, in which case this ranking needs to change!”

The platform The World Ranking shares and compares various rankings of countries, companies, and individuals. As per them, these are the top 10 toughest exams in the world.

1. China → Gaokao Exam
2. India → IIT JEE Exam
3. India → UPSC Exam
4. England → Mensa
5. US/Canada → GRE
6. US/Canada → CFA
7. US → CCIE
8. India → GATE
9. US → USMLE
10. US → California Bar Exam

Meanwhile, in 2022, a similar list was compiled by Erudera — an online education search platform — that assessed the acceptance rates in IITs at about 1 per cent, which makes it the second toughest exam in the world. Over 1 million candidates appear for JEE Main every year, for around 11,000 seats in 23 different IITs, the report stated. To prepare for this entrance exam, continuous efforts over two long years are needed on average. 

According to the list, around 8-10 lakh candidates take the UPSC CSE prelims for less than 1,000 seats. The success rate ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 per cent. Passing the second stage means you get to interview with a panel that will assess your personality, awareness, and reasoning.

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