BharatNotes Each board has one chairperson (a UPSC Member or senior official) and four expert members drawn from civil services, academia, defence, science, law, and other professional domains.
A UPSC Personality Test board consists of five people: one chairperson and four members.
Chairperson: The board is presided over by a senior UPSC official — typically a sitting Member of the Commission or an eminent external expert appointed to chair a board. The chairperson leads the interview, opens the conversation, maintains decorum, and usually asks the first questions.
Four Members: Members are drawn from a wide range of professional backgrounds. They may include retired or serving civil servants (IAS, IPS, IFS, or other Central Services officers), university professors or educationists, scientists, defence personnel, economists, lawyers, or other subject-matter experts. UPSC designs the board to bring diverse perspectives so that the candidate is evaluated holistically across administration, academics, social understanding, and domain knowledge.
The Ministry of Personnel confirmed in Parliament (December 2025) that diverse board composition is one of the structural safeguards UPSC uses to ensure balanced and fair assessment.
IMPORTANT: UPSC does not publish the names of sitting board members in advance. The Delhi High Court has upheld UPSC's right to withhold board member identities under Section 8(1)(g) of the RTI Act, ruling that disclosure could endanger the safety of evaluators.
