The rule, as far as it can be sourced
You can face the UPSC Personality Test in English, in Hindi, or in any other language listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution, and the choice is made on your Detailed Application Form-II, independently of the medium you wrote the Mains in. For a language other than English or Hindi, UPSC arranges an interpreter. That is the rule as it is consistently reported by candidates, by every major coaching institute and by the news coverage of each cycle; we could not find it in an official UPSC document this week. We want to be exact about what we could and could not verify this week, because this page is read by people deciding something that matters.
- We read the UPSC Civil Services Examination notification end to end and text-searched it again on 21 October 2026 (the CSE 2024 PDF, the latest notification PDF the UPSC site served us; the CSE 2026 page is a script-only shell and the 2025 and 2026 PDFs were not found at any address we tried). It sets medium rules for the written papers in detail: candidates may answer in any Eighth Schedule language or in English, technical terms may be given in English in brackets, and the question papers (other than the language literature papers) are set in Hindi and English. It says nothing about the medium of the Personality Test. The words "interpreter" and "medium for the interview" do not occur in it.
- The interview medium is chosen on DAF-II, which opens only for candidates who have qualified the Mains. We could not open that form this week, so we have not quoted its wording.
- Per the UPSC e-Summon portal, your summon letter and its attachments are downloaded there, and nothing is sent by post. Read your own letter and its attachments in full.
So: the rule is widely relied on, but the official wording you need is on the form itself. Treat the DAF-II field as the final authority, and if its wording differs from anything on this page, the form wins. The DAF-II page walks through the form field by field.
Does the board prefer English?
Not according to anything UPSC publishes. The notification's description of the Personality Test lists the qualities the board judges: "mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity." It describes the technique as "a natural, though directed and purposive conversation". There is no line about language, fluency, vocabulary or accent, and the marks and board page sets out the full passage.
Here is the practical reading, labelled as ours. Boards sit through several candidates a day for weeks. They hear English with every regional accent India has, and they hear Hindi from candidates who wrote their papers in English. What they notice is not the language; it is whether the answer has a shape. "Clear and logical exposition" is a judgement about structure: one point, then the next, then a stop. A Hindi answer with that shape is clearer than an English answer without it, and the board, which is listening for the shape, scores the clearer one. The question to ask yourself is therefore not "which language will impress them" but "in which language do I still think clearly when a member has just told me I am wrong".
What boards are reported to say, and what we will not claim
Candidates' accounts online describe members telling them to answer in whichever language they are comfortable in. These are reported experiences, not UPSC statements, and we do not build rules on them. We quote no board policy on mixed answers because UPSC has published none. The next section is advice, and says so.
Mixing and switching: what is safe and what is not
Everything in this section is TalkDrill's advice. UPSC has no published rule on code-mixing in the Personality Test. The closest official text is the written-paper rule in the notification, which lets candidates answering in an Indian language give "English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms", and warns that misuse of that rule leads to deductions. It applies to answer scripts, not to the board room, but it tells you how the Commission thinks: the medium is a choice you keep to, and technical terms are the accepted exception.
| Situation | Safe (TalkDrill) | Not safe (TalkDrill) |
|---|---|---|
| Technical terms and proper nouns | Say them in the language they live in: "Article 356", "fiscal deficit", "PM-KISAN", "Panchayati Raj", whichever medium you declared. | Translating "fiscal deficit" into a Hindi coinage nobody uses, or pausing to find a Hindi word for "algorithm". |
| Courtesy phrases | "Good morning, sir", "Thank you, ma'am", "Namaste" are heard in both media every day. | Over-formal address stacked on every sentence; it reads as nerves. |
| A missing word mid-answer | Use the other language's word once and continue, or describe the thing plainly. | A five-second silence, or switching the whole rest of the answer into the other language. |
| A member asks a question in the other language | Answer in your declared medium unless they explicitly ask you to use theirs; if asked, do so briefly and return. | Abandoning your medium for the rest of the interview because one member used English. |
| Quoting a line, a slogan, a book title | Quote it as it is, then explain in your medium. | Translating a famous English line into Hindi, or the reverse, and losing it. |
| Whole answers | One medium per answer, always. | Starting in Hindi, moving to English for the "important part", returning to Hindi to close. The board hears three registers and one unsettled candidate. |
The underlying rule is control. A board forgives a borrowed word; it notices a candidate who has lost the thread of their own sentence. If you hold the medium, the occasional term from the other language reads as precision. If you keep drifting, every drift reads as doubt.
Who should pick which: a decision table
The medium decision is made once, on the form, weeks before the board. Make it on evidence about yourself, not on a belief about the room. The test below is TalkDrill's suggestion, not UPSC's.
| Your situation | Our recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You wrote the Mains in English and you argue, joke and disagree in English without translating | English | Your range of sources, phrases and examples is widest there; the board hears the real you. |
| You wrote the Mains in English but you think in Hindi and translate as you speak | Test it: hold a recorded five-minute disagreement in each language, then listen | Under pressure, translation slows the "mental alertness" the board scores. If the Hindi recording has a clearer shape, choose Hindi; the Mains medium is not binding. |
| You wrote the Mains in Hindi and your spoken English answers questions but cannot sustain an argument | Hindi | English will narrow your thinking to the sentences you can build; Hindi lets you build the ones you mean. |
| You wrote the Mains in Hindi and your spoken English is strong from work or study | Either; decide by the recording test, and consider what your DAF signals | English is a choice here, not a requirement; let the recordings decide. |
| Your strongest language is Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam or another Eighth Schedule language | Weigh the interpreter effect (below) against your Hindi or English; if your English or Hindi is good enough to argue in, prefer the direct conversation | An interpreted interview is slower and the board hears you at one remove; a direct conversation, even with an accent, keeps the alertness visible. |
| You are torn | Do the recording test twice, a week apart, with different topics, and pick the medium that wins both | The form will not wait for you to feel certain; evidence beats mood. |
Interpreters and languages other than Hindi and English
As the rule is consistently reported, a candidate who chooses an Eighth Schedule language other than Hindi is interviewed through an interpreter arranged by the Commission: the board asks in English or Hindi, the interpreter renders the question, you answer in your language, the interpreter renders the answer. We did not read a UPSC page this week that describes the arrangement, so what follows is how candidates describe it plus our advice for speaking through anyone.
- Short sentences. An interpreter carries one clause well and three badly. Build your answer in units of one idea.
- Pause at the full stop, not in the middle. Give the interpreter a complete thought; a half-sentence handed over is half-translated.
- Keep technical terms in the original. "GST", "Article 21", "NITI Aayog" should cross the table unchanged; say them clearly so the interpreter does not have to guess.
- Look at the member, not the interpreter. The board is judging you, and "ability for social cohesion" is read partly from where you look.
- Expect fewer questions. Every exchange takes longer through an interpreter, so the same time carries fewer of them. Make each answer count; do not pad.
If your Hindi or English is good enough to argue in, our recommendation stands: take the direct conversation. If it is not, the interpreted route exists for exactly your case, and a clear mind in Telugu beats a cramped one in English. The spoken English page has sections for Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali speakers who choose English.
Sample bilingual answers (written by TalkDrill)
All of the answers below are written by TalkDrill as teaching models. They are not transcripts of any real candidate's interview, and the facts in them are placeholders you must replace with your own. Each pair shows the same answer with the same shape in Hindi and in English, so that you can hear that the shape, not the language, is doing the work.
1. "Why do you want to join the civil services?" / "आप सिविल सेवा में क्यों आना चाहते हैं?"
English
Sir, three reasons, briefly. First, scale: in my two years at a district NGO I could help forty families a year; a block development officer's decisions reach forty thousand. Second, the problems I care about, primary health and school attendance, are solved at the district level or not at all. Third, honestly, the work suits me: I am better at making a system run than at starting one. If you ask what I would be giving up, it is a higher salary in the private sector, and I have thought about that.
Hindi
सर, तीन कारण, संक्षेप में। पहला, पैमाना: एक ज़िला एनजीओ में दो साल काम करते हुए मैं साल में चालीस परिवारों की मदद कर पाता था; एक खंड विकास अधिकारी के फ़ैसले चालीस हज़ार लोगों तक पहुँचते हैं। दूसरा, जिन समस्याओं की मुझे परवाह है, प्राथमिक स्वास्थ्य और स्कूल में उपस्थिति, वे ज़िले के स्तर पर ही सुलझती हैं, या फिर सुलझती ही नहीं। तीसरा, ईमानदारी से कहूँ तो यह काम मुझे सूट करता है: मैं किसी व्यवस्था को चलाने में बेहतर हूँ, नई शुरू करने में नहीं। अगर आप पूछें कि मैं क्या छोड़ रहा हूँ, तो निजी क्षेत्र की ऊँची तनख़्वाह, और मैंने इस पर सोचा है।
Notice: a count ("three reasons"), one concrete number per reason, a stop, and a pre-emptive answer to the obvious follow-up. "Primary health" and "block development officer" stay recognisable in both versions.
2. "What is the biggest problem in your district?" / "आपके ज़िले की सबसे बड़ी समस्या क्या है?"
English
Ma'am, water, specifically groundwater. The eastern blocks have gone from open wells to borewells to deeper borewells in one generation; my own village's borewell was deepened twice in ten years. The district has a canal project, but the tail-end villages do not receive water in the rabi season. If I were posted there I would start with the data: which blocks are over-exploited under the Central Ground Water Board's categories, and whether the canal's tail-end problem is a maintenance issue or a design one. I would not promise a new scheme before I knew that.
Hindi
मैम, पानी, ख़ास तौर पर भूजल। पूर्वी खंडों में एक ही पीढ़ी में खुले कुओं से बोरवेल और फिर और गहरे बोरवेल तक पहुँच गए हैं; मेरे अपने गाँव का बोरवेल दस साल में दो बार गहरा करवाना पड़ा। ज़िले में एक नहर परियोजना है, लेकिन अंतिम छोर के गाँवों को रबी के मौसम में पानी नहीं मिलता। अगर मेरी पोस्टिंग वहाँ हो तो मैं आँकड़ों से शुरू करूँगा: केंद्रीय भूजल बोर्ड की श्रेणियों के अनुसार कौन से खंड अति-दोहित हैं, और नहर के अंतिम छोर की समस्या रखरखाव की है या डिज़ाइन की। यह जाने बिना मैं किसी नई योजना का वादा नहीं करूँगा।
Notice: one problem, not a list; a personal detail that proves you know the place; the name of an institution kept in the original; and a close that shows "balance of judgement" by refusing to promise.
3. "Your hobby is cooking. Isn't that a strange thing to list?" / "आपका शौक़ खाना बनाना है। क्या यह लिखना अजीब नहीं?"
English
Sir, I listed it because it is true, and because I would rather defend a real hobby than a decorative one. I cook for six people most evenings. It has taught me two things I use: that preparation is most of the work, and that you cannot fix salt after the fact. If you would like, I can tell you why the same dal tastes different in Bihar and in Tamil Nadu; it is a question about tempering and about which pulse is cheap locally.
Hindi
सर, मैंने यह इसलिए लिखा क्योंकि यह सच है, और क्योंकि मैं दिखावटी शौक़ की बजाय असली शौक़ का बचाव करना पसंद करूँगा। मैं ज़्यादातर शामों को छह लोगों का खाना बनाता हूँ। इसने मुझे दो बातें सिखाई हैं जो मैं इस्तेमाल करता हूँ: कि तैयारी ही ज़्यादातर काम है, और कि नमक बाद में ठीक नहीं किया जा सकता। अगर आप चाहें, तो मैं बता सकता हूँ कि एक ही दाल बिहार और तमिलनाडु में अलग क्यों लगती है; यह तड़के का और इस बात का सवाल है कि स्थानीय स्तर पर कौन सी दाल सस्ती है।
Notice: the challenge is accepted without defensiveness, the answer offers the board a door to a deeper question, and the tone is the same in both languages: direct, slightly dry, unhurried. That is the register to aim for in either medium.
How to prepare in your chosen medium
Once the form is submitted, the medium is settled, and preparation should happen entirely in it. A route that works, in order:
- Translate your DAF into speech, in your medium. Every field becomes a spoken paragraph: name, place, education, work, hobby, preferences. Record each one. If you chose English and a paragraph will not come, that is the first drill, not a reason to switch back.
- Build a term list. Fifty technical terms from your optional, your state and the year's news, with the form you will say them in. Decide now which stay in English.
- Argue daily. Ten minutes, one topic, one position, one counter-argument conceded, one restatement. In Hindi if Hindi; in English if English. The AI mock interview plays the pushing member and times your answers.
- Rehearse the recovery line. For English: "the word escapes me; what I mean is...". For Hindi: "सही शब्द नहीं मिल रहा; मेरा मतलब है...". Say it until it is reflex, then it will never sound like panic.
- Two full mocks in the declared medium, recorded, one with a friend who has your DAF and one with the AI board. Listen for drifts into the other language and mark each one; by the second mock there should be none that you did not choose.
For Hindi-medium candidates who chose English, the spoken English page lists the specific habits a board hears from Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali speakers, with a drill for each; the Hindi medium to fluent English route is the longer version for anyone with more than a month. For the opening answer in both languages, the introduce yourself page has six scripts, and the UPSC interview hub holds the rest of this module.