The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to the various Civil Services of the Government of India, including
1). Indian Administrative Service (IAS),
2). Indian Foreign Service (IFS),
3). Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
The list of the persons who ranked first (the "topper") for each year, along with their opted service and home state:
| Year | Topper (1st Rank) | Home State | Service opted for by Topper | |
| 2014 | Ira Singhal | Delhi | IAS | |
| 2013 | Gaurav Agrawal | Rajasthan | IAS | |
| 2012 | Haritha V Kumar | Kerala | IAS | |
| 2011 | Shena Aggarwal | Haryana | IAS | |
| 2010 | S Divyadharsini | Tamil Nadu | IAS | |
| 2009 | Shah Faesal | Jammu and Kashmir | IAS | |
| 2008 | Shubhra Saxena | Uttar Pradesh | IAS | |
| 2007 | Adapa Karthik | Telangana | IAS | |
| 2006 | Mutyalaraju Revu | Andhra Pradesh | IAS | |
| 2005 | Mona Pruthi | Haryana | IAS | |
| 2004 | S Nagarajan | Tamil Nadu | IAS | |
| 2003 | Roopa Mishra | Odisha | IAS | |
| 2002 | Ankur Garg | Punjab | IAS | |
| 2001 | Alok Ranjan Jha | Bihar | IFS | |
| 2000 | Vijaylakshmi Bidari | Karnataka | IAS | |
| 1999 | Sorabh Babu | Uttar Pradesh | IAS | |
| 1998 | Bhawna Garg | Punjab | IAS | |
| 1997 | Devesh Kumar | Bihar | IAS | |
| 1996 | Sunil Kumar Barnwal | Bihar | IAS | |
| 1995 | Iqbal Dhaliwal | Tamil Nadu | IAS | |
| 1994 | Srivatsa Krishna | Karnataka | IAS | |
| 1991 | Raju Narayana Swamy | Kerala | IAS | |
| 1990 | Sanjay Kumar | Uttar Pradesh | IAS | |
| 1989 | Shashi Prakash Goyal | Uttar Pradesh | IAS | |
| 1988 | Prashant Kumar | Bihar | IAS | |
| 1987 | Amir Subhani | Bihar | IAS | |
| 1979 | Dr. Hrusikesh Panda | Odisha | IAS | |
| 1977 | Javed Usmani | Uttar Pradesh | IAS | |
| 1974 | Bhaskar Balakrishnan | Maharashtra | IFS | |
| 1973 | Nirupama Rao | Kerala | IFS | |
| 1972 | Duvvuri Subbarao | Andhra Pradesh | IAS |
