UPSC interview is really like a personality test. One of the most difficult to reach as many say. The interview board can easily gauge the mental caliber of the candidate through the interview.

Who will score the highest marks in the interview in the history of UPSC exam? The names of Tina Tabi and Smita Sabrawal will come to mind. But none of them, Zainab Saeed from Kolkata scored the highest marks in the UPSC exam. Zainab secured the highest marks in the UPSC exam written in 2014. Zainab got 220 marks out of 275 in the interview. With that, Mains managed to score 731 marks. 107 is the rank in UPSC exam.

After 2014, no other candidate has got such marks in the interview. Ashutosh Kumar and Kiran PB scored 215 marks in Civil Services Exam 2021 Interview. Shruti Jayant Deshmukh scored 173 marks in Civil Services Exam 2018 interview. In 2015, Tina Dabi, the first ranker in civil service, got 175 marks in the interview.

Zainab’s path to success was not easy. Twice they could not even clear the preliminary of the UPSC exam. They learned from their failures and tried again. The brilliant win came in the third attempt. Zainab was able to impress the interviewees with her profound knowledge on all subjects.

Zainab was well versed in current affairs and international relations. When asked to answer some questions, he openly said that he did not know. Their interview lasted for 25 minutes.

Zainab holds a BA in English Literature from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and a Masters in Mass Communication from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. Civil service training started after that. Zainab wrote the UPSC exam for the first time in 2012.