Given that the general candidates have only six attempts, there is a lot of seriousness among candidates appearing for the UPSC CSE exam. If a candidate who has applied for the Prelims examination and could not appear for the examination, then it is not considered as an attempt. So, candidates who skip the exam can be relieved. It will be considered an attempt only when the candidate has appeared at least for one paper in the Prelims examination. Well, it looks like the UPSC has proposed to consider the situation wherein a candidate who has applied for the exam skips appearing for it. However, the Union Government is yet to make a decision.