What is the IAS Exam
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IAS or Indian Administrative Service Exam is probably one of the toughest exams to crack in India. In fact as per one survey the IAS Exam is the second most difficult exam, after the French Civil Services Exam, to get through. But it is doable. Clearing the IAS Exam is the only way to become a member of the prestigious Indian Civil Services, of which the IAS is the most sought after service. The other services you could get on clearing the IAS Examination include the Indian Police Service (IPS), IRS, IRTS, IRPS, and many more.
Who Conducts the IAS Exam?
The IAS Exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), a Constitutional body set up under Article 315 of the Indian Constitution. The UPSC, headquartered at Shahjahan Road in New Delhi issues the notification for the IAS Exam generally in December every year.
How Many Stages are there in the IAS Exam?
The IAS Exam consists of three stages, which is what makes it such a tough and at the same time the most prestigious exam in the entire country. The first stage is the Preliminary stage popularly known as the Prelims or CSAT. The Prelims is held in May every year. After the recent changes to the Prelims Syllabus the optional subjects for the Prelims have been done away with and now the Prelims consists of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each common to all candidates.
The second stage is the Mains exam. You need to clear the Preliminary stage to be able to appear for the IAS Mains exam. However, the Prelims is only qualifying in nature and marks obtained in the Preliminary stage are not counted in the Mains or for purpose of the final rank.
The Mains IAS Exam is conducted by the UPSC around the end of October every year and it generally lasts for 20-25 days. There are some compulsory papers like General Studies (GS), Essay, English, Indian Language which are common to all candidates appearing for the Mains. Apart from these papers you also have to select two optional subjects from more than 26 subjects. In all, the Mains exam is of 2000 marks. The English and Indian Language paper are of qualifying nature only. The marks scored are neither disclosed nor taken into account for final rank or preparing the merit list. But you need to clear them nonetheless.
The third and final stage of the IAS Exam is the Interview stage. The IAS exam interview is conducted by the UPSC at its headquarters at Shahjahan Road, New Delhi on declaration of the Mains results in the second week of March. The interview process generally starts around end of March and continues right till the first week of May. The final results are then announced two or three days before the Prelims.
The IAS Exam interview comprises of 300 marks and there are no minimum qualifying marks. So the maximum marks in the IAS exam comes to 2300 (2000 marks Mains + 300 marks Interview). If you want to become an IAS you should aim to obtain minimum 1260 marks in the IAS exam as the competition in the IAS exam is quite high and there it is not uncommon to find three candidates with the same marks.
Generally, the last person clearing the civil services exam obtains around 1100-1150 marks and there are anywhere between 400-1000 vacancies each year. So the difference in marks between first ranker and the 200th ranker is not more than 100 marks. Such is the competition in the IAS exam,
What is the Minimum Qualification for the IAS Exam?
Only a Graduate degree from a university recognised under the UGC Act and minimum age of 21 years with 30 years as the upper age limit. You can appear for the IAS exam a maximum of 4 times until the age of 30. Various relaxations in the age limit and number of attempts are available for candidates from weaker sections. There is no maximum educational qualification required for the IAS exam and plain graduates and PhD's all compete on the same level.
Tools needed for the IAS Exam
As with any exam, the IAS Exam also has its own tools, books, methods, tips, and strategies to prepare in the shortest possible time with optimal performance and results. You will need the following resources to get going for the IAS Exam:
- Books for IAS
- Information on IAS coaching
- IAS exam preparation strategy
- Newspapers and magazines for IAS preparation
- Tips from experienced IAS candidates who have either cleared the IAS exam or at least appeared for the IAS interview
Fortunately, there is a good IAS Blog to help you with all the above points in your IAS exam preparation. So get set go IAS!
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Respected sir/mam,
AS I HAVE PASSED GRADUATION IN 2011 FROM UGC COLLEGE WITH 56% CAN I GIVE THE EXAM.
yes,you can apply for IAS there is no need of percentage criteria you are a graduate na....that is enough for exam but you need not cross your age limits mentioned in the sites as per caste....
Im B.E mech student... Thank you for clearing my doubts... And tell about IAS subject selection. And can i gave the exam ...!
can u tell me full process for the ias examination i will be very thank full for u i will be highly oblized.. pleasde help please help me i will wait for your asnswer . dont sauy that see ur blog for tha thow i can eligble for ias examination please help me sir/ mam i will wait for ur ans . if god give u knowledge so u have to spread tha tu have to help evbery body like a god. i will ver thank full for u will u i will wait for ur answer
iam studying bcom tanx for this valuble information iam so intrested to be part civil service examination
I COMPLETED MY B.TECH(COMPUTER SCIENCE) IN 2003.NOW I AM WORKING AS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN ENGINEERING COLLEGE.IS IT POSSIBLE TO WRITE CSAT WITH USING EVENING AND NIGHT TIMINGS
CAN U GIVE GUIDELINE TO PREPARING FOR CSAT PLEASE...
I am very thankfull to you . I am remove from my doubt.
How to prepair IAS exam
tell me some good magazines for civils pls..
in which way way im prepare for civils from my b.tech 3rd year with parallelly...
Thanks for giving us all these detaile. We are very thankful to u
i am studing 1st puc and i have a big aim to become an IAS officer. so can u pls give me all information about this exam my fb adres is rakshithnekar@gmail.com pls send all information about what i can do from today for preparation please thiss is my humble request
sir can you please guide me by saying the procedure of writing the ias exams and the best possible way to score good marks in the exam? i will be thankful if i get this much information from you....
Ayyappa.s,
Gollahalli[vi],
Andevanapalli[Post],
Denkanikotta[TK],
Crishnageri[DT],
Timlnadu
Sir/mam i m studying in BA 1st year. Can i able to give ias exam. Please guide me.i want to become an ias officer.
Hii after my 10th i did not do my inter and i have done my graduation in b.com genral in distance so can i wright this civil (ias) exams
plz tell me some good news paper
IS THERE IS ANY NEED FOR HEIGHT.....??
Sir,i am a handy person .so i can take ias exam . My qulification is that in 10th-58%and 12th-60%.
sir/mam i am subject of nepal want to appear for ias am i going to compete with nepali only or whole indian pple.
can a person appear in IAS exam having B.Sc. MLT after D.pharmacy
Sir, plz tell me how to prepare ias
what is max age limit for open category? & which marks counted for selection? My mail id yogesh.garad@rediffmail.com
I am 29 yrs old & serving in the Indian Army as a Soldier (GD). Now, I am pursuing my graduation from Netaji Subhas Open Univ. Is there is any relaxation on age for serving defence personals & may I apply for the IAS with this open univ degree ?
why am i not gettin your e book..i have already registerd yo your newsletter..kindly check it and send a link to your e book on ma email id
abhishekvyassrcc@gmail.com
please request give the information for IAS
Sir iam a Bsc industrial fish and fisheries cource i will applay to IAS IPS
i am nepali citizen wanna appear in upse ias ips exams.just wanna know how is our merit decided i mean does we get seperate merit like st sc n obc or we compete within generel seat itself plz reply very soon thanx in advance
Hi sir i am Bsc1year student i join ips officer sir guide me
i m b.tech student i want becomes a ias officers guide me
Sir,i am a handy person .so i can take ias exam . My qulification is that in 10th-58%and 12th-60%.
how can all information about ias exam can be obtained and how to prepare for ias exanm . i am a b tec student
iam v.v. thankful to ur supreme information and details
can i give ips exam after engineering
thanku very much........
Please tell me, how many papers in total are there in Mains exams?
In the syllabus i got, its mentioned 9, but there is int any detailing about the "Literature" section.
Where does it sets in?
Please put some light over it !!
Sir
can i appear IAS Exam. after B.Sc MLT
I am pursuing UG and I am interested to be part of civil service exam. so, tell me some good magazines for civils please.
I hav BA passed only. Can i appear for ias examination.? Please some guide from u sir..
sir/mam..i m doin my B.A. first yr..m i eligible to write IAS exam
sir i am ritesh bse1 first ear how to prepare ias exam pls tell me
Sir will our academic career affect on our selection??????????
sir i m done diploma in 67% i m doing b.tech of computer science engg. and i m interested in this field , so i want to know how to prepare for this exam.
i m gradute with art i want became an ias officer plz guide me sir
I have cleared my 10th recently.So, can u tell me which stream(science or commerce) is the most suitable for me as i want to become an IAS.
please give me answer as soon as possible.
please request give the information for IAS
i am a commerce student and i jus finished my 2nd puc which combination should i opt t take upsc exams as my aim is to become an ias officer so pls guide me
dear sir/ma'am i am pursuing b.pharm. 3rd year..!! and want to attained the ias exam to take philosophy as a main subject.., is it all right to go ahead.., please give some previous details of condition like this.
My aim to become IAS Officer so sir please give some advice how to become IAS Officer
right now i m in class 9 and i want to be an ias officier .....how should i prepare or what should i prepare to do so???
Myself sanjay at now i am in B.E
civil 4th sem and i want to give IAS exam then give me guide me.
SUCH A VERY CLEAR & FULL-TU INFORMATION ABOUT UPSC & IAS EXAM.
Its all very nice that u have wrote for ias exam.thanks very much for this beautiful information..I am studying in ba 2nd year and i want to prepare for ias exam from today.i have economics, sociology and political science can this help me for ias..please give some suggestions about how to prepare for Ias from today and which subject i have to study..my email id is angelsuhail24@gmail.com...i am from kashmir..
Thanks To clearing my all Doubts
is anybody clear main exam of ias and not selected in interview but it score a 1900 marks out of 2300 then what is case whether to apply again or candidiate is eligible for ias training .please reply me on sunjal49@yahoo.in
Sir/mamm Iam in 10 th standed now iam intrested in taking science in my 11th standed .what you sagest me to take to become an ias officer.please answer my question.
please tell me the procedure for combination of subjects
sir,i m graduate with math iwant become ias officer plz guide me on verma.alka666@yahoo.in
Sir/mam ,
i am ca-ipcc student and i will passed b.com in December with good marks what should i do for face first stage exam of ias and how i can apply for it .
Can u please reffer some good books & coaching institutes for prepairing UPSC exam
Me ias ke
i get m.com 54.00% and i become an ias officer .please
answer my question
si if we get the marks btwn 1100-1150 so can we get the job in government sector...
Thanks
i have completed b pharmacy and i request you ,please give me guidence for option subject which is best for me because my background is biology
Thank to all of these.
I've'nt word for thank for this.
somineni sudarshan 8 months ago
i'm in 10th standard.Thank you very much for clearing all my doubts.