IAS exam preparation tips: All you need to know about UPSC Civil Services Exam material
New Delhi : Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is one of the toughest competitive exams in India. It is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for the recruitment of officers for the All India Administrative Civil Service. The premier exam is held for selecting the aspirants the 24 major posts in India including the service posts of IAS, IPS, and IFS.
The exam was first started as Imperial Civil Service exam in 1858 and later in January 26, 1950 the exam was renamed as Indian Administrative Service. By focusing on IAS exam, aspirants get exposure in diverse roles like the collector, commissioner, head of public sector units, chief secretary, cabinet secretary etc.
UPSC notification release time for IAS exam 2018-19
UPSC has published IAS exam notification in the month of May in the employment news section for preliminary exam held in June 2018. The result of UPSC IAS preliminary exam will be declared on August 2018; while the main exam of IAS will be held in October 2018 and the results will be declared on March 2019. Successful candidates will have to attend the oral interview in April/May 2019 at New Delhi.
How to prepare for Civil Services Exam
- Every year more than 10 lakh candidates apply for IAS civil service exam of which only half sit for Prelims. Then around 16,0000 candidates get selected for Civil service Mains exam. Lastly, only three to four percent of candidates get through the exam. So now, the question is how to prepare best for exam. Well, we can help you out with the following tips to study for IAS exam 2019
- Check UPSC subjects, syllabus and revise all chapters as per your selected preference.
- Consider NCERT books, previous years’question papers of IAS, current affairs book etc
- Take IAS prelims mock test to identify your mistakes
- Appear for exam in relaxed mind so that you keep careful to read questions and answer correctly.
Eligibility for UPSC IAS exam
- Candidate must be a citizen of India
- Candidate must be a citizen of Nepal or a subject of Bhutan
- Candidate must be a Tibetan Refugee who came to India before January 1, 1962, to be settled permanently in India
- Candidate must be person of Indian Origin who has migrated from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zaire, or Zambia with an intention of permanently settling in India
Educational qualification to apply for IAS exam or UPSC Civil Services Exam
1. Candidate must hold a Bachelor's Degree from any of the recognized universities.
2. Candidates who have appeared for the qualifying examination and are awaiting results or those who are yet to appear for the qualifying examination are also eligible for the Preliminary Examination. Such candidates have to produce proof of passing the said examination along with the application for the Main Examination.
3. Candidates with professional and technical qualifications recognized by the Government or its equivalent are also eligible to apply Candidates who have passed the final year of MBBS or any Medical Examination but are yet to complete the internship can also appear for the Main Examination.
However, they must submit a certificate from the concerned University that they have passed the final professional medical examination
Age limit to apply in IAS Civil Service Exam
A candidate should attain minimum 21 years and maximum 32 years old as on August 01, 2019. But he/she must have been born not earlier than August 02, 1987 and not later than August 01, 1998. Necessary action will take to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/Regulations pertaining to various services.
The upper age limit prescribed above is relaxable for the following candidates:
- 5 Years - Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) 3 Years - Other Backward Classes (OBC)
- 3 Years - Defence Services personnel
- 5 Years - ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least 5 years Military Service as on August 01, 2019
- 5 Years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs
- 10 Years - Blind, deaf-mute, and orthopedically handicapped persons
- 5 Years - In the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August, 2019 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months’ notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment
Number of attempts in UPSC IAS exam
- Restriction on the maximum number of attempts is effective since 1984:
- For General Candidates: 7 attempts (Up to 32 Years)
- Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Candidates (SC/ST): No Limits (Up to 37 Years)
- Other Backward Classes (OBC): 9 attempts (Up to 35 Years)
- Physically handicapped- 9 attempts for general and OBC, while unlimited for SC/ST
List of optional subjects for UPSC Mains Examination
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- Indian History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science and International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
Literature of any one of the following languages like Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.
The question papers for the examination will be of essay type in the main exam. Each paper will be of three hours duration. The question papers other than the literature of language papers will be set in Hindi and English only.
