IAS Exam 2018

Candidates applying for the IAS Exam have to fulfill all the eligibility condition for appearing in the examination.

Educational Qualifications:

The most basic IAS exam eligibility is that the aspiring candidate should be at least a Graduate in any discipline from a recognised university. Candidates having professional and technical qualifications recognised by the government are also eligible. Those who have appeared in the final year but do not have the result can also apply but they would have to produce proof of passing the exam with their application for the Main Exam.

Candidates who have passed the final year of MBBS or any Medical degree Examination but are yet to complete the internship can also appear for the Main Examination. However, they must submit along with their Main Examination application, a certificate from the concerned authority of the University / Institution that they have passed the final professional medical examination. At the time of Interview, they are supposed to produce a certificate from a competent authority that they have completed (including internship) all the requirements for the award of the Medical Degree.

Note: There is no minimum percentage of marks in the qualifying examination is  (Pass only) required to be eligible for taking IAS Exam.

Nationality:
For the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India

For other services, a candidate must be either:

A citizen of India, or

A subject of Nepal, or

A subject of Bhutan, or

A Tibetan refugee who came over to India with the intention of permanently settling in India. or

A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Srilanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) shall be a person in whose favor a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. These candidates will not be eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service.

Age Limits:

Candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on the 1st August of the year in which examination is being held.

The upper age limit may be relaxed in respect of the SC/ST and other backward classes.

IAS Preliminary Examination 2016 would consist of two papers- Paper I and Paper II.  The syllabus and pattern of the Preliminary Examination would be as under :

Paper 1  (200 marks) - Duration: Two hrs.

Current events  of national and international importance

History of India  and Indian national movement

Indian and World Geography- physical, social, economic geography of India and the world

Indian Polity and governance – constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, public policy, Rights issues, etc.

Economic and social development – sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives etc.

General issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity and climate change that  don't require subject specialization

General science.

Paper 2 (200 marks) - Duration: Two hrs.

Comprehension

Interpersonal skills including communication skills

Logical reasoning and analytical ability

Decision making and problem-solving

General mental ability

Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. –Class X level)

English language comprehension skills (Class X level)

IAS Main Examination is taken to assess the overall intellectual qualities and depth of understanding of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory. It will consist of a written examination and an interview test.

The written examination will consist of 9 papers of conventional essay type in the selected subjects for the main examination. Each paper is of 3 hours duration.

Papers for Main Exam

Paper                   

 Subject

Marks

Paper I

Section 1 Essay 200 Marks

Section 2 English Comprehension & English Précis 100 Marks 

(Of Matriculation/ Xth standard 

level)

Section 1 Essay 
Section 2 English Comprehension & English Précis  (Of Matriculation/ Xth standard level)

200 + 100 = 300  

Paper II

General Studies - I   (Indian Heritage and Culture,  History and Geography of the World and Society) 

250

Paper III

General Studies – II   (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)

250

Paper IV       

General Studies –III    (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) 

250

Paper V

General Studies -IV  (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)

250

Paper VIOptional Subject – Paper 1 250

Paper VIIOptional Subject – Paper 2 250

 Total 1800

 Interview275

 Grand Total 2075

Important:  Candidates may choose any optional subject from amongst the list of subjects given below (Group 1).  However, a candidate can opt for the literature of a language, indicated in Group-2 below as an optional subject only if the candidate has graduated in the literature of that particular language as the main subject. 

NOTE: Marks obtained by the candidates for all papers (Paper I-VII) will be counted for merit ranking. However,  the Commission will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all papers of the examination. 

Note: For Santali language, the question paper will be printed in Devanagari script; but candidates will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki.

List of Optional Subjects for Main Exam

Group-1

Agriculture

Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

Anthropology

Botany

Chemistry

Civil Engineering

Commerce and Accountancy

Economics

Electrical Engineering

Geography

Geology 

History

Law

Management

Mathematics

Mechanical Engineering

Medical Science

Philosophy

Physics

Political Science and International Relations

Psychology

Public Administration

Sociology

Statistics

Zoology

Group-2

Literature of any one of the following languages:

Assamese

Bengali

Bodo

Dogri

Gujarati

Hindi

Kannada

Kashmiri

Konkani

Maithili

Malayalam

Manipuri

Marathi

Nepali

Oriya

Punjabi

Sanskrit

Santhali

Sindhi

Tamil

Telugu

Urdu

English

Interview: Candidates who obtain minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination shall be summoned for an interview. It is usually conducted in the month of April/May every year. Candidate will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability and judge the mental caliber of the candidate. The interview will carry 300 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).

Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and posts.

There is also a medical test, especially rigid for IPS. Out of the final candidates' selected top rankers approximately upto 80-100 are appointed as Indian Administrative  Services (IAS) officers.