About IAS:Eligibility,Subjects,Attempts etc.

The Civil Services Examination is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service Commis sion) every year. The examination has three stages i.e., (1) Civil Services Prel iminary Examinations (CSP) - normally conducted during the second half of May.(2 ) Civil Services (Main) Examinations conducted during the month of October/Novem ber. Here, those who are selected in the preliminary examination only are eligib le to appear.(3) Those who are selected in the main examination will be eligible to appear before the Interview Board at New Delhi. Preliminary Examination (CSP) CSP consists of two papers i.e., (1) optional subj ect to be selected from the listed subject for 300 marks. (2) General studies fo r 150 marks. Total of 450 marks. Each paper is of two hours duration. The course content of the syllabi for the optional subjects is at the degree level. Normal ly, there are about 3 lakh applications for the preliminary examination. From th is, the UPSC selects 10 to 12 folds of vacancies for the main examinations. This is only for the selection and not to be taken into consideration in the main ra nking. Subjects for Preliminary Examination: The General Studies syllabus is same for a ll. Subjects for Paper II (one subject to be selected): Agriculture, Animal Husbandr y and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce, Econom ics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, Indian History, Law, Mathematic s, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Scien ce, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology. (The question papers are in Hindi and English and each paper is of two hours dur ation. The course content of the syllabi is of degree level. Each paper is of tw o hours duration. Blind candidates are allowed an extra time of 20 minutes for e ach paper.) Main Examination Only those who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in a year, are eligible for the Main examination of that year, provided they are otherwise eligible for the Main Examination. Civil Services Main examination has two optional subjects (two papers each carri es 300 marks), one General Studies (two papers each carries 300 marks), one essa y (carries 200 marks) - total 2000 marks. Other than this, there are two languag e papers one in Indian language and one in General English at the level of 10th standard. This is to test the ability of the candidate's proficiency in his moth er tongue / Indian language and English. Total nine papers. These two papers car ry 300 marks each but it will not be considered for the ranking. It is must to c lear these two papers. If a candidate fails to clear these papers, his other pap ers will not be evaluated. The Main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and t he depth of understanding of the candidates, rather than merely the range of the ir information and memory. Sufficient choice of questions is allowed in the ques tion papers. Optional Subjects for the Main Examination: Optional subjects: Agriculture, Anim al Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Comme rce and Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, Hist ory, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Phil osophy, Physics, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Publ ic Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology. Each paper is of 3 hours dura tion. Literatures: Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujara ti, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Ori ya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.The f ollowing combinations not allowed are: Political Science & International Relatio ns and Public Administration Commerce and Management Anthropology and Sociology Maths and StatisticsAgriculture and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Mana gement and Public Administration Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medic al Science Any two branches of engineering. Combination of two literatures in th e above list.

Interview: At interview stage, two-fold vacancies are called to appear before th e UPSC Board. Interview carries 300 marks. Interview calls are sent on the basis of minimum marks fixed by the UPSC at its discretion. The overall ranking is do ne based on the Mains performance (i.e., 2000 marks) and interview. Therefore, t he total marks involved in the ranking are 2300. Candidates are allotted various services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and preferences given b y them in their main application form. Note: If a person fails in either in main s or interview, he has to appear once again from the preliminary stage. Eligibil ity Conditions:(i) Nationality:(1) For the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.(2) For other ser vices, a candidate must be either: (a) A citizen of India, or(b) a subject of Ne pal, or(c) a subject of Bhutan, or(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India b efore 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India. or (e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Srilanka, E ast 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 (b), (c), (d) and (e ) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. Provided further that candidates belonging to categ ories (b), (c) and (d) above will not be eligible for appointment to the Indian Foreign Service. A candidate, in whose case a certificate of eligibility is nece ssary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be gi ven only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him by t he Government of India. (ii) Minimum Educational Qualifications:The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in In dia or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or dec lared to be deemed as a University Under Section 3 of the University Grants Comm ission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification. Note I: Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which woul d render them educationally qualified for the Commission's examination but have not been informed of the results as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Prelimi nary Examination. All candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission fo r taking the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to produce proof of passing the requisite examination with their application for the Main Examin ation failing which such candidates will not be admitted to the Main Examination . Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a ca ndidate who has not any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he has passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, th e standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his admission to the examination. Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications, which are recognised by Government, as equivalent to professional and technical degre e would also be eligible for admission to the examination. Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other Medical Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of subm ission of their applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University /Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional medical exami nation. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce at the time of their interview original Degree or a certificate from the concerned competent a uthority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree. (iii) Age limit: 21 years must be completed on 1st August of the year, which a c andidate is appearing. Maximum 30 for general category, 33 for OBCs and 35 for S Cs/STs. Ex-servicemen will get 5 more years exemption from the prescribed age li mit.

(The date of birth accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculati on or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognized by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Registe r of Matriculates maintained by a University, which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Higher Secondary or an equival ent examination certificate). (iv) Number of Attempts: Four attempts for open, seven for OBCs and no limit for SC s/ST s. If a person appears in the Preliminary Examination or even one paper is counted as an attempt. (v) Restrictions on applying for the examination: A candidate who is appointed t o the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this examination. How to Apply: (a) The UPSC have developed an application form common for all the ir examinations, which will be processed on computerised machines. This applicat ion form along with an Information Brochure containing general instructions for filling up the form, an acknowledgement card and an envelope for sending the app lication is obtainable from the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices throug hout the country as against cash payment of Rs. 20/- (Rupees twenty only). Form should be purchased from the designated Post Offices only and not from any other agency. This form can be used only once and for only one examination. Candidate s must use the form supplied with the Information Brochure only and they should in no case use photocopy / reproduction / unauthorisedly printed copy of the For m. Since this form is electronically scannable, due care should be taken to fill up the application form, correctly. While filling up the application form, plea se refer to detailed instructions given in the Notice.