Indian Engineering Services (IES) entrance exam organized by UPSC is conducted every year for the recruitments of engineers to various government services. This entrance exam is carried out in various centres of India in the month of around June and July.

Eligibility criteria for IES exam

The candidates who possess an engineering degree in any of the following specializations from a recognized university are eligible to apply for the IES entrance exam.

• Civil Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering

M.Sc degree holders are also eligible provided they have studied any of the following as a special subject.

• Wireless Communications
• Electronics
• Radio Physics
• Radio Engineering

Candidates in the final year of qualifying exam may also apply for the same. Moreover, the applicant should be in the age limit of 21 to 30 years. However, certain category candidates are provided with age relaxation.

Structure and Pattern of IES Entrance Exam

IES entrance exam is conducted in two levels. The first level includes the written tests. Those qualifying the written tests would be called for the interview session. For the written test, there will be 5 papers each carrying 200 marks. Paper I will be common for all subject candidates and rest of the papers will be separate based of the subject chosen.

Paper 1(Objective type)

• General Ability Test
• General Studies
• General English

Paper 2 & 3 (Objective type)

• Includes questions from core subjects of the qualifying exam

Paper 4 & 5 (Subjective type)

• Includes questions from core subjects of the qualifying exam

Preparatory tips to crack IES Entrance Exam

IES entrance exam is a highly competitive one and hence requires an efficient study plan. Various reference books by well known authors as listed below which are available in the market. The candidates should make use of the same.

• Network analysis by Van Valkenburg
• I.E.S General Studies by GK
• Integrated Circuits by K.R. Botkar
• Communication system by A. Bruu Carlson
• Communication System by Simon Haykins
• Digital Logic and Computer Design by Moris Mano
• Signal and System Oppenheim and Willsky
• Control System by Nagoor Kanni
• Automatic Control system by Benjamin C. Kou
• Fluid Machinery by Jagdish Lal, RK Bansal
• Strength of Materials by B.C. Punamia
• Machine Design by VB Bhandar
• Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering by S.K Garg, B.C. Punamia

One can also look forward for a comprehensive coaching which is made available to the candidates by various coaching centres all round India. Some of those reputed IES coaching centres are

• IES Made Easy
• IES Academy
• Gate Forum
• Brilliant Tutorials
• Institute of Engineering Studies
• ELITE Academy
• Lead Institute of Academics

The aspirants also need to prepare well in advance for the interview as well. While preparing, make short notes which would in turn be highly effective while revising the topics.