The acronym of Indian Statistical Services, the ISS is a recruitment examination taken by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission of India) to recruit interested people to occupy vacancies in Organizations or Departments under the Central Government for the posts requiring statistical professionals. The ISS exam comes under the category of Civil Services Examinations.

Structure of ISS Exam

The ISS constitutes of personality and written tests. Only those candidates who qualify in the written test will be proceeded to attend the personality test which will have an Interview. The written test has questions of essay type and the question paper will be in English only. The questions will be from the subjects which follow (exam duration in brackets):

• General English for 100 marks (3 hours)
• General studies for 100 marks (3 hours)
• Statistics I, II, III, and IV each for a total of 200 marks and each are of 180 minutes duration (3 hours).

The personality test/Interview for 200 marks (maximum) will be conducted for short listed candidates who qualified in the written test.

Syllabus for ISS Exam

The Syllabus for the ISS exam for the subjects Statistics I, II, III and IV are given below:

Statistics I

• Probability
• Statistical Methods
• Numerical Analysis

Statistics II

• Linear Models
• Estimation
• Hypotheses testing
• Statistical Quality Control

Statistics III

• Sampling Techniques
• Design and Analysis of Experiments
• Economic Statistics
• conometrics

Statistics IV

• Stochastic processes
• Operations Research
• Demography and Vital Statistics
• Computer Applications
• Data Processing
• Computer system concepts
• Software concepts
• Database management

Knowledge in General English and general Studies can be updated by using a lot of reference materials and guides. The suitability of the candidates for the service they are aspiring to get into will be assessed in the Personality test along with the academic performances of applicants, communicative skills, general knowledge, aptitude, personality and their extra curricular activities etc.

Eligibility Criteria

To attend the ISS exam, the candidates must be passed in the Post graduate degree in any of the following disciplines – Statistics, Mathematical Statistics, Applied Statistics approved by a recognized University. Those candidates, who are presently waiting for the results of their PG degree final exams of disciplines given above, may also apply. The candidates should also be of age between 21 and 30 years as on January 1^st on the year of admission.

Eligibility conditions with respect to Nationality, any of which the candidates should satisfy, are:

• The candidate should be of Indian Nationality
• A subject of Nepal
• A subject of Bhutan
• A refugee from Tibet intending to settle in India permanently
• Of Indian Origin migrated from neighboring countries and owning proofs for it.

How to Apply?

Online submission of the application form is recommended, for the ISS Exam. However there are provisions for submitting forms offline too. For submitting applications online, visit http://www.upsconline.nic.in. For candidates living in remote areas, the Commission will provide the common application form via Post offices which are designated. To obtain the application kit, the candidates are to pay Rs 20/-. Instructions to be followed will be available in the web and in the Information Brochure (for offline candidates). The address to where the forms should be sent is ” Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110 069″.The candidates are recommended to use Registered Post/Speed Post or by Courier or post it personally if able. The name of the examination should be written in Block letters on the envelope in the application kit before posting it.

How to fill the Form?

The application forms are meant to be scanned electronically. So that great care should be there while filling them. Candidates must crosscheck the forms to see if there are any errors and take care of them before sending. If the candidates are in doubt, they can refer instructions from the brochure or in the website. Acknowledgement cards in the application kit are to be stamped with a Rs 6/- stamp compulsorily. All particulars necessary should be present in the mail containing the forms.

Important Dates (Tentative)

• Date of issue of forms – On the month of June, 2012
• Exam date: Fourth week of November, 2011/2012
• Last date of submitting online applications: By the end of August, 2012
• Last date of offline submission of form: 1^st week of September, 2011/2012

The authorities may make decisions to make modifications in the dates

List of ISS Exam centers

The ISS exam centres are in the following cities:

• Ahmedabad
• Allahabad
• Banglore
• Bhopal
• Chandigarh
• Chennai
• Cuttack
• Delhi
• Dispur
• Hyderabad
• Jaipur
• Jammu
• Kolkata
• Lucknow
• Mumbai
• Patna
• Shillong
• Shimla
• Trivandrum

Contact Address for the ISS Exam

For enquiries, contact:

• Address: UPSC’s Facilitation Counter near Gate ’C of its campus,
• Telephone No. 011-23385271, 011-23381125, 011-23098543
• Website: www.upsc.gov.in

Reference Books for ISS Exam

• HyperStat Statistics Textbook
• Stat Primer
• Statistics at Square One
• Introductory Statistics: Concepts, Models, and Applications by David W. Stockburger
• Statistics: The Study of Stability in Variation
• Multivariate Statistics: Concepts, Models, and Applications, by David W. Stockburger
• Handbook of Mathematical Functions by Abramowitz and Stegun.

Coaching Centers for ISS Exam

Enrolling into coaching centres is the best bet.

• Brilliance IAS
• Naipunya Academy
• Confidence IAS Academy
• National Academy for Civil Services Examinations
• Educasium
• Ganesh IAS
• Excel Career India
• Team IAS Academy
• Strategy IAS Academy
• Dhruv Academy
• Paradigm IAS Academy
• Jai Bharat

Study Plan

A well planned study strategy is necessary to make it in the ISS exam. It takes a lot of time to cover all topics for the exam. The candidates can rely on coaching centres to make things easier. ISS exam would be very competitive tough. So things won’t turn out good if there is no hard work and dedication. Communicative skills and personality should be very much improved as well. Certain coaching centres can help hone the candidates’ personality to near perfection. A lot of confidence should be there when facing Interviews. A strong will and a dedicated and focused can mind can get you through the exam definitely.

How and Where To Get the Results?

This website will provide the results as soon as they are announced - http://upsc.gov.in/

Score Validity

The scores of the ISS will be valid until all the vacancies are occupied.