Education and Career Forum

I'm interest in becoming an IAS officer. What should I study and what entrance exams do I need to undergo and how to prepare for it? Please, share all details like qualification required, entrance exam details, procedure to apply for it etc.

IAS (Indian Administrative Service) comes under the ambit of Civil Services Examination. You need to appear in CSE which is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission).

Qualification :

- One must have completed graduation from a recognised university in any stream.

- One must have attained age of 21 years while applying for CSE and should not be more than 32 years in age if he/she belongs to Unreserved Category. While there is a relaxation of 3 years in age for OBC (Other Backward Class) candidates and 5 years in case of SC (Scheduled Caste) and ST (Scheduled Tribes).

- UPSC CSE is fragmented into three different stages.

-- Preliminary Examination : It is of qualifying in nature and 400 marks are the maximum marks. General Studies and CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) each will be of 200 marks and 2 hours will be given for each test.

-- Mains : It will be a test of writing skills with nine papers each carrying 250 marks and time allotted is 3 hours each. Two language's papers are there which is of qualifying nature subject to 33% of minimum qualifying. Two are optional papers which have to be chosen by you while applying the form. Four papers will be of general studies and one will be of essay.

-- Interview : It will be of 275 marks.

- You can read NCERTs books from class 9th to 12th to start your initial preparation.

You have to clear all the stages in order to have your name in merit list. For a UR candidate rank should have around 100 to get into IAS.