The UPSC notification will soon be released for the upcoming Civil Service Examination at their official website. Before applying for the IAS Exams, commonly known as the Civil Service Examination, every aspirant should go through the IAS syllabus and its exam pattern in detail.
UPSC Notification includes the exam date, centres, eligibility criteria and the pattern of the examination.
The IAS exam is conducted by UPSC every year and includes 3 stages:
1. UPSC Prelims
2. UPSC Mains
3. Personality Test
Important Dates For Upcoming IAS Exam
The Commission has released the exam dates on their official website. According to the official UPSC calendar, Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2020 will be conducted on May 31, 2020 (Sunday). The Main Exam 2020 will start from September 18, 2020.
The UPSC notification for the Civil Service Examination 2020 is expected to be released on 12th February 2020, as mentioned in the UPSC calendar.
IAS Exam Pattern
There have not been any changes in the IAS exam pattern in recent years.
There are 3 stages of the examination:
- Stage I: Prelims
- Stage II: Mains
- Stage III: Personal interview/personality test
IAS Prelims is of objective type and consist of two papers:
● Paper- I: General Studies
● Paper-II: Civil Service Aptitude Test
Each paper is of 200 marks with a time span of 2 hours each. There is negative marking and for each incorrect answer, 1/3rd (0.66) of the allotted marks of that question will be deducted.
IAS Mains is a written test and consists of 9 papers. To know about the nature and marks of the papers, refer to the table below:
| Nature of the paper | Marks | |
| Qualifying papers | Paper A | 300 marks |
| Paper B | 300 marks | |
| Merit papers | Paper 1 | 300 marks |
Paper 2 | 250 marks | |
| Paper 3 | 250 marks | |
| Paper 4 | 250 marks | |
| Paper 5 | 250 marks | |
| Paper 6 | 250 marks | |
| Paper 7 | 250 marks |
IAS Prelims Syllabus
The questions in the IAS prelims are of the objective type or MCQs. The GS Paper-II is of qualifying nature and a minimum of 33 percent marks is required in this paper to qualify for the Mains.
The detailed IAS syllabus for the Prelims is listed below:
| General Studies (Paper 1) | Civil Service Aptitude Test (Paper 2) |
| Current events of national and international importance | Comprehension |
| History of India and Indian National Movement | Logical reasoning and analytical ability |
| Indian Polity and Governance Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, and Rights Issues | Decision-making and problem-solving |
| Economic and Social Development‐Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, and General issues on Environmental ecology | General mental ability |
| General Science | Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) |
| Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World | |
| Biodiversity and Climate Change |
Candidates are advised to check the UPSC notification regularly for any changes in the exam dates.
IAS Mains Syllabus
Out of the 9 papers in IAS Mains, Paper-A and Paper–B are qualifying papers, while the rest are considered for the final ranking. To know more about the detailed syllabus and topics refer to the list below:
| IAS Mains Papers | Subjects | Marks | Time Period | |
| Qualifying Papers | Paper A | Indian language (one of the languages to be selected from the languages included in the eight schedules to the Constitution) | 300 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper B | Compulsory English | 300 marks | 3 hours | |
| Merit Papers | Paper 1 | Essay | 250 marks | 3 hours |
| Paper 2 | General Studies I (GS I): Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society | 250 marks | 3 hours | |
Paper 3 | GS II: Governance, Constitution, Policy, Social Justice and International Relations | 250 marks | 3 hours | |
Paper 4 | GS III: Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environmental security and disaster management | 250 marks | 3 hours | |
| Paper 5 | GS IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude | 250 marks | 3 hours | |
| Paper 6 | Optional Paper I | 250 marks | 3 hours | |
| Paper 7 | Optional Paper-II | 250 marks | 3 hours |
Any candidate who clears both UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains as per the eligible cut-off marks qualifies for a personal interview to check the personality traits of the candidates based on general knowledge, logical thinking and situation-based questions.
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