Hello Anupama,

I commend you on your choice to become an IAS officer. We at Careers360 are here to help you achieve your goal.

To become an IAS officer you need to first complete your bachelors degree following which you can appear for the UPSC examination.

UPSC stands for Union Public Service Commission and it it the board which conducts recruitments for the civil services.

Let us understand this procedure in three steps, first we shall discuss the eligibility criteria, then we shall have a look at the exam pattern and stages and finally we will briefly discuss the syllabus for UPSC examination.

Beginning with Eligibility Criteria,

• A graduation degree from a recognised university

• The applicant must be 21 years or above but below 32 years in age

• For the post of IAS officer, the aspirant must be a citizen of India, or a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or a Tibetan refugee or a person of Indian origin migrating from any country in the Indian Subcontinent

Now let us move onto the exam pattern, it is divided into 3 STAGES

STAGE I or the PRELIMINARY STAGE is an objective exam divided into two parts

General Aptitude Test and Civil Services Aptitude Test, total comprising of 400 marks.

The total duration of Stage 1 is 2 hours 20 minutes and the questions are available in both English and Hindi languages.

Those who qualify stage one proceed for the further stages

Stage II or the MAINS

It is a 3 hour 30 minutes long paper with both objective and subjective questions.

It comprises of 7 papers with an essay writing section and optional papers based on your choice of subjects.

Stage III or PERSONALITY TEST INTERVIEW carries 275 marks and the aim is to judge the mental capacity and integrity of the aspirants.

A merit list based on your performance in all of the above stages will determine whether you have qualified to become an IAS officer or not

The syllabus-

Stage 1 seeks to assess your general awareness about the world, how well aware and sensitive you are to the world around you, be it the political climate, recent developments in science and business as well as the history, geography of our country and the world.

Applicants are also tested on their English language aptitude along with logical reasoning, problem solving, arithmetic and decision making skills.

The essay writing section of the mains seeks to assess your understanding and evaluation of a topic or theme and your ability to come up with smart solutions or suggestions regarding the same.

You need to select and thoroughly prepare your optional subjects, I’d be attaching a link of the available subjects below.

In the interview, the panel is objectively assessing not only the degree of your knowledge, but also your perspective, strength of character and values and the ability to think quickly on your feet.

Now that we have discussed the examination in depth, let us come back to your unique case.

At this stage Anupama I recommend you focus on completing your course and at the same time subscribe to a good newspaper and start reading and keeping up with the news. Reading the paper will also help you gain proficiency in your language.

Once your course is done, you may take a gap year to focus all your energy in preparing for and excelling the UPSC exam.

Wish you all the good luck!

P.S. - https://www.upscsyllabus.in/cse/optional-subjects-for-civil-services-main-exam you can refer to this link for the list of optional subjects in MAINS

Dear Anupama, To clear Civils and become an IAS officer, you have to cross 3 steps i.e. Preliminary Examination, Mains Examination and Personal Interview. First off you need to complete your Graduation because the basic eligibility criteria to apply for Preliminary examinations that you should have a Bachelor's degree. The Prelims exam has 2 papers which test your General Knowledge and Aptitude. You move on to the 2nd round which is Mains only if you clear the Prelims. The subjects that you have studied in your B.Sc help when you have to take 2 optional subjects during your Mains exam. Because Prelims is all about General awareness and aptitude, say you have cleared it, now you get to choose 2 subjects of your choice in Mains. Now this is where your B.Sc degree will help you. Candidates get to choose a language of their choice. So if you have done your B.Sc, you have a chance in this section to score good. Even if your B.Sc has any of the subjects among Economics/Geography/Geology/Indian History/Philosophy/Psychology/Sociology, you have an upper hand among many other aspirants because with proper preparation and the ability to produce your thoughts on the paper, you can score better. So stick to these subjects, keep yourself updated and practise hard and set your goals accordingly. Take one step at a time and make sure you answer as many previous question papers as possible to check if you are able to answer all questions within the stipulated time.