UPSC IAS IPS Civil Service Exam Simplified

Crack UPSC IAS IPS in One Go: Strategies, Tips & Hacks for Prelims & Mains

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Brief introduction to UPSC IAS IPS Exam

UPSC IAS IPS Exam or the UPSC CSE (Civil Service Examination) is conducted for recruitment to the Services and Posts mentioned below –

• (i) Indian Administrative Service (All India Service)
• ii) Indian Foreign Service
• (iii) Indian Police Service (All India Service )
• iv) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
• v) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
• vi) Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’
• vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
• viii) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’
• ix) Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group ‘A’
• x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’
• (xi) Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’ (xii) Indian Railway Protection Force Service, Group ‘A’
• (xiii) Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) Group ‘A’
• xiv) Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’
• (xv) Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III)
• xvi) Indian Railways Management Services Group ‘A’
• (xvii) Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)
• (xviii) Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS), Group ‘B’
• (xix)Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), Group ‘B’
• (xx) Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS), Group ‘B’

Important Update –

Recently in UPSC 2022 the IRMS (Indian Railways Management Services)150 posts have been added. (Other posts already notified – 861)

Thus the Total no. of vacancies in UPSC 2022 stand at – 1011 (a 40% increase, from last time, a great chance)

The Civil Services Examination comprises two successive stages:

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Civil Services (Main) Examination; and
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/Personality Test) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

This can be divided into two separate stages –

• Mains Examination (Written)
• Personality Test (Interview)

Eligibility, minimum qualifications, and others for UPSC IAS IPS Exam

Details about Eligibility, minimum qualifications, and others can be read from the UPSC website – https://upsc.gov.in/

Nationality Criteria

For UPSC IAS, IPS and IFS:

• The candidate must be a citizen of India.

For All Other Services:

The candidate must be either:

• A citizen of India, or
• A citizen of Nepal, or
• A citizen of Bhutan, or
• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1st January 1962 intending to settle in India permanently, or
• A person of Indian origin (PIO) who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zaire, and Vietnam, intending to settle in India permanently.

Candidates who are a citizen of Nepal, Bhutan and Tibetan Refugee must furnish a certificate of eligibility issued by the Government of India. They can appear for the exam before obtaining the certificate of eligibility, but they will receive the offer of appointment only after the Government of India issues the certificate.

Educational Qualification:

• Minimum qualification: Graduation degree from a recognized university or an equivalent qualification.
• Candidates in their final year of graduation can also apply.

Can 12th pass apply for UPSC IAS IPS Exam?

No, a 12th-pass candidate cannot directly apply for the UPSC IAS IPS Exam. The minimum educational qualification required for UPSC CSE is a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline. Candidates who have completed their graduation or are in the final year of graduation can apply for the examination.

Age criteria:

Number of Attempts:

The number of attempts allowed varies based on the category of the candidate. Here are the attempt limits:

UPSC IAS IPS Exam Age Relaxation

The UPSC upper age limit mentioned above can be relaxed under certain circumstances:

• Candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes are eligible for a maximum relaxation of five years.
• Candidates from Other Backward Classes (OBC) eligible for reservation can avail of a maximum relaxation of three years.
• Defence Services Personnel who were disabled in operations during hostilities with a foreign country or in a disturbed area and subsequently released can get a maximum relaxation of three years.
• Ex-servicemen, including Commissioned Officers, Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs), and Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs), who have completed at least five years of military service as of August 1, 2023, and have been released due to completion of the assignment, physical disability attributable to military service, or invalidment, can avail a maximum relaxation of five years.
• ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of five years of military service as of August 1, 2023, and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years can get a maximum relaxation of five years. They must have a certificate from the Ministry of Defence stating their eligibility for civil employment with a three months notice period for release upon selection for the position.
• Candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) categories, such as blindness and low vision, deaf and hard of hearing, locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, muscular dystrophy, autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, and mental illness, can avail a maximum relaxation of ten years.

All about Preliminary Examination

• This preliminary examination is the same for the Indian Forest Service (IFoS)exam (The other stages are separate for IFoS).
• This stage will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks.
• This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Civil Services(Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.
• The number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this Examination.

The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.

Note:

• Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and each will be of two hours duration.
• The Paper I will have 100 questions of 2 marks each, with a negative marking of 0.66 marks for wrong answers.
• The Paper-II will have 80 questions of 2.5 marks each, with a negative marking of 0.83 marks for wrong answers.
• The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
• There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
• Both the papers are conducted on the same day on different time slots, and both are compulsory to attend, if you want to qualify for the next stage.

UPSC IAS IPS Syllabus – Preliminary Examination

Paper I – (200 marks)   Duration: Two hours

• Current events of national and international importance.
• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
• General Science.

Paper II-(200 marks)  Duration: Two hours

• Comprehension;
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability;
• Decision making and problem solving;
• General mental ability;
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level),Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. — Class X level);

UPSC IAS IPS Mains Examination

The Written Examination for UPSC IAS IPS Mains Exam will consist of the following papers:—

Qualifying Papers:

• Paper-A –  (One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution). (300 Marks)
• Paper-B – English ( 300 Marks )

Papers to be counted for merit :

• Paper-I Essay (250 Marks)
• Paper-II General Studies-I (250 Marks) – (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
• Paper-III General Studies -II (250 Marks) – (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
• Paper-IV General Studies -III (250 Marks) – (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
• Paper-V General Studies -IV (250 Marks) – (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
• Paper-VI Optional Subject – Paper 1 (250 Marks)
• Paper-VII Optional Subject – Paper 2 (250 Marks)

 Sub Total (Written test) 1750 Marks

Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Civil Services(Main) Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an Interview/Personality Test.
The number of candidates to be summoned for the Interview/Personality Test will be about twice of the number of vacancies to be filled.

UPSC IAS IPS Optional subjects

The UPSC IAS IPS Exam or the UPSC CSE (Civil Services Examination) offers a wide range of optional subjects for the Mains (Written) exam. Here’s the list containing 26 core subjects and 22 literature subjects:

Core Subjects:

• Agriculture [Image of Agriculture field]
• Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
• Anthropology
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Commerce and Accountancy
• Economics
• Electrical Engineering
• Geography
• Geology
• History
• Law
• Management
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Medical Science
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Political Science and International Relations (PSIR)
• Psychology
• Public Administration
• Sociology
• Statistics
• Zoology

Literature Subjects (Any language offered by UPSC)

• Assamese Literature
• Bengali Literature
• Bodo Literature
• Dogri Literature
• English Literature
• Gujarati Literature
• Hindi Literature
• Kannada Literature
• Kashmiri Literature
• Konkani Literature
• Maithili Literature
• Malayalam Literature
• Manipuri Literature
• Marathi Literature
• Nepali Literature
• Odia Literature
• Punjabi Literature
• Sanskrit Literature
• Santali Literature
• Sindhi Literature
• Tamil Literature
• Telugu Literature
• Urdu Literature

Remember, you can only choose ONE optional subject for the UPSC CSE Mains exam.  Choosing the right optional is crucial for maximizing your score. Consider factors like your academic background, interest, and overlap with the General Studies syllabus.

Personality Test (Interview) (275 Marks)

Grand Total 2025 Marks

Marks obtained for all the compulsory papers (Paper-I to Paper-VII) and Marks obtained in Interview/Personality Test will be counted for ranking.

Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and posts.

UPSC IAS IPS Topper’s Marks with Optional

You can be among them, never give up

UPSC IAS IPS Prelims Topic Wise Questions & Marks in Last 13 Years

The Topic wise marks distribution for the number of questions in Prelims General Studies I from 2011 to 2023 are as shown in the graph and table below:

UPSC IAS IPS Prelims Cut Off Analysis Trends

UPSC IAS IPS Mains Cut Off Analysis Trends

UPSC IAS IPS Toppers from 1972 to 2023

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” — Pelé

UPSC IAS IPS Prelims: Tricks, Hacks, Strategies

Paper I

There is a certain way to attend the paper, so as to be more effective.

First, you should learn to attend the paper in 3 stages –

• When you start reading , solve the questions where you are 80% sure or more sure.
• Attending the first round, mark the questions where you are 50% sure or you can deduce 2 alternatives. DON’T SOLVE THEM, ie don’t fill the answer in the OMR sheet for these
• Usually when you are well prepared you might be able to answer 40 questions in this round, if the paper is hard then it might be about 35.

In the second stage try to solve about 40 + questions where you were able to deduce 2 alternatives and have 50% risk.

Don’t take risks on very difficult questions, like that of ancient history where you have no idea.

In the last stage only take risk If the question seems attendable,

On average you can attend 90 questions, for a normal paper like that of 2020. But in question papers like 2021 don’t take unwanted risk; there you can attend 80- 85 questions.

You will understand this once you start studying, and solving papers.

Remember – THE WAY YOU CALMLY ATTEND YOUR PAPER ON THE EXAM DAY CAN MAKE THE WHOLE DIFFERENCE TO GET YOU SELECTED.

Some thumb rules:

1. Extreme options are likely to be wrong

Wherever statements which make sweeping generalization and use words such as Every, all, only etc are used, is more than likely wrong

Example :

With reference to Manipuri Sankirtana, consider the following statements:    ( 2017)

1. It is a song and dance performance.
2. Cymbals are the only musical instruments used in the performance.
3. It is performed to narrate the life and deeds of Lord Krishna.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3.

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1 only

Here, because of the word “only “, option 2 could have been easily eliminated

2. A lot’s in a Name

There is a reason behind name of any scheme/ person / body/ institution. That can be used to solve many questions

Example :

The term ‘M-STrIPES’ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of   ( 2017)

(a) Captive breeding of Wild Fauna

(b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves

(c) Indigenous Satellite Navigation System

(d) Security of National Highways

Because of the word Stripes, there is a natural connection to tiger that possibly no other options share

3. A lot’s in the Language of the Name

Example : 

What is ‘Greased Lightning-10 (GL-10)’, recently in the news? ( 2016)

(a) Electric plane tested by NASA

(b) Solar-powered two-seater aircraft designed by Japan

(c) Space observatory launched by China

(d) Reusable rocket designed by ISRO

Only an English speaking country would name its plane in English

4. A lots in the Breakup of the root terms of the name  ( Sandhi Vicched )

Which one of the following books of ancient India has the love story of the son of the founder of Sunga dynasty?  ( 2016 )

(a) Swapnavasavadatta

(b) Malavikagnimitra

(c) Meghadoota

(d) Ratnavali

Here Malvikangnimitra is clearly made up of 2 terms  Malvika + Agnimitra, possibly the name of 1 female and 1 male person, indicative of a love story

5. A lot can be derived by understanding the possible evolution of the name ( Etymology)

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What is/are unique about ‘Kharai Camel’, a breed found in India? ( 2016)

1. It is capable of swimming up to three kilometers in seawater.
2. It survives by grazing on mangroves.
3. It lives in the wild and cannot be domesticated.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Here, Kharai seems to be made up of Khara + I and Khara refers to Salty in Hindi which correlates to sea water and this could have been used to find out that options 1 and 2 are possibly correct. Meanwhile, option 3 can be eliminated by using the rule of Extreme

6. Common Sense

There is no substitute to common sense, and common sense can be utilized to solve many more questions

The Trade Disputes Act of 1929 provided for   ( 2017 )

(a) the participation of workers in the management of industries.

(b) arbitrary powers to the management to quell industrial disputes.

(c) an intervention by the British Court in the event of a trade dispute.

(d) a system of tribunals and a ban on strikes.

Here, let’s recall that Bhagat Singh dropped the bomb in the legislative assembly against Trade Disputes Bill. He would not have done it if it allowed participation of workers or provided for a fair system in the courts. Similarly, had the bill called for Complete ban on strikes, it would not have been called as Trade DISPUTES Bill ( A lot’s in a name )

Conclusion

The summary of the entire discussion above is that practise and think logically. It will help to solve 4-5 ‘more’ questions correctly. 

At the same time, these strategies can’t substitute Hard Work. For, most of the other questions, one needs to get the basic right.  Without the basics, all strategies no matter how so appealing, can even backfire.

Paper II

In this paper with practice you can know if comprehensive passages suit you, because they are risky for many people.

For passages, always read the questions first and then read the passage, don’t try to answer by what you think, answer according to what the passage says.

For logical reasoning and other questions you can use any good book or the one recommended in Study Simplified.

In this paper more practice will improve your efficiency and score.

UPSC IAS IPS Mains: Important Tips

In actual mains is the only stage where your efforts get paid, as in prelims and personality stage (interview) there is a lot of unpredictability.

Answer Writing and effective study is the key to clearing mains.

Important Points:

• The Essay paper doesn’t require any extra preparation. It requires using the knowledge gained through preparation of other papers. The essays require many dimensions to the topic. For example the political angle, the economic angle, social angle, international angle, cultural angle, and many others.
• Sir Chandra Mohan Garg’s strategy, and Gaurav Agrawal sir’s strategy are very good. (will provide link or description later)
• The GS papers 1, 2 and 3 are mainly knowledge based and require a good hold of static and current knowledge. Specifically in GS 2 and GS 3. Topics like Disaster
• Management, Judiciary, Art and culture, Modern History and others are important.
• The GS paper 4 – Ethics is highly scoring. More focus should be on case study, and using your real life examples to give weight to your answers.
• Optional is also very important and can decide your selection. Choose it wisely, and prepare it well to make it your strength.
• Answer writing framework should be learned. It should include Introduction, Main points, Conclusion and a Way Forward.
• Your answers should include definitions, statistics, related committee (if any), any related judgment, or current developments. Also include visuals like diagrams, flowcharts, maps (like to depict the areas of iron and steel industry in GS paper 1 2020) and more.

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UPSC IAS IPS Officers Salary Structure

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Best of luck in your future endeavors!