IAS Exam Eligibility

When you are going through hell, just keep walking. This is the formula of competitive exams like an IAS exam. But there are limited attempts, and age is given for this exam. So, if you are an IAS aspirant, you must know every detail about this exam. Also, use an online age calculator to know the age criteria.


Degree of graduation from

  • Your graduation degree will be accepted if you have a university degree incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India.
  • Or even if you have a degree from any educational institution established by an Act of Parliament.
  • Or any university that has received a certificate from the University Grants Commission Act 1956.
  • Or have equal qualifications.
  • Those who are final-year students can also go for this exam.


Age criteria for IAS exam

The minimum age required to appear for this exam is 21 years. So if you are 21 on 1 August of that given year, you can take this exam. Well, one can check out the age using an online age calculator.

Upper age limit

  • Upper age is equally important. One cannot appear for the exam on 1 August if he or she is above that age. But there is profit for some people, but even loss for some people because this varies according to category.
  • Those general category students can only appear for this exam till 32 years old.
  • The upper age limit for OBC – is 35 years.
  • Those in the SC/ ST age group get the opportunity till 7 years old.
  • The upper age limit for the defense services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence is 35 years.
  • For ex-service men, the upper age limit is 37 years. This chance is given to people who have served in the military for 5 years.
  • For those candidates wishing to appear in this exam and are blind, deaf, mute, and orthopedically handicapped persons (general category), the upper age limit for such candidates is 42 years.


Attempts for IAS candidates

Knowing how many attempts will be there for UPSC Civil service candidates is essential! All candidates have their age limit according to their category, but those who might think that if they have lost an attempt and it is just the limited age, they must halt there. So let’s know how many attempts you get?
  • The number of attempts for general category candidates is only 6 until the age of 32.
  • Those who belong to the OBC category have 9 attempts till the age of 35 years.
  • Those who belong to SC/ ST have unlimited attempts till the age of 37 years.
Important note – Those who are handicapped and disabled from general categories will have a profit of 9 attempts till the age of 42.

The process of counting exams for civil service exam

So those candidates who fill out the form appear for the exam! This will be counted as an attempt. But if the candidate would have filled up the form and did not go to the prelims exam. Filling out the form will not be counted.

The exam is divided into three stages.

Those candidates preparing for the examination will have to appear at the three stages of assessment. The first stage will be for passing prelims, Mains, and a personal interview. The Prelims are taken to pick up the best candidates for Mains! About 15 lakh students appear for the prelims examination. The two papers are mandatory for them to attempt.

Syllabus of IAS exam

The syllabus of the IAS exam is a challenging cake to eat. It demands a lot of preparation before you prepare the cake. The exam syllabus is divided into prelims, mains, and interviews. The main exam has 9 papers, and the syllabus depends on your chosen subject. The preliminaries and primary syllabus are written tests.

Highlights of the exam

So it is obvious there will be an inner motivation that is why you are going behind such a challenging exam. So, 20 services, such as IAS and IPS, fall under this exam category IFS. All exam process starts in June month, and it concludes in May.

Roles and responsibilities of IAS officer

So, being an IAS officer is a challenging task, obviously. From deciding to do IAS and getting results to everything else, everything will always be a tough choice. As it is a complete responsibility of your government. So, no one could pick up candidates just to pick up. It demands a lot of preparation, not just for the exam but also for the preparation mentally. There will be many such decisions that an IAS officer must make. They need to help implement policies comprising the disbursement of funds via personal supervision. Although the functions and responsibilities of an IAS officer depend upon the career level!

Things to do or not to do

  • When preparing for the exam, you need to know a few things.
  • You should not write any irrelevant matters in the answer booklet.
  • The other thing that will help you increase marks is not mentioning any particular or her identity in the answer sheet.
  • Candidates should also ignore using ink and pencil in the wrong way.
  • Writing should be clean and clear. Otherwise, it will be tough to read for the examiner.

Final words

These are some essential details about an IAS aspirant. Do not take it lightly; otherwise, it will be tough to get what you want; before you appear for the examination, you will have to think about your preparation and chances wisely.