How to start preparation for IAS?

For all the people who aspire to become Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officers but confused and unsure of how to start their preparation or where to start from then to clear all their blockades, here we bring some vital and key information, which every aspirant should know that will give them an idea of how to start IAS Preparation, design a study plan and by following this, IAS Aspirants will definitely achieve their dream. Read on for more on how to start preparation for IAS exam.

Before starting their preparation every aspirant should know about the basic prerequisites that this exam needs and they are:

Know about Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

Know about the Civil Services Exam

Know the UPSC Exam Pattern

UPSC Eligibility Criteria for IAS

Know the UPSC Exam Dates

Understand the UPSC Syllabus of IAS Prelims and Mains

Know some facts and numbers of the UPSC Exam (the competition)

Go through the UPSC previous years’ question papers

IAS Coaching Classes or Self-Study

These are the crucial points that every IAS Aspirant should be aware of and the right way to start their IAS Preparation.

Know about the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

Details on how to start for IAS?

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) a constitutional body is the sole agency that conducts various examinations to recruit candidates in the government of India and one such exam is the civil services examination for which candidates recruited to various Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B services post like Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) among other services.

Know more about the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) a constitutional body.

It is a must to know about the exam once you decide to take the exam, hence start your IAS Exam Preparation knowing about the exam and its needs’ beforehand.

Click on to read Things you must know about Indian Civil Services Exam

The Civil Services Exam is conducted every year and the exam is held in three stages and they are:

First Stage: Preliminary Examination – Objective type questions (MCQ)

Second Stage: Main Examination – Written – Descriptive type

Third/Final Stage: Personality Test/Interview – Face to face discussion with the Board

UPSC Civil Services Main Exam Pattern

Candidates who qualify for the civil services main exam should write 9 papers and the main exam pattern is as given below.

Also, read changes in UPSC Exam Pattern in six years. Click on UPSC Civil Services Exam Pattern to know in detail

Before taking the UPSC Exam it is a must to check whether you are eligible to write the exam or not. Check for the UPSC eligibility criteria beforehand starting the IAS Preparation.

The IAS Eligibility includes certain criteria and rules as mentioned below.

To plan or draft a preparation strategy for UPSC Exam it is very important to know the dates of the exam and the UPSC releases the exam dates of IAS Exam well in prior a year in their online notification. One need not wait for the UPSC to announce the UPSC Exam dates or calendar for IAS Exam, all they need to know are the important dates/months during which the exams are conducted every year, with this they can come up with a study plan to cover the UPSC Syllabus without any hurdle. Also, keep a hawk-eye on the UPSC Online Notifications and for the actual exam dates.

UPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam Important Dates

UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam Important Dates

UPSC Civil Services Personality Test/Interview Important Dates

Every year the UPSC conducts civil services exam to recruit candidates for various posts like IAS, IPS, IFS and other Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ civil services. Below given is the data of how many candidates apply for the exam and other details.

• 9 lakh candidates apply for the exam,
• About 4 lakh candidates appear for the exam
• Only 15,000 odd candidates make qualify to the UPSC Main Exam
• Finally roughly around 2000 candidates clear the exam and recruited in the civil services.

NOTE: There are also reservations for categories like SC, ST, and others except General Category and if you belong to General Category then you should also know the last all India rank to get the prestigious IAS, IPS and IFS.

Choosing an optional subject for UPSC Mains Written exam is a big challenge for the aspirants, hence it is advised to choose the optional subjects well in advance as choosing during the preparation may slow down your preparation pace or you may get completely distracted and finally would give up. Here are few tips on how to choose an optional subject for IAS Mains Written Exam.

• Scoring Optional Subjects
• Most Popular Optional Subjects
• Option Subject which one would have studied during their graduation
• Optional subject for which coaching/study materials is available easily

These are just a few ways to choose optional subject but what most IAS Expert advice is to choose a subject as optional for mains that interest you and also for which study materials are available easily.

This is one of the significant steps in the UPSC Exam Preparation which any serious aspirant should not miss out.  Going through the UPSC Previous Years’ Question Papers will give aspirants an idea about what kind of questions are asked in the actual UPSC Examination and how the questions are framed. It is advised to aspirants’ before taking any mock tests it is a must to refer the UPSC Previous years question papers and even while practising any mock test paper to keep the UPSC Question Paper abreast.

By practising previous years’ question papers, candidates will also understand that which topics should be given priority and also they will develop an ability to come up with probable questions which may be asked in the exam.

The final and last point that lies in the hands of every aspirant is to decide whether they need to attend IAS coaching classes or choose for self-study.

To make this decision, an aspirant should know her/his abilities and analyse her/him and understand where do they stand and take a call accordingly. As joining an IAS Coaching Classes and quitting in between would cost them in both ways (time and money) and deciding on self-study and changing the mind in between may also turn into a disaster as most of the admission to most of the coaching classes would have closed or may cost sky-high. Hence, it is crucial for candidates to decide whether they need to attend IAS coaching classes or choose for self-study.

These are the things every IAS Aspirant should know that will help them on how to start the IAS Preparation and knowing these will make their preparation simple and easy which will make the rest in their preparation to fall into place.

Also, see: