Introduced by the Indian Government in October 1948, the IPS (Indian Police Service) is an administrative-level diplomatic civil service examination conducted under Central Civil Services of the executive branch of the Indian Government. Currently managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, IPS is one of the toughest competitive examinations in India.
Since becoming an IPS officer is a dream for many Indian students, they put their heart and soul to prepare for the IPS examination. However, to ensure your exam preparation goes in the right direction, you must remain well-acquainted with the IPS exam paper pattern and syllabus.
Below is a brief overview of the UPSC exam pattern for the IPS examination.
For the updated UPSC syllabus exam pattern, check IPS Notification in the linked article.
| Find the best strategies to crack the UPSC exams at our UPSC Toppers page now!!
The following links will be of immense help to the candidates attempting the exam this year: |
IPS Exam Pattern: An Overview
The civil service examination pattern gets designed to test the academic knowledge of the candidates and their capability to present themselves systematically and coherently. In addition, the IAS IPS exam pattern intends to evaluate the overall academic traits and knowledge level of the applicants. This UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) is conducted in two phases, Prelims and Mains, followed by a personal interview.
UPSC IPS Prelims Exam Pattern
- The IAS Preliminary examination comprises two papers – Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) and General Studies.
- Both these question papers will have multiple-choice questions.
- The duration of the IPS mains and prelims exam is two hours.
- Preliminary Examination (CSAT) is a qualifying test where candidates score at least 33% marks.
- The Prelims stage comprise two papers of 200 marks each.
- The question papers will come in both English and Hindi language.
- Nevertheless, English Language Comprehension questions would come only in English.
UPSC IPS Mains Exam Pattern
Students who pass the IPS Preliminary exam get a call for the mains examination. Based on the scores obtained in the mains examination, candidates get shortlisted for the personal interview. The cumulative marks of the IPS Main examination and interview get summed up to make the final result. The written mains examination includes the following papers:
Qualifying Papers
| Paper | Subject | Total Marks |
| Paper A | One of the Indian Language to be chosen by the students from the Languages comprised in the 8th Schedule to the Indian Constitution | 300 |
| Paper B | English | 300 |
Mains Examination
| Paper | Subject | Total Marks |
| Paper-I | Essay | 250 Marks |
| Paper-II | General Studies 1 (Indian Heritage and Culture, Geography of the World and Society and History) | 250 Marks |
| Paper-III: | General Studies 2 (Governance, Polity, Social Justice, Constitution, and International relations) | 250 Marks |
| Paper-IV | General Studies 3 (Technology, Bio-diversity, Economic Development, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) | 250 Marks |
| Paper-V | General Studies 4 (Ethics, Aptitude and Integrity) | 250 Marks |
| Paper-VI | Optional Subjects – Paper 1 | 250 Marks |
| Paper-VII | Optional Subjects – Paper 2 | 250 Marks |
| Sub Total (Written Test) | 1750 Marks | |
| Personality Test | 275 Marks | |
| Grand Total | 2025 Marks |
UPSC IPS Exam Syllabus
IPS Prelims Syllabus
The syllabus for the IPS prelims examination are as follows:
Paper I Syllabus (General Studies – I)
- Current affairs of national and global importance
- The Indian National Movement and History of India
- Indian and World Geography-Social, Physical, Economic Geography of India and the World
- Indian Polity and Governance – Political System, Constitution, Panchayati Raj, Rights Issues, Public Policy
- Economic and Social Development – Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Sustainable Development, Social Sector initiatives,
- General issues on Environmental Ecology, Climate Change and Bio-diversity that do not need subject specialisation on General Science
Syllabus for Paper-II (General Studies – II/CSAT)
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal aptitudes, including interaction skills
- Analytical ability and logical reasoning
- Decision-making and problem-solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy (orders of magnitude, numbers and their relationships) and data interpretation (graphs, tables, charts, and data sufficiency)
IPS Mains Exam Syllabus
Paper A – Modern Indian Languages – 300 Marks
The candidates must remain proficient in the following subjects:
- Precise Writing
- Comprehension of given passages
- Usage and Vocabulary
- Short Essay
- Translation from English to the other Indian language and vice-versa
Paper B – English – 300 Marks
Students must remain proficient in the following subjects:
- Comprehension of given passages
- Precise Writing
- Usage and Vocabulary
- Short Essay
To know about UPSC Syllabus in detail, aspirants can check out the linked article to find the detailed syllabus of all the stages.
Read Language Papers in UPSC – Tips to Study from the linked article to know how to study the language papers in the Civil Services Exam Mains.
Aspirants can visit the linked article and get details about the upcoming government exams that comprise current affairs and general awareness as an important topic in the syllabus.
Frequently Asked Questions about IPS Exam Pattern
What does the term IPS stand for?
The full form of the term IPS is the Indian Police Service, an all-India examination conducted by UPSC.
What is the starting monthly salary of an IPS officer?
The starting salary of an IPS officer is approximately 56,100 rupees.
Apart from the UPSC paper pattern for prelims and mains, candidates can also refer to the links given below for UPSC preparation:
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