IAS - General Studies

The Civil Services Examination is conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) every year to select candidates for the prestigious all-India services which include the IAS,IPS,IFS,IRS and others like Group A and Group B central jobs.

The examination is conducted in 3 stages:

1. Preliminary exam – The format is going to change from 2011 onwards.
2. Main Exam – Only those who clear the 1^st stage can take this exam. The pattern for this exam remains the same. There are 9 papers to be attempted in this section spread of a few days.
3. Interview - Those who clear the mains examination have to appear before an Interview Board at New Delhi.

Aspirants for the civil services will be facing a different pattern of examination from next year (2011) since the government has approved a proposal to introduce an aptitude test (CSAT-Civil Services Aptitude Test) in place of the preliminary exam to shortlist candidates for the main exam. Till the preliminary exam of 2010, aspirants had to attempt two papers: a General Studies Paper and an optional paper in which aspirants had to select one subject among the 23 subjects listed by UPSC. Now instead of this optional subject, there will be a general aptitude test. The only hint received from the Government about the content of General Aptitude test is that “greater emphasis will given to test the aptitude for civil services as well as on ethical and moral dimensions of decision-making”. This change will be effective only for the Preliminary examination while the Main examination will remain unchanged until an expert committee gives a detailed report for changing it.

Optional subjects: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce & Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science & International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology.

Languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.

The candidate must hold a degree from any of the government recognised and/or deemed universities or must possess an equivalent qualification. He must have completed 21 years of age in the year he is appearing for the exam. The maximum age limit is 30 for a general candidate, 33 for OBCs and 35 for SCs/STs. Ex-servicemen will get 5 more years exemption from the prescribed age limit. Similarly the number of allowed attempts is 4 for general category, 7 for OBCs and unlimited for SC/STs. Appearing for the preliminary exam or even one paper is counted as an attempt.

Your preparation for the civil services examination should be systematic and well thought out right from the word go. Begin with the preparation for the prelims i.e. CSAT. There is NO optional paper from 2011, so the new syllabus would include general studies and general aptitude. The syllabus of General Studies is too spread out and would cover 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 World, Indian Polity and Governance: Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights issues, Economic and Social Development: Sustainable development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social sector initiatives, General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change,- that don’t require subject specialization and General Science. Be updated with the current affairs of at least the last 2 years. Since there are 2 papers on General studies in the Mains exam as well, be thorough with this section.  From 2011 onwards, be prepared to face psycho-analytical questions that test your overall personality and decision making abilities in the General Aptitude section.

Preparation for the main exam should not be kept till the results of the prelims are declared. There isn’t just enough time after that.

You have 9 papers to take, so start preparing well in advance. You have to select 2 subjects out of a list of optional subjects. There are 2 papers each on each of these two subjects. Select the subjects wisely. Do not just select them on the basis of how scoring they can be, instead select subjects that interest you.

Pick out the right textbooks after selecting your subject. Read the text fully and make notes side by side so that you don’t have to go through the whole text again. This would save your time and energy.

The essay paper is an important section because it is a compulsory paper and is a level playing field as there are no specialisations here.  Practice writing well-organised and effective essays. Go through the previous years’ essay topics to get an idea about the kind of questions to expect. Work on your writing skills and stick to producing comprehensive, concise and correct text.

The interview judges your personality and confidence. It can be quite subjective, differing from person to person and also from one interview panel to the other. The interview carries 300 marks and if it goes well can tilt the balance in your favour. There are no hard and fast rules to prepare for an interview. However some important points to be kept in mind: Prepare and polish your views and opinion on events and issues of current interest. Do not bluff around if you don’t know the answer to a question asked. Be regular with reading newspapers and magazines. Have active discussions with friends. This will help improve the way you present an answer or opinion. Be polite and courteous while answering a question during the interview.

This exam selects candidates for the prestigious all-India services which include the IAS,IPS,IFS,IRS and others like Group A and Group B central jobs. The National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie now known as the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration imparts training to IAS probationers.

• Prelim(CSAT): 12^th June 2011
  Results of CSAT: 18th Aug 2011 
• Mains: 29^th Oct 2011 (different papers spread over around 21 days).