The Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) of India conducts Civil Services examinations all across India every year to recruit officers to Indian Administrative Services, Indian Police Services, Indian Forestry Services, and others. Among these, the IAS exam is the most sought after and regarded as one of the most prestigious and difficult exams in the country. Hence, most aspirants dedicate all of their time, energy, and hopes of realizing their dream of becoming a Civil Servant.
Important Dates For UPSC IAS Exam 2020:
According to the notification released by UPSC, the Prelims exam of UPSC Civil Services will be held on May 31, 2020, this year. The IAS Mains Exam will be conducted on September 18, 2020.
The application process for the UPSC Civil Services exam started from February 12, 2020, and continued till March 3, 2020.
Admit cards released will be released in April, and thus appearing candidates are advised to keep themselves updated in this regard.
UPSC IAS Exam 2020 Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility criteria for appearing in IAS exams is determined as per the nationality, age, and qualification required, which are explained below:
- Nationality: Indian citizen, or Tibetian refugee who came to India before 1962, or those of Indian origin having migrated from Sri Lanka, Burma, Pakistan, Vietnam, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Ethiopia, or Zaire are eligible as per nationality.
- Educational Qualification: A graduate degree in any field from a recognized University is required.
- Age limit: The minimum age for appearing is 21 years and the maximum for general category candidates is 32 years. While for OBC is it is 35 years, for SC and ST it is 37 years, and PwD is 42 years.
UPSC IAS Exam 2020 Pattern and Selection Process
As stated, the IAS exam is conducted in three steps, i.e., IAS Prelims, IAS Mains, and then the interview round. The preliminary examination is a qualifying one and its score is not considered in the preparation of the final merit list, which is done based on performance in the Mains and the Interview.
The IAS Prelims consist of two papers having Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), both the papers carrying 200 marks and are to be completed in 2 hours each. Paper-I is General studies and has 100 questions, while Paper II GS (CSAT), which is a qualifying one and having 80 questions, requires the candidate to score 33 percent marks to be qualified. In both the papers, there is a negative marking of 0.66 marks for each wrong answer.
Subsequently, IAS Mains Exam is conducted which consists of Paper A and Paper B on any Indian Language and English Language respectively, Paper I of essay writing, Paper-II, III, IV, and V categorized as General Studies I, II, III, and IV respectively, and finally Paper VI and VII on Optional Paper I and II respectively. Each of these papers is an exam of 3 hours and carries 250 marks each. Thus the total marks for Mains round are 250 each. Following this, an interview round of 275 marks is also conducted.
The cut-off for each year is decided by the Commission based on several vacancies, difficulty level, and the number of candidates appearing for the exam.
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