UPSC Eligibility Criteria, Qualification, Age Limit & Attempts for 2021
With the rising number of applicants each year, the UPSC commission has set some eligibility criteria that are needed to be met by every aspirant who is applying for the exam. These criteria are fairly easy to meet and allow the exam commission to filter out under-performing candidates. By setting a list of exam eligibility criteria the UPSC aims at recruiting the best of the best candidates for the several Civil Service posts.
The UPSC Exam Is Divided Into Three Stages:
- Preliminary Exam (objective)
- Main Exam (written)
- Interview (personality test)
Preliminary Stage:
This is the first stage of the IAS exam, the Prelims exam comprises of papers General Studies paper and Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) both of these papers are of 200 marks each, these papers are commonly known as general studies Paper- I and General Studies Paper-II. The papers are MCQ and objective type, the marks of Prelims will not be counted in the final ranking as these are just for qualifying for the second stage of the IAS exam.
Mains Stage:
The Mains exam is a written exam and consists of 9 papers out of which 2 are qualifying papers. Marks of 7 out of the total 9 papers are considered in the final merit ranking, as for the 2 qualifying papers a minimum of 33% should be achieved by the candidate to clear the second stage of the IAS exam.
Interview/Personality test:
After clearing the first and the second stage of the IAS exam, candidates are summoned to the UPSC office in Delhi. A board of competent officers conducts an interview/personality test where candidates are asked questions about current affairs, general knowledge, and quick thinking skills. Candidates are judged on the basis of their responses and are then selected for several Civil Service posts according to their performance.
Stage I IAS Exam: Prelims exam-
Sl. No. | Name of the Paper | Nature of the Paper | Duration of the Exam | Questions | Marks |
1. | IAS Exam Paper – I: General Studies | Merit Ranking Nature | 2 Hours | 100 | 200 marks |
2. | IAS Exam Paper – II: General Studies (CSAT) | Qualifying Nature | 2 Hours | 80 | 200 Marks |
Stage II IAS Exam: Mains exam-
IAS Exam Paper | Name of Paper | Duration of the Exam | Marks |
Paper-A (Qualifying Paper) | Indian Language (One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution) | 3 Hours | 300 |
Paper-B (Qualifying Paper) | English | 3 Hours | 300 |
Paper-I | Essay | 3 Hours | 250 |
Paper-II | General Studies-I
● Indian Heritage ● Modern Indian History ● World HIstory ● Indian Society ● Geography |
3 Hours | 250 |
Paper-III | General Studies-II
● Indian Constitution ● Indian Polity ● Social Justice ● Indian Governance ● International Relations |
3 Hours | 250 |
Paper-IV | General Studies-III
● Indian Economy ● Science and Technology ● Environment & Biodiversity ● Disaster Management ● Security |
3 Hours | 250 |
Paper-V | General Studies-IV
● Ethics and Human Interface ● Attitude ● Aptitude ● Emotional Intelligence ● Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration ● Probity in Governance |
3 Hours | 250 |
Paper-VI | Optional Subject – Paper 1 | 3 Hours | 250 |
Paper-VII | Optional Subject – Paper 2 | 3 Hours | 250 |
Sub Total | 1750 | ||
Personality Test (Interview) | 275 | ||
Grand Total | 2025 |
NOTE:
Candidates are allowed to write the UPSC IAS exam in their choice of language, candidates can choose from Hindi, English, or any other language listed in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
The final ranking of the candidates is done on the basis of the marks obtained by them in the Mains exam and the Personality/Interview test of the IAS exam.
Eligibility Criteria for IAS exam 2021: Education Qualification:
- For any regular or distant graduation degree, a candidate must hold a degree of any university which is established by an Act of Parliament or deemed as a University under section 3 of the university grants commission act.
- Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the commission’s examination but have not been informed of the results as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination.
- Candidates who are declared qualified by the commission to appear for the Civil Services examination will be required to produce proof of the passing of the requisite examination.
- Candidates possessing professionals and technical qualification which are recognized by the Government as equivalent to a professional and technical degree are also eligible for admission to the examination.
- Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other medical Emxainaiotn but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services Exmaianotn will be provisionally admitted to the examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of a certificate from the concerned authority of the University.
- Final-year students are also eligible to apply for the UPSC exam.
Age Limit:
Candidates must be minimum of 21 years and a maximum of 32 years of age as of August 1, 2021. A candidate must be born not earlier than August 2 1989 and not later than August 1, 2000.
Age exemptions for different categories:
- 5 years – SC/ST
- 3 years – OBC
- 3 years – Defence Services personnel
- 5 years – ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECPs/SSCOs who have rendered at least 5 years Military Service as of August 1, 2020.
- 10 years – Blind, deaf-mute, and orthopedically handicapped persons
- 5 years – in the case of ECOs/SSCOs
- 5 years – in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as of 1 August 2019 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that hey can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months notice on the selection from the date of receipt of the offer of appointment.
Number of Attempts:
- The number of attempts for the IAS exam for the General Category is 6 attempts till 32 years of age.
- The number of attempts for the IAS exam for the OBC Category is 9 attempts till 35 years of age.
- The number of attempts for the IAS exam for SC/ST Category is unlimited attempts till 37 years of age.
- Physically Handicapped/disable candidates belonging to the General category will get the benefit of 9 attempts till 42 years of age.
Optional Subjects:
Agriculture | Zoology |
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science | Assamese (Literature) |
Anthropology | Bengali (Literature) |
Botany | Bodo (Literature) |
Chemistry | Dogri (Literature) |
Civil Engineering | Gujarati (Literature) |
Commerce & Accountancy | Hindi (Literature) |
Economics | Kannada (Literature) |
Electrical Engineering | Kashmiri (Literature) |
Geography | Konkani (Literature) |
Geology | Maithili (Literature) |
History | Malayalam (Literature) |
Law | Manipuri (Literature) |
Management | Marathi (Literature) |
Mathematics | Nepali (Literature) |
Mechanical Engineering | Odia (Literature) |
Medical Science | Punjabi (Literature) |
Philosophy | Sanskrit (Literature) |
Physics | Santhali (Literature) |
Political Science & International Relations | Sindhi (Literature) |
Psychology | Tamil (Literature) |
Public Administration | Telugu (Literature) |
Sociology | English (Literature) |
Statistics | Urdu (Literature) |
FAQ :
How many papers are there in the IAS Main Exam?
What is the educational qualification required to become an IAS?
Which papers are qualifying in the UPSC Mains Exam?
What is the syllabus of General Studies-I in UPSC Mains?
What is the syllabus for General Studies-II in UPSC Mains?
What is the syllabus for General Studies-III in UPSC Mains?
What is the syllabus for General Studies-IV in UPSC Mains?
How can I prepare for UPSC Mains online?
What is the best strategy for Essay writing for UPSC?
How to choose an optional subject for UPSC?
Is it necessary to choose the subject of graduation for UPSC?
What will happen if I do not score 25% in the language papers?
How many papers are calculated in UPSC Mains Cutoff?
How to start IAS preparation at home?
Related Articles:-
Best IAS Coaching In Chandigarh
Best IAS Coaching In Hyderabad
Best IAS Coaching In Bangalore