Before applying for IAS Exams, commonly known as the Civil Service Examination, every aspirant should go through the IAS syllabus and its exam pattern in detail. The IAS exam is conducted by UPSC every year and includes 3 stages:
UPSC Prelims
UPSC Mains
Personality Test
This article will help you to know about the IAS exam dates and pattern for the year 2020.
IAS-Syllabus-2020
Important Dates For Upcoming IAS Exam
The Commission has released the IAS exam dates on their official website. According to the official UPSC calendar, Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2020 will be conducted on May 31, 2020 (Sunday). The Main Exam 2020 will start from September 18, 2020.
IAS Exam Pattern
There have not been any changes in the IAS exam pattern in these recent years.
There are 3 stages of the examination:
Stage I: Prelims
Stage II: Mains
Stage III: Personal interview/personality test
IAS prelims are of objective type and consist of two papers:
Each paper is of 200 marks with a time span of 2 hours each. There is negative marking and for each incorrect answer, 1/3rd (0.66) of the allotted marks of that question will be deducted.
IAS Mains is a written test and consists of 9 papers. To know about the nature and marks of the papers, refer to the table below:
Nature of the paper
Marks
Qualifying papers
Paper A
300 marks
Paper B
300 marks
Merit papers
Paper 1
250 marks
Paper 2
250 marks
Paper 3
250 marks
Paper 4
250 marks
Paper 5
250 marks
Paper 6
250 marks
Paper 7
250 marks
IAS Prelims Syllabus
The questions in the IAS prelims are of the objective type or MCQs. The GS Paper-II is of qualifying nature and a minimum of 33 percent marks is required in this paper to qualify to the Mains.
The detailed IAS syllabus for the Prelims is listed below:
General Studies (Paper 1)
Civil Service Aptitude Test (Paper 2)
Current events of national and international importance
Comprehension
History of India and Indian National Movement
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
Indian Polity and Governance Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, and Rights Issues
Decision-making and problem-solving
Economic and Social Development‐Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, and General issues on Environmental ecology
General mental ability
General Science
Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.)
Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World
Biodiversity and Climate Change
IAS Mains Syllabus
Out of the 9 papers in IAS mains, Paper-A and Paper–B are the papers, while the rest are considered for the final ranking.
To know more about the detailed syllabus and topics refer to the list below:
IAS Mains Papers
Subjects
Marks
Time Period
Qualifying Papers
Paper A
Indian language(one of the languages to be selected from the languages included in the eight schedules to the constitution)
300 marks
3 hours
Paper B
Compulsory English
300 marks
3 hours
Merit Papers
Paper 1
Essay
250 marks
3 hours
Paper 2
General Studies I (GS I): Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society
250 marks
3 hours
Paper 3
GS II: Governance, Constitution, Policy, Social Justice and International Relations
Any candidate who clears both UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains as per the eligible cut-off marks qualify for a personal interview to check the personality traits of the candidates based on general knowledge, logical thinking and situation-based questions.
