IAS Exam 2022: Exam Date, Eligibility, Syllabus, & Exam Pattern

What is IAS?

IAS Exam (Indian Administrative Service) was formerly known as ICS (Imperial Civil Services). It is the Civil Services Examination that is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the recruitment of the officers for All India Administrative Civil Service. Hierarchy-wise, IAS is the top-level post among the 24 civil services like IFS, IPS, etc. IAS Exam is popularly known as Civil Services Examination which is conducted every year. 

It is important to know that those who clear all stages of the IAS Exam will be employed by the Union government, state governments, and/or public-sector undertakings. They will get exposure to a wide variety of job roles like the head of public sector units, chief secretary, collector, cabinet secretary, etc. candidates who have applied for IAS 2022 must know the exam patterns, eligibility criteria to get the detailed answer of the question on what is IAS.

IAS Exam 2022 Highlights

Candidates who have applied for the IAS Exam need to understand all the following details about the exam.

IAS Exam Notification 2022

The IAS 2022 Exam notification was released by UPSC on 2nd February 2022, and the last date to fill up the application form was 22nd February 2022. Candidates who have registered successfully for IAS Exam 2022 will have to appear for IAS Prelims on 5th June 2022. Those who clear the Preliminary exam would be eligible to appear for Mains which will be held from 16th September 2022 onwards.

• IAS Exam 2021 Mains result declared on 17th March 2022
• IAS Exam 2021 interviews will be held from 5th April 2022 to 26th May 2022.

IAS Exam Date 2022

UPSC will conduct the IAS Prelims 2022 on 05th June 2022 via offline mode. The IAS Mains exam will be conducted from 16th September 2022 onwards. Those candidates who clear the first stage of the IAS Exam i.e. Preliminary examination will be able to attempt the IAS Mains.

IAS Exam Eligibility Criteria

Before applying for IAS Exam, candidates must check the eligibility criteria for IAS 2022. Below we have mentioned the eligibility criteria like age limit, educational qualification, nationality, and a number of attempts to which candidates must adhere. 

IAS Age Limit 

As per the IAS Exam 2022 age limit criteria the candidates who have attained 21 years of age and less than 32 years as of August 2022 can apply for the IAS Exam. However, 3-10 years of age relaxation will be applicable as per the category.

IAS Educational Qualification 2022

Candidates willing to appear for IAS Exam 2022 must meet the educational qualification set by the authorities. The minimum educational qualification for IAS 2022 exam is listed below.

• Candidates must have graduated from a recognized university or have an equivalent qualification. 
• Candidates who are in their final year can also apply for IAS 2022
• Candidates having professional and technical qualifications recognized by the government as equivalent to technical and professional degrees are also eligible for the IAS Exam.

IAS 2022 Nationality Requirements 

Candidates applying for the IAS Exam need to meet the following nationality criteria. The candidate must be 

• A citizen of India, 
• A subject of Nepal
• A subject of Bhutan, Or 
• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1st January 1962 to settle in India permanently or
• A person from Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zaire, and Vietnam intending to settle in India permanently.

IAS Exam Application Form

The Union Public Service Commission has released the IAS Exam application form on 02 February 2022, and the last date to apply is 22nd February 2022. Candidates who want to apply for IAS 2022 need to follow these steps:

• Visit the official website of UPSC
• Click UPSC IAS application form
• Enter the required details in the asked fields to register
• After that, registration ID and Password will be sent to your given phone number and email,
• Log In using the ID and Password
• Fill rest of the application form
• After that upload the scanned documents
• Make the payment, and check all the details before submitting

IAS Exam 2022 Application Fee

The IAS Exam application fee can be pain by both online and offline mode. For online payment, candidates need to use a credit card/debit card/Rupay card or Internet banking. For offline payment, candidates need to download the e-challan and submit the fee in cash at SBI bank.

IAS 2022 (UPSC CSE) Vacancy 

A total of 1011 vacancies have been declared for various posts like IAS, IFS, IRS and IPS, etc. Earlier in the IAS Exam, 2022 official notification was released by UPSC, the commission announced a total of 816 vacancies. But later UPSC has increased the IAS vacancies to 1011. Let’s take a look at the year-wise IAS vacancies.

IAS Exam Pattern

IAS Exam will be conducted in three stages namely Prelims, Mains, and Personality Test. Candidates who clear all three rounds will be recruited in the Civil Services of India. Each round of the IAS 2022 will be a qualifying round so candidates need to qualify each one to appear in the next one. That is why it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the IAS Exam pattern and figure out a strategy to make the UPSC preparation. We have provided the IAS 2022 exam pattern for Prelims, Mains below.

IAS Prelims Exam Pattern

IAS Prelims Exam has two papers, General Studies 1 and CSAT (General Studies Paper 2). CSAT is qualifying in nature and needs to score a minimum of 33% in this paper to qualify. This means the General Studies paper will define your selection. There will be a negative marking of 1/3rd of marks assigned to the question. The questions in the Prelims exam will be objective types of MCQs.

IAS Mains Exam Pattern

The second stage of the IAS Exam is called the Mains rounds, and those who qualify for the Prelims exam will be eligible for this round. Mains is a written descriptive exam and comprises 9 papers. Paper VI, VII is the optional papers, and the candidates get to choose any subject he/she wants for the optional from a list of 48 subjects. Paper-A and Paper-B will be qualifying in nature and other papers are of merit ranking nature.

• Candidates get the option to choose their medium of writing in the IAS Mains exam as English, Hindi or any other language mentioned in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
• Candidates who qualify for the Mains exam will be called for Personality Test round
• The final result will be based on the marks scored by the candidates in the Mains exam and the Personality Test round of the IAS Exam.

IAS Interview

As we have mentioned above, candidates who have cleared the Mains stage of the IAS Exam will be summoned for the Personality Test round with the UPSC board members, which is the final stage. In this round candidates will be asked questions from a broad range of topics. This round of the IAS Exam will be held in UPSC Bhavan in New Delhi.

IAS Syllabus

IAS Exam has a diverse range of syllabus including a wide range of topics. To fetch good marks in the IAS 2022 exam, candidates must have a comprehensive idea of the topics covered in the UPSC Syllabus. Below we have provided the complete IAS syllabus for Prelims and Mains.

IAS Prelims Syllabus

IAS Prelims is the primary round of the selection process, and there are two papers in the Prelims syllabus- General Studies-I and General Studies-II (CSAT). CSAT is qualifying in nature whereas General Studies-II is merit ranking in nature. Below check out the UPSC Prelims Syllabus.

IAS Mains Syllabus

IAS Mains exam comprises nine theory papers, and seven of them are taken into consideration for preparing the merit list. The other two papers namely Indian Language and English are qualifying in nature. Additionally, there will be two optional papers carrying 250 marks each. Candidates can choose any subject from the list of 48 UPSC optional subjects. Below we have covered the UPSC Mains Syllabus for each paper in the IAS 2022 Mains exam.

Optional Subjects in IAS

As we have mentioned before, there are a total of 48 optional subjects in the IAS Mains exam. Candidates can choose any subject they want to. Each paper consists of 250 marks and a total of 500 marks. The questions from the UPSC Optional Subjects will be descriptive in nature. Here is a list of IAS Exam optional subjects along with the detailed syllabus.

IAS Exam 2022 Admit Card

The admit card for IAS 2022 has been released by the Union Public Service Commission on its official website on 10 May 2022. Candidates can download the Prelims admit card 2022 directly from the official website. Candidates need to enter their application number, and password/date of birth to get access to admit card. Candidates must remember that they won’t be allowed inside the exam hall without the admit card.

Details Mentioned on IAS Exam Admit Card

After downloading the admit card 2022 for the IAS Exam, candidates need to check the following details on their card- Name of the Candidate, Mother’s Name, Father’s Name, Date of Birth, Exam Center, Roll Number, etc. if candidates find any kind of issue with the admit card then they are advised to contact the UPSC helpline number.

IAS Exam Centers

Candidates get the freedom to choose from the listed examination center for the IAS Exam. The IAS Exam centres for the prelims exam is also mentioned below. Applicants must choose their preference in the IAS Application form

The exam centers for the Mains exam are given below. 

IAS Exam Cut Off 2022

IAS Exam 2022 Cut Off has not been released yet, and it will be declared on the official website after the completion of the exams. The IAS cut-off is determined by factors like difficulty level of question, number of vacancies, and number of applicants applied. Candidates can check the IAS Exam cut-off for the previous year to get an idea about the expected cut-off for IAS 2022 exam.

IAS 2019 Cut Off

IAS Exam 2018 Cut Off

IAS Exam Preparation

IAS Exam is known as one of the toughest exams in the country, and candidates need to have a foolproof strategy to crack this examination. IAS requires sheer will, determination, focus, hardwood combined with a solid preparation strategy. Here are some of the IAS Exam preparation tips that will pave the way for higher ranks in IAS 2022.

• Current affairs-based questions are asked in both Prelims and Mains exams, so make sure to stay updated with credible sources like The Hindu, PIB, Yojana, etc. Additionally, keep track of national and international events of the last 10-12 months.
• Go through IAS Previous Year’s Question Papers, to get an idea about the pattern, and trending topics from the UPSC syllabus. 
• Read the NCERT books to build a solid base, and try to make two types of notes. Short notes for the IAS Prelims exam and descriptive notes for IAS Mains.
• Start your preparation for both Prelims and Mains exam simultaneously, but 3 months before the IAS 2022 Prelims exam date, shift your focus completely in the preparation of the Prelims exam. 
• Choose an optional subject based on your interest, and experience.
• Go through the standard books after completing the NCERTs
• Don’t take the qualifying papers lightly as you can’t crack IAS if you fail in them.
• Practice previous year’s question papers, and attempt mock tests to be familiar with the exam pattern, syllabus, build confidence and find out your weaknesses. 
• Revise multiple times, and prepare separate short notes for the revision period.

IAS Question Paper

IAS previous year question paper play an integral role in the preparation for IAS exam. Those candidates who are appearing for their first IAS exam would be benefitted from the IAS question paper from previous years. The question paper will give them a clear picture of what kind of questions they will be facing, and help them to be familiar with the exam pattern. Let’s take a look at the IAS Exam Prelims 2021 question paper below.

IAS Exam Result

The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS Exam results every year on its official website. The candidates who appear for the exam can check the result by following these simple steps.

• Visit the official website of UPSC
• Click on “Written Result”
• Find the result link
• Search results using the roll number
• Download the result and keep it for future reference

IAS Mains 2021 Result Declared

The IAS Mains Exam Result has been declared on 17th March by UPSC on its official website. Candidates who have appeared at the UPSC Mains can check their results on their official website. Additionally, UPSC has also revealed the IAS Exam interview dates. Candidates who have cleared the IAS Mains exam will be called for interviews from 5th April 2022, and after that, the final result will be declared for the IAS Exam 2022.