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IPS Exam 2023 – Exam Date, Paper Pattern, Vacancy, Question Papers

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 14th, 2023

IPS Exam, also known as the Indian Police Service Exam, is a part of the CSE (Civil Services Examination) which is organized by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) every year. Indian Police Service (IPS) is one of the three All-India Services for which thousands of candidates compete every year. Millions of Indians dream of clearing the IPS exam but only a few of them succeed. The IPS exam date 2023 is 28 May 2023 for Prelims. The application process for the same was closed on 21 February 2023. Those who have cleared the Prelims stage will appear for the Mains exam which will take place from 15 September 2023 onwards.

UPSC conducts this exam annually to recruit eligible candidates from across the country. To become an IPS officer, one has to clear all stages of the exam and undergo Physical Training. Candidates who wish to appear for the upcoming IPS Exam must go through the detailed syllabus, paper pattern, eligibility, and more.

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What is IPS Exam?

The IPS Exam, like IAS Exam, is conducted by UPSC to recruit candidates for the Indian Police Service (IPS). As we have mentioned earlier, the IPS exam is a part of the Civil Services Examination, and the conducting body will be UPSC. The application and selection process is common for all services.

IPS exam includes three stages namely prelims, mains, and interview/personality test. All aspiring candidates who want to become IPS officers must check the UPSC eligibility along with other eligibility criteria, syllabus, and other things that we have mentioned below.

IPS Exam Date 2023

IPS 2023 exam date has been released by the Union Public Service Commission on its official website. As per the timetable, the IPS Prelims 2023 was held on 28 May 2023. Candidates can take a look at the detailed information from the UPSC calendar below.

Events Dates
Notification release date 01 February 2023
Apply Online begins on 01 February 2023
Last date of apply online 21 February 2023
Admit Card release date 08 May 2023
IPS Exam Date 2023 28 May 2023

IPS Application Form 2023

UPSC releases the application form for the IPS exam every year, and the candidates who are interested in appearing can fill up the UPSC application form on the official website. The commission released the IPS 2023 application form on 01 February 2023. Additionally, UPSC also releases the DAF or the Mains application form for those who clear the Prelims.

How to Apply Online for IPS Exam 2023?

Following are some of the simple steps a candidate needs to follow in order to register for the IPS Exam 2023.

  • Visit the official website of UPSC
  • Then go to the CSE section
  • Click on the “Apply” optional
  • Fill in all the required information and upload your latest photo and signature
  • Check your application preview and submit it

IPS Form Fee

Candidates who are interested in applying for IPS Exam 2023 will be asked to pay Rs 100/- as the exam fee. They can pay through Visa/Master/Rupay Credit/ Debit Card, and offline payment can be made through the medium online net banking facility of SBI. Candidates from SC/ST/PwD categories and women are exempted from paying the IPS application fee.

IPS Vacancy 2023

IPS vacancy is one of the important factors that aspirants need to consider before applying for the exam. UPSC releases the IPS vacancy (number of seats) every year in the CSE notification PDF. This year, the notification was released on 01 February 2023, which contains all the relevant details about the exam, including the number of vacancies. This year, the number of vacancies (for civil services) released is 1105, while in the last recruitment cycle, the total vacancy released by UPSC is 1011.

IPS Salary

After clearing all stages of the exam, candidates get recruited as IPS officers. The basic IPS officer salary is around Rs. 56,000 per month and increases with promotion. Different pay bands have been fixed for officers, and these include Junior Scale, Senior Scale, and Super Time Scale. Apart from handsome salaries, officers also get House Rent Allowance, Dearness Allowance, Medical Allowance, and other benefits. An Indian Police Service officer also gets facilities based on their pay band like cook, house, car, driver, etc. The highest IPS salary is RS. 2,25,000, and the Director-General of Police (DGP) gets it.

IPS Exam Eligibility

Candidates who want to appear for the IPS exam and wish to join Indian Police Service need to satisfy certain eligibility parameters. The IPS eligibility criteria mainly depend on 5 factors which are as follows:

  • IPS Age Limit
  • IPS Qualification
  • Physical Requirements
  • Medical Requirements
  • Nationality Requirements

IPS Age Limit

The minimum age limit is 21 years, and the maximum age limit for the IPS exam depends on the category of the applicants. Below we have created a table for the maximum age limit and age relaxation for certain categories.

Category Maximum IPS Age Limit Number of Attempts
General 32 years 7
OBC 35 years 9
SC/ST 37 years No Limit

IPS Age Relaxation

  • Physically handicapped candidates can take 9 attempts in the General and OBC categories. There is no limit on the candidates from SC/ST backgrounds. Jammu and Kashmir residents can request a maximum of five years of the concession.
  • Candidates who are physically impaired with deafness, blindness, orthopaedic, or muteness age 10 years of relaxation on the IPS Age limit.
  • ECOs/SSCOs and Commissioned officers who have served in the military for at least 5 years are eligible for age relaxation for up to 5 years.

IPS Qualification

The educational requirements for the IPS exam are the following:

  • The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university or board or have an equivalent qualification.
  • Candidates who are in their last year of graduation are eligible for applying for the IPS Exam as well.

IPS Height and Weight

Candidates who qualify for the preliminary test of the IPS exam must meet the physical requirements. Those who pass the physical requirements round will be qualified for a Personal Interview. The IPS Physical eligibility criteria are mentioned below:

  • For general category candidates, the minimum height for males is 165 cm, and it is 160 cm for other category candidates.
  • The minimum height for general category women candidates is 150 cm, and for other category women candidates, it is 145 cm.
  • Men’s chest must be a minimum of 84 cm and expandable up to 5 cm.
  • Women’s chest must be at least 79 cm and expandable up to 5 cm.
  • Candidates who squint are rejected.
  • Exceptional colour vision and binocular vision are required.
  • For eyesight, the vision should be 6/6 or 6/9.
  • Lenses/spectacles are permitted.

IPS Medical Eligibility

The UPSC IPS medical test is to ensure if the candidate is fit for the role or not. It includes the following medical requirements to be fulfilled:

Blood Pressure (High):

Age Limit Blood Pressure(High)
23 123
24 124
25 122
28 124
30 125
32 126
34 127
  1. Nasal: The candidate should not stammer while speaking.
  2. Ear: Hearing impairment at 1000-4000 Hz should not be more than 30 dB.
  3. Pregnant women are not allowed during the medical test for the IPS exam.
  4. The candidate must not have inborn night blindness. High standard for colourblind test. Must have stereoscopic vision.

IPS Selection Process

In order to become an IPS Officer, you should clear the Civil Services Examination held by the Union Public Services Examination. It is already known to us that 8 lakh candidates apply every year but only a handful of candidates clear all stages of the IPS exam and become Indian Police Service officers.

Follow the below steps to learn how to become an IPS officer:

  • Apply for UPSC IPS Exam: To become an officer, you need to apply for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) conducted annually by the Union Public Services Commission. The UPSC CSE includes three stages – Prelims, Mains and Personality Test.
  • Effective Preparation: It is important to ensure that you are fully prepared for the IPS exam.
  • Give the UPSC Prelims exam: The first part of the IPS exam is a preliminary exam. The total number of marks assigned for the examination is 400, split into two papers. Both papers will be objective types having multiple-choice questions.
  • Give the UPSC Mains exam: This exam can only be taken if you have cleared the prelims examination and it is of a descriptive type.
  • Go for the Personal Interview: After clearing the Mains exam, you are eligible to appear for the interview or personality test round, where the general knowledge, subject knowledge, mental ability, and critical thinking skills of the candidate are assessed.

Once you are done with the interview, the Commission announces the final merit list based on the IPS Mains exam & interview.

IPS Exam Pattern

The IPS Exam pattern is designed to test the overall intellectual traits and understanding level of the candidates. IPS exam is conducted in three stages, Prelims, Mains, and Interviews. The aspirants must understand the exam pattern in order to come up with a strategic approach to fetch good marks in each stage of the exam. Below we have mentioned the IPS paper pattern for each stage.

IPS Prelims Exam Pattern

The IPS Exam for Prelims consists of two papers – General Studies-1 and General Studies-2 (CSAT).

  • Both papers will be objective in nature and the time duration will be two hours.
  • Paper-2 or CSAT will be qualifying in nature with a minimum passing mark of 33%.
  • Each paper carries 200 marks, and the merit list will be decided on the basis of marks obtained in the GS-1.

IPS Mains Exam Pattern

The candidates who crack the Prelims round of the IPS exam will be called for the Mains exam. The Mains exam has a total of 9 papers. Two papers – Paper A and Paper B are qualifying in nature, Paper-I is an essay paper, Paper II to Paper V are General Studies Papers and two optional papers. Candidates can choose any subject as their optional from the list of 48 UPSC optional subjects. Check out the complete IPS Mains exam pattern below.

UPSC IPS Exam Pattern – Mains
Paper Subject Time Duration IPS Total marks
Paper A Compulsory Indian language 3 hours 300
Paper B English 3 hours 300
Paper I Essay 3 hours 250
Paper II General Studies I 3 hours 250
Paper III General Studies II 3 hours 250
Paper IV General Studies III 3 hours 250
Paper V General Studies IV 3 hours 250
Paper VI Optional I 3 hours 250
Paper VII Optional II 3 hours 250

IPS Exam Syllabus

Candidates preparing for the upcoming exam must understand the IPS syllabus in depth. The syllabus for IPS exam 2023 is divided into two levels:

  1. Prelims Syllabus
  2. Mains Syllabus

IPS Syllabus for Prelims

The prelims stage of the IPS Exam is the first round of the selection process. The aspirants need to appear for two general studies papers, namely Paper 1 and Paper 2 (also known as CSAT). We have covered the IPS exam syllabus for both papers 1 and 2 below:

IPS Syllabus for Prelims Paper 1 (GS-1)

  • Current events of national and international importance
  • History of India and the Indian National Movement
  • Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, and Economic Geography of India and the World
  • Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • General Science
  • Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
  • General Issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change

IPS Syllabus for Prelims Paper 2 (CSAT/GS-2)

  • Comprehension
  • Interpersonal skills, including communication skills
  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability
  • Decision-making and problem-solving
  • General mental ability
  • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level) and data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)

IPS Syllabus for Mains

Candidates who clear the prelims will be eligible to appear for the IPS Mains exam. The main goal of this exam is to analyze the candidate’s academic expertise and the ability to present his/her knowledge. The Mains exam is a crucial phase of the selection process, so the candidates need to know the syllabus of IPS Mains exam properly to start their preparation.

  • Paper-A – Indian Language
  • Paper-B – English
  • Paper 1 – Essay
  • Paper 2 – General Studies- I (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society)
  • Paper 3 – General Studies – II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice & International Relations)
  • Paper 4 – General Studies – III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management)
  • Paper 5 – General Studies – IV (Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude)
  • Paper 6 – Optional Subject- Paper I
  • Paper 7 – Optional Subject- Paper 2

IPS Exam Question Papers

Candidates who are preparing for the exam must go through the previous year’s IPS exam paper to have an in-depth understanding of the paper pattern, types of questions, and the complexity level of the IPS exam. Knowing these things would definitely help the aspirants to come up with a rock-solid preparation strategy to ace this exam. Below we are providing the UPSC Previous Year Question Papers for both Prelims and Mains, and candidates can download them directly from the given link.

IPS Prelims Question Paper 2023

IPS Prelims 2023 was conducted on 28th May 2023. Below we have provided the direct links to download the IPS exam paper of Prelims – General Studies-1 and CSAT.

Year IPS Exam Question Paper for Prelims GS-1 IPS Exam Paper for Prelims CSAT
2023 Download Prelims GS-1 2023 Paper Here Download Prelims CSAT Paper
2022 Download Prelims GS-1 2022 Paper Here Download Prelims CSAT Paper
2021 Download Prelims GS Paper Download Prelims CSAT Question Paper
2020 Download GS Question Paper Download CSAT Question Paper
2018 Download Prelims GS-1 2018 Paper Here Download Prelims CSAT 2018 Paper Here
2017 Download Prelims GS-1 2017 Paper Here Download Prelims CSAT 2017 Paper Here
2016 Download IPS EXAM Prelims GS-1 2016 Paper Here Download Prelims CSAT 2016 Paper Here
2015 Download Prelims GS-1 2015 Paper Here Download IPS Exam Prelims CSAT 2015 Paper Here
2014 Download Prelims GS-1 2014 Paper Here Download Prelims CSAT 2014 Paper Here
2013 Download Prelims GS-1 2013 Paper Here
2012 Download IPS EXAM Prelims GS-1 2012 Paper Here
2011 Download Prelims GS-1 2011 Paper Here

IPS Question Papers for Mains

Candidates can download the IPS exam paper for Mains for the last few years from the given links below.

Year IPS Mains Question Paper for Essay GS Question Papers
2022 Download PDF GS Paper 1

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

GS Paper 4

2021 Download PDF GS Paper 1

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

GS Paper 4

2020 Download PDF GS Paper 1

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

GS Paper 4

2019 Download PDF GS Paper 1

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

GS Paper 4

2018 Download PDF GS Paper 1

GS Paper 2

GS Paper 3

GS Paper 4

IPS Books

Candidates must pick the best UPSC Books to strengthen their preparation for the IPS Exam. When it comes to exam preparation, aspirants may find themselves buying every book available in a bookstore. That is why it is important to shortlist the books so that they can get their hands on the right ones. The UPSC IPS syllabus covers a wide range of subjects like history, geography, constitution, agriculture, etc. Below, we have compiled a list of must-have IPS books for the upcoming exam.

  • India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha
  • NCERT books: The Complete Package
  • Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
  • Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
  • Introduction to the Constitution of India by D.D. Basu
  • India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
  • The Wonder That Was India by AL Basham
  • Majid Hussain – Indian Geography

IPS Officer Training

IPS Training is considered to be one of the toughest training in our country. It is done along with the IAS and Civil Services after the candidates are selected by the UPSC. There are three stages of the IPS Exam training which are as follows:

  • LBSNAA – First Phase of Training: LBSNAA focuses on inter-service camaraderie and cooperation. The purpose of the Foundation course is to get to know about newly recruited officers and teaches the new officers the required skills, knowledge, and manners to behave.
  • Basic Training – The basic training focuses on building the capacity of the officer to face the challenges in police duty. This training aims to possess the necessary skills, knowledge, understanding, behaviour, skills, and many more.
  • IPS Training (Phase 2) – The second phase of IPS officer training aims to increase the knowledge about the assigned state cadre in language, manner, culture, etc. The training takes place in the State Police Academies and is three weeks in duration.

IPS Result 2023

The IPS final result 2023 will be declared soon on the official site. The candidates can trace their selection status. The interviews of the shortlisted candidates took place from January to May 2023 for which the result PDF will be out in May 2023. The ranks of the qualified personnel, cadre allocation list, cut-off, merit list, etc will be released along with the result.

IPS Ranks and Promotions

UPSC CSE recruits candidates for four major posts in Indian Administration – IAS, IPS, IFS, and IRS. After IAS (Indian Administrative Services), IPS is the most sought-after service in India. Below we have mentioned the IPS officer ranks and the promotion criteria to reach the highest position in the Indian Police Service.

  • IPS Posts – As you all know, the Indian Police Service officers are selected through UPSC CSE to work under the Indian Administration. The lowest rank of an IPS officer or the rank that an officer enters is Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). DSP then gets promoted to the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP). There is little difference in the pay scale of both ranks; where the DSP has a pay level of 10, the ASP has a Pay Level-11. If an officer is appointed in Delhi, he/she will get the rank of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police or Assistant Commissioner of Police. The highest rank of an IPS officer is the Direct General of Police (DSP), and DSP is the head of state police forces. The pay scale of DGP is 17, which would be INR 2,25,000.
  • IPS Promotion – With time, officers get a promotion, which increases their roles, responsibilities, and salary. The entry-level rank of an IPS officer is Deputy Superintendent of Police, and the highest rank is Direct General of Police. IPS officers usually get promotions on the basis of experience.

IPS vs IAS vs IRS

As we have mentioned above, the Union Public Service Commission conducts Civil Services Exam (CSE) to recruit candidates for four major services: IPS, IAS, IRS, and IFS. IAS is the head of almost all the state and central government departments, and it is the most sought-after job compared to other Civil Services. On the other hand, IPS officers are a part of the police department and have different roles and responsibilities than IAS officers. Candidates interested in taxation should go for IRS, and here they will get more work-life balance than the IPS or IAS. The salary of an IAS and an IPS officer is almost the same. The IRS’s salary would be less than that of IAS and IPS.

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