A Beginner’s Guide To Cracking The Ias Exam In 2025

By Author: Mithilesh Tiwari
Total Articles: 2
Comment this article

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) exam which is officially known as the Civil Services Examination (CSE). It is one of the most challenging and prestigious exams in India. Every year a huge number of students across the country participate in the UPSC exam to become civil servants, but very few of them make it to the final list. After cracking the CSE exam, several reputed designations will be offered to the aspirants such as Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), and so on.

The journey to cracking the IAS exam is never easy. Aspirants have to make perfect planning, smart strategy, and consistent effort. This article is written for students who are beginners or looking to start preparation in the year 2025. In it, we have tried to resolve all the doubts of aspirants about eligibility, syllabus, attempts, coaching, etc. To get the full information, you must read the article completely.
IAS Exam Eligibility
To appear in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS exam), ...
... students have to overcome many criteria. The applicant cannot have a criminal record or disciplinary record from an educational institution or previous employer. All the major eligibility criteria are given below.
Nationality
The first eligibility criterion for the IAS exam is nationality. To appear in the IAS exam, students must be citizens of India; citizens of other countries are not allowed to appear in this exam.
Educational Qualification
Regarding educational qualification, aspirants should have passed graduation in any stream from a recognized University. Those who are in the final year of their graduation are also eligible to apply, but they must submit proof of completion of their degree during the interview process.
Age Limit
The age limit depends on the category of the students. Below are given category-wise details.
General Category Students: For general category students the minimum age is 21 years while the maximum age is 32 years.

OBC Category Students: The minimum age criteria for OBC students are the same as General, while OBC students get 3 years of relaxation (21-35 years) in maximum age.

SC/ST Category Candidates: Same as General and OBC the minimum age for SC/ST students are same, Whereas SC/ST students can avail of 5 years of age relaxation (21-37 years) in the maximum age limit.
Persons with Disabilities (PwD): 21 to 42 years (for general category)
Age relaxation is also available to ex-servicemen and certain other categories
Physical Fitness
The UPSC sets physical and medical standards for specific services, including the Indian Police Service (IPS).
IAS Exam Syllabus
Understanding the IAS Exam syllabus is very compulsory for students before starting the preparation. The UPSC conducts the IAS exam in three stages. Preliminary Exam, the Main Exam, and the Interview (Personality Test). Each stage has a different syllabus.
Preliminary Exam
The Prelims exam is known as the first step to qualify the IAS Exam. The Preliminary exam is divided into two parts. General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II (CSAT).

In the General Studies paper I aspirants have to cover several subjects such as History, Geography, Economics, Polity, Science, and Current Affairs. General Studies Paper II is known as CSAT paper and to clear this paper students have to cover subjects like logical reasoning, quantitative aptitude, and English comprehension.
Mains Exam
After cracking the Prelims exam, aspirants have to meet with the Main Exam. Although there are 9 papers in the Main Exam and 7 of them are common. Below is given the detailed information of all those 7 papers.

Paper A: Indian Language (300 marks): This test evaluates proficiency in a language listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Essay writing, translation, comprehension, and grammar will be included in this exam. To qualify this paper a minimum of 25% of marks will be required.
Paper B: English (300 marks): Paper B is quite similar to Paper A. In this paper essay writing, comprehension, précis, and grammar questions will be asked. To qualify this exam minimum 25% of marks will be required.
Paper I: Essay (250 marks): This paper tests the ability of students to write structured essays on different topics. In this paper students have written two essays. Topics may relate to society, politics, economics, or philosophy.
Paper II: General Studies I (250 marks): This paper focuses on areas like Indian heritage and culture, World history and post-independence consolidation, Modern Indian history and freedom struggle, and Indian society and geography.
Paper III: General Studies II (250 marks): In this paper, students have to focus on topics like Indian polity and governance. Along with this Constitution, social justice, and international relations topics are also important.
Paper IV: General Studies III (250 marks): Aspirants will meet questions from several topics in this Paper such as Science, technology, environment, disaster management, and security issues. Aside from this question form the area of Indian economy, budgeting, and agriculture will also be asked.
Paper V: General Studies IV (Ethics) (250 marks): This paper asks questions from many important areas such as Case studies on ethical dilemmas in public administration, Ethics, integrity, and aptitude.
Interview
The Interview round is also known as a personality test. It is the 3rd and final round of the IAS exam. The test is totally based on aspirants' communication skills and decision-making abilities. Generally, the interview panel asks questions from areas like personal background, current affairs , integrity and ethics, analytical ability, etc. The interview panel not only focuses on the aspirant's knowledge but also evaluates the candidate’s overall personality. The Interview paper carries 275 marks. Same as the other 2 exams, the Interview exam is very important for students.
Role of IAS Coaching
A huge number of students from across India apply for the IAS exam. The number of aspirants is huge in comparison to seats, which is why the competition label is very tough. To make this path easy and smooth there are several online and offline IAS coaching centers available in the market. Although there are endless benefits of joining an IAS coaching center, we have covered some of them.

Structured Preparation: IAS coaching centers provide a perfect routine for aspirants so that they can use their time effectively. With the help of coaching centers, aspirants can cover a vast syllabus in a systematic way.
Expert Guidance: Most IAS Coaching centers have a team of experts. They evaluate students' weaknesses and give them the best suggestions to improve. Along with this, they arrange a one-to-one doubt celebration session for every student which helps students a lot.
Comprehensive Study Material: The best part of choosing an IAS coaching for preparation is they provide study material for students. The coaching centers analyze all the previous year's question papers that help students understand what type of questions will be asked in the exam.
Peer Learning and Motivation: IAS coaching centers always try to create healthy competition in students. It helps students to exchange their knowledge. With the help of Peer learning students can evaluate themself also. Some IAS coaching invites some successful IAS officials or motivational speakers from time to time. It helps students to keep motivated.
Current Affairs: To crack the IAS exam, getting updated with world current affairs is very compulsory for the aspirants. Many coaching centers provide notes of daily, weekly, and monthly current affairs. Along with this these coaching centers also inspire students to read newspapers, and current affairs books to get updated.
IAS Exam Attempts
The IAS exam attempts vary depending on the aspirant's category. Below is given the complete information.
General Category: The General category students get 6 attempts until the age of 32 years.
OBC Category Students: OBC category students get 9 attempts until the age of 35 years
SC/ST Category Students: There is no limit to attempts for SC/ST students. They can apply until the age of 37 years.

Conclusion: The IAS paper is one of the toughest exams in India. The exam is divided into three parts. To be eligible for the IAS exam students should have passed graduation in any stream from any recognized university. The aspirant should be a citizen of India and can apply until the age of 32 years with 6 attempts. For SC/ST students the maximum age limit is 37 years with unlimited attempts.