UPSC 2024: Mains Admit Card, Exam Date, Syllabus, Pattern
UPSC is a top government exam that is held at the All India Level for the recruitment of suitable candidates in the Civil Services. The candidates are selected through three examinations, Prelims, Mains and Interview. Those who qualify the exam are appointed to the post of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other Central Services posts. The UPSC Prelims admit card has been released for the exam scheduled for 16th June. Get more updates on the UPSC exam on this page.
UPSC 2024 Exam
The UPSC will be releasing the UPSC Mains admit card 2024 soon on its website. The candidates who have been declared qualified in the Prelims exam will be able to download the call letter from the official website of UPSC. The UPSC Mains exam is scheduled to begin from 20th September 2024.
UPSC IAS 2024 Exam Date
In the following table below, you can check out the important dates related to UPSC IAS 2024 exam. UPSC has announced the IAS Prelims exam date on its website.
| UPSC IAS 2024 Events | Dates |
| UPSC 2024 Notification Release Date | 14 February 2024 |
| UPSC IAS Application Form 2024 Release Date | 14 February 2024 |
| Last Date to apply | 5 March 2024 up to 6 PM |
| UPSC IAS Admit Card release date | 7 June 2024 |
| IAS Exam Date 2024 for Prelims | 16 June 2024 |
| IAS Prelims Result releases on | June 2024 |
| UPSC Mains admit card release date | August 2024 |
| UPSC Mains Exam Date | 20 September 2024 |
| Result 2024 date for Mains Exam | To be announced |
| IAS Interview Date | To be announced |
| IAS Final Result date releases on | To be announced |
UPSC Admit Card 2024
UPSC shall reease UPSC Mains admit card 2024 on its website. To be able to download the UPSC IAS call letter candidates would be required to login using their UPSC IAS registration number and date of birth. UPSC Admit Card is released for Prelims, Mains and Interview separately by the Commission on its website. UPSC does not send the hall ticket to the candidates through offline mode.
UPSC Mains Exam Schedule
| Date (Day) | Forenoon Session (9:00 A.M. to 12:00 Noon) | Afternoon Session (2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.) |
| 20/9/2024 (Friday) | Paper-I: Essay | No Paper |
| 21/9/2024 (Saturday) | Paper-II: General Studies-I | Paper-III: General Studies-II |
| 22/9/2024 (Sunday) | Paper-IV: General Studies-III | Paper-V: General Studies-IV |
| Next Weekend | ||
| 27/9/2024 (Friday) | Paper-A: Indian Language | Paper-B: English |
| 28/9/2024 (Saturday) | Paper-VI: Optional Paper-1 | Paper-VII: Optional Paper-2 |
UPSC IAS 2024 Notification
UPSC has released the UPSC IAS 2024 notification on its website on 14th February. Candidates can begin to apply for the exam from 14th February 2024 onwards. UPSC conducts the Civil Services exam every year to recruit IAS/IPS/IFS officers at an All-India level. The recruitment is carried out through two different phases - IAS Prelims Exam and IAS Mains Exam & Interview Round. You can check the UPSC IAS 2024 notification PDF by clicking on the link that is given below.
| UPSC IAS Notification PDF 2024 |
The UPSC IAS notification PDF consists the important information related to the exam such as exam date, vacancy, syllabus, pattern, etc.
UPSC 2024 Vacancy
The UPSC has released a total of 1206 vacancies this year. Out of the total number of vacancies, 1056 are for the Civil Service Exam while 150 are for Indian Forest Services. The following table gives you brief of the UPSC vacancy.
| Post Name | Vacancy |
| Civil Services Exam | 1056 |
| Indian Forest Services Exam | 150 |
UPSC IAS 2024 Application Form
UPSC has activated the online link of IAS Application Form 2024 on 14th February @upsc.gov.in. Candidates need to apply online and pay the application fee on time to sit for IAS Prelims Exam 2024. Have a look at the detailed application process below:
Step 1: IAS Registration 2024
Candidates who apply for the UPSC exam 2024 will have to register themselves on the UPSC website to get UPSC registration number. Here is the step-wise process to apply for UPSC IAS 2024 exam.
• Visit upsc.gov.in
• Click on ‘UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024’
• Fill your Name, Date of Birth, Mobile Number, Email Address & captcha code
• You get your IAS Registration Number
Step 2: IAS Application Form 2024
To fill the UPSC Civil Services application, follow these steps:
• Log-in by entering your Roll Number and Password or Date of Birth
• Fill your personal details, educational qualification, age, gender, religion, & others
• Upload scanned images of your Photo & Signature
• Pay the IAS Application Fee through Debit Card/Credit Card/Internet Banking or Offline through the e-challan of SBI Bank
IAS Eligibility Criteria 2024
The eligibility criteria for the UPSC IAS Civil Services exam include age limit, educational qualification, nationality and the number of attempts. The IAS eligibility criteria are different for all categories such as GEN/EWS/OBC/SC/ST/PWD. Have a look:
Nationality: Citizen of India OR Tibetan refugee who came to India before January 1, 1962, OR person of Indian origin who migrated from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Burma, Vietnam, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, and Ethiopia
Educational Qualification: Graduate Degree in any discipline of University/Institution established or incorporated by an Act of Parliament or declared a Deemed University under the UGC Act, 1956
Note: No requirement for any minimum percentage
Age Limit: The minimum age limit is 21 years and the maximum age limit is different for different categories:
• General: 32 years
• OBC: 35 years
• SC & ST: 37 year
• PwD: 42 Years
Number of Attempts: Have a look at the maximum number of attempts allowed for each category:
• General: 6 Attempts
• EWS: 6 Attempts
• OBC: 9 Attempts
• SC & ST: Till the Age limit
• PwD: 9 Attempts for OBC; Till the Age limit for SC/ST
IAS Selection Process 2024
The UPSC IAS selection process is done through three stages, Prelims, Mains and Interview. A candidate has to qualify at each stage to be eligible to be appointed to the post of IAS/IPS/IFS/IRS and other posts.
- UPSC IAS Prelims
- UPSC IAS Mains
- UPSC IAS Interview
UPSC IAS Prelims is qualifying in nature. The marks of IAS Prelims are not considered in the final merit list, from which the selection of candidates is made. The UPSC prepares the final merit list on the basis of marks secured by candidates in the IAS Mains exam and Interview. Hence, all the candidates must obtain maximum marks in the Mains and Interview to be eligible for an appointment.
UPSC IAS 2024 Prelims Exam Pattern
UPSC IAS exam pattern has been mentioned in the following table below. The Prelims exam consists of two papers, General Studies and CSAT. The IAS GS paper is for 100 marks while CSAT is for 80 marks. It is mandatory to obtain at least 33% in CSAT to be eligible to UPSC Prelims Paper 1 marks will be used to determine the merit list, while the CSAT Paper 2 will be of qualifying in nature (33% marks).
• IAS Prelims exam will have questions that are in Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) format
• There will be a Negative Marking of 1/3rd marks (0.66) for each wrong answer
• GS Paper II (CSAT) is qualifying in nature; you need only 33 per cent marks to clear this paper
• In the PwD category, blind candidates are allotted 20 minutes extra for each paper
| Paper | Total Questions | Marks | Time Duration |
| Paper I: General Studies | 100 | 200 | 2 Hours |
| Paper-II: GS (CSAT) | 80 | 200 | 2 Hours |
IAS Mains Exam Pattern
Candidates who qualify UPSC IAS prelims exam 2024 exam by securing the cutoff marks will fill in the detailed application form or DAF and appear for the Mains examination. UPSC Mains Exam consists of two types papers, qualifying papers and merit.
- IAS Mains papers A and B are qualifying in nature. On the other hand, Papers 1 to 7 of the Mains exam will be used to determine the final merit list of the candidates.
- Candidates must choose one UPSC optional subject for the Mains exam.
- IAS Mains exam is objective as well as descriptive in nature
- Candidates need to obtain IAS Cut off marks to qualify this round
- The cut off is decided on the basis of total vacancies, the difficulty level of paper and candidates appearing for the exam.
- There will be a Negative Marking of 1/3rd marks (0.66) for each wrong answer in objective paper only
| Paper | Name of Paper | Nature of Paper | Time Duration | Marks |
| Paper – A | Any Indian Language (objective) | Qualifying | 3 Hours | 300 |
| Paper – B | English (objective) | 3 Hours | 300 | |
| Paper I | Essay | Merit Ranking | 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 Paper I | 3 Hours | 250 | |
| Paper VII | Optional Paper-II | 3 Hours | 250 | |
| Total | 1750 | |||
| Interview Round | 275 | |||
| Grand Total | 2025 | |||
UPSC Optional Subjects
Every candidate has to choose one optional paper for the IAS Mains exam. UPSC has given a list of 48 subjects that the candidates can select in the IAS optional subject. T
| List of Optional Subjects for UPSC Exam 2024 | |
| Agriculture | Assamese |
| Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | Bengali |
| Anthropology | Bodo |
| Botany | Dogri |
| Chemistry | Gujarati |
| Civil Engineering | Hindi |
| Commerce & Accountancy | Kannada |
| Economics | Kashmiri |
| Electrical Engineering | Konkani |
| Geography | Maithili |
| Geology | Malayalam |
| History | Manipuri |
| Law | Marathi |
| Management | Nepali |
| Mathematics | Oriya |
| Mechanical Engineering | Punjabi |
| Medical Science | Sanskrit |
| Philosophy | Santhali |
| Physics | Sindhi |
| Political Science & International Relations | Tamil |
| Psychology | Telugu |
| Public Administration | Urdu |
| Sociology | English |
| Statistics | |
| Zoology | |
IAS Syllabus 2024
The UPSC Syllabus covers subjects like History, Polity, Geography, Economy, Environment & Ecology, General Science and Current Affairs. Have a look at the detailed syllabus of UPSC IAS Civil Services on the link mentioned below:
UPSC IAS Question Paper 2024
UPSC question paper forms the most important part of the preparation strategy for any IAS aspirant. Going through the previous year question paper gives you an insight into the questions that have been asked in the UPSC exam over the previous years.
IAS 2024 Exam Preparation Tips & Strategy
Cracking the UPSC exam requires a huge amount of practice and patience as the IAS syllabus is very vast. One has to be consistent in learning and practicing things while preparing for the IAS exam. Here are some tips for the UPSC IAS preparation tips that will guide you toward your preparation for the exam.
- Read newspapers daily such as The Hindu, Economic Times, others. Stay updated with GK from every domain.
- Get yourself acquainted with the most important Current Affairs topics by going through reliable sources such as Jagranjosh.com; Yojana & Frontline magazines; PIB, News on Air.
- Keep an eye on the latest happenings and try to link them with the UPSC IAS Syllabus. If you find it relevant, then prepare it thoroughly.
- Go through the IAS Previous Year Question Papers to brush up on your preparations
- Read complete NCERT books from 9th to 12th standard of subjects link Geography, Polity, Economics, History, Science, and Maths.
- Prepare notes every time you are reading. For IAS Prelims, prepare short notes in bullet points and for IAS Mains, prepare descriptive notes.
- Prepare for General Studies CSAT by practising more and more mock tests and important questions. CSAT paper tests your accuracy and time management.Revise the sample papers or practice sets you have already attempted. This will help you in knowing your weak and strong areas.
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