UPSC IAS 2025 Application Form, Exam Dates, Eligibility, Pattern, Syllabus

UPSC IAS 2025: The Civil services examination is abbreviated as CSE, generally called UPSC (IAS). It is one of the examinations conducted by the board of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), to select eligible candidates for the posts available under various Groups and categories of Indian service offices. The candidates must have to qualify for the Preliminary CSE examination to appear in the Mains examination. The candidate is required to apply for the Mains examination by filling the Detailed Application Form (DAF) which is available one/two months before the set tentative date of the Mains examination (on October 2025). The details of the UPSC CSE 2025 Examination like the application form, exam dates, eligibility criteria, Exam Patterns, etc are given in this article.

UPSC CSE 2025 Notification:

• UPSC IAS 2025 Notification will be released on February 2025. 

Contents:

• UPSC IAS 2025 Highlights
• UPSC 2025 Exam Date
• IAS 2025 Application Form
• IAS 2025 Eligibility Criteria
• UPSC IAS 2025 Exam Pattern
• UPSC 2025 Syllabus
• IAS 2025 Admit Card
• IAS 2025 Result
• Best Book for IAS Preparation 2025
• हिंदी में पढ़ें:सिविल सेवा परीक्षा के बारे में

UPSC IAS Exam 2025 Highlights:

Name of the Exam	Civil Services Examination 2025
Level of the Exam	National Level Exam
Conducting  body	UPSC – Union Public Service Commission
Periodicity of Exam	Yearly
Application Mode	Online Mode
Mode of Exam	Offline (Pen-Paper Mode)
Total Vacancies	861
Categories	Government Exams
Official Website	www.upsconline.nic.in

UPSC Exam Date 2025:

Find the brief details of the UPSC 2025 Date such as exam Exam Date, Notification Release Date, Application form Last date to submit, Preliminary & Mains Exam Date:

Events	Exam Dates
UPSC CSE 2025 Notification release Date	February 2025
Date of Application form availability	February 2025
Online Application form Last date Submit	February 2025
Prelims Exam Admit Card	May 2025
UPSC IAS 2025 Prelims Date	June 2025
Preliminary exam result	June 2025
Admit Card for Main Exam	September 2025
Exam Date (Main)	September 2025
Final result Announced	January 2023

IAS 2025 Application Form:

UPSC 2025 will release the IAS 2025 Application Form in February 2025. The Detailed information of the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2025 Application Form is provided at a special link that is active only when the application forms are available at the official UPSC website.

Steps to fill the UPSC 2025 Application Form:

• Go to the official website of UPSC.
• On the Home Page click on UPSC IAS Application Form.
• After clicking on it the application form will get opened this consists of two parts 1 and 2.
• Then, Register by filling in the details of part 1.
• A registration ID and password will be sent to your provided email Id and phone number.
• Login using registration ID and password.
• Fill out the rest application form with all verified details.
• After that Upload, the scanned documents asked in the application form like a photograph, signature, etc.
• Make the Payment of the application fee.
• Recheck all the details and submit your application form.
• Before submitting the application form online, a candidate must take the printout of the application form.

Application Fee:

• A candidate (except female/SC/ST) must be ready with payment options for the application fee of Rs. 100/- to be paid by online methods.

Vacancies:

The number of vacancies to be filled through the examination is 861 which include 34 vacancies reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disability Category i.e,

Post Name	Total Vacancies
Blindness and low vision-	07 Posts
Deaf and hard of hearing-	11 Posts
locomotor disability-	08 Posts
Persons with Multiple disabilities-	08 Posts

IAS 2025 Eligibility Criteria:

The aspirants applying for the examination first check the UPSC 2025 Eligibility of the examination. Only those candidates fulfilling the criteria can fill out the application form.

• Nationality- Only Indian citizens are eligible to apply for the IAS exam 2025.
• UPSC Age Limits 2025 – The minimum age limit should be 21 years old and the maximum age limit must be 32 years old.
• Educational Qualifications- The candidate must have completed a graduate degree in any of the recognized universities.

Number of Attempts:

• General: 6 Attempts
• SC/ST: no limit
• OBC: 9 Attempts

UPSC IAS Exam 2025 Exam Pattern:

The UPSC Civil Service examination will be conducted in three stages – preliminary, mains, and interview. The IAS Exam Pattern is given below:

Preliminary Exam Pattern:

• The Examination will be commenced in the offline mode. Candidates need to appear in two papers which are consisted of objective-type questions.
• The candidate will have to give 2 Papers that are objective-based.
• First Exam will be consisted of general study and the second will be for CSAT or Civil Service Aptitude Test.
• Paper will be for 200 marks
• The candidate will get 120 minutes to complete the paper.
• It is compulsory to clear both examinations in order to appear in the main examination.

Mains Exam Pattern:

• The Mains exam pattern is conventional essay-type questions, with subject papers counted for merit including the four General Studies Papers, two optional papers, and an essay paper.
• Additionally, two language papers, Paper A and B are qualifying papers with 300 marks each (do not count for ranking).
• Other than the language papers, the remaining seven papers including the optional subject papers, are awarded 250 marks each. The maximum mark awarded to the candidate for the personality test is 275. The total is 2025.

SPECIFICATION	Preliminary Exam	Mains Exam
Mode	Offline	Offline
Medium	English and Hindi	English and Hindi
Total Qualifying Papers	2	7
Total weightage	200 Each (400 Marks)	1750 Marks
Question Types	Multiple Choice	Both Subjective & Objective
Negative Marking	one-third (0.33) for each incorrect answer	one-third (only for objective type questions)
Exam Duration	2 Hours per Paper	3 Hours per Paper

UPSC Civil Service 2025 Syllabus:

Find below the UPSC CSE 2025 Syllabus for Prelims General Studies Part 1, prelims paper-2 & Mains Exam. Here candidates also can see some topics, according to below candidates can prepare for IAS exam 2025:

IAS Prelims Syllabus:

General Studies Paper I Syllabus:

• General Science.
• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Current events of national and international importance.
• Indian and World Geography-Social, Physical, Economic Geography of India and the World.
• Economic and Social Development-Poverty, Sustainable Development, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Public Policy, Panchayati Raj, Rights Issues, etc.
• General issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

General Studies Paper-II (CSAT) Syllabus:

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

UPSC Main Syllabus:

Paper-I Syllabus (Essay):

Paper-I will be an essay writing section. In this section, the Candidates have to write an essay on the topic of the multiple. It must be kept close to the subject of the essay to arrange the ideas in an orderly fashion and to write concisely. Credit is given for effective and exact expression

Paper-II General Studies Syllabus:

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society

• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature, and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
• Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
• The history of the world will include events from the 18th century such as the industrial revolution, world wars, re-draw of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism, etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
• The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
• Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems, and their remedies.
• Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
• Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
• Effects of globalization on Indian society.
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as  Tsunami, earthquakes, Volcanic activity, cyclones, etc., geographical features and their location changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography.

Paper-III General Studies Syllabus:

Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations

• India and its neighborhood- relations.
• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues, and challenges about the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels, and challenges therein.
• Indian Constitution—evolution, historical underpinnings, features, amendments, significant provisions, and basic structure.
• Government strives to have a workforce that reflects gender balance and women candidates are encouraged to apply.
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
• Separation of powers between various organs, dispute redressal mechanisms, and institutions.
• Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, the conduct of business, powers & privileges, and issues arising out of these.
• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions, and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
• Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability, and institutional and other measures.
• Structure, organization, and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
• Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions, and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies. Statutory, regulatory, and various quasi-judicial bodies.
• Bilateral, regional, and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
• Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
• Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
• Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
• Important International institutions, agencies, and fora- their structure, mandate.
• Role of civil services in a democracy.
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

Paper IV General Studies Syllabus:

Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

• Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
• Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy, and their effects on industrial growth.
• Government Budgeting.
• Science and technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
• Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
• Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology, and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
• Challenges to internal security through communication networks, the role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cybersecurity; money laundering, and its prevention.
• Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development, and employment.
• Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
• Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
• Food processing and related industries in India- scope’ and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
• Land reforms in India.
• Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.
• Investment models.
• Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
• Conservation, environmental pollution, and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
• Disaster and disaster management.
• Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
• Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.

UPSC Civil Service Exam 2025 Interview:

After the Exam, the next phase is an interview. It will be conducted to check your personality. The interviewer checks for your intellectual skills, communication skills, mental ability, and way of responding. It will be like a natural conversation. The candidates must be aware of the current things happening around them national as well as international. A candidate must be careful when filling the summary sheet with personal interests and hobbies as the interview test(in the case of the candidate qualifying for the same) may be based on the information provided in this field.

 UPSC Civil Services Exam 2025 Preparation Tips

Best Books for Preparing IAS Exam:

• Struggle for Independence by Chandra
• Get Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra
• Indian Polity by Laxmikanth
• Environment and Ecology by Majid Hussain
• Get Environment and Ecology by Hussain
• Brief History of Modern India. Also go through Ancient, Medieval and Modern India while preparing for History
• For Indian Art and Culture, refer to Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
• Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh, Mc Graw Hill’s Indian Economy consisted of Economy syllabus such as Planning, Agriculture, Economic Reforms, Industrialization and Policy, Inflation, Banking, External Trade, etc
• Physical Geography by Goh Cheng Leong
• Facets of Indian Culture by Spectrum
• A New Look at Modern Indian History by BL Grover
• India Since Independence by Bipin Chandra
• A History of Modern World by Ranjan Chakravarti

Best Books for IAS Exam 2025 Preparation

UPSC IAS 2025 Admit Card:

Admit Card of UPSC 2025 Pre and Mains will be released separately. The Candidate will have to download it from the official site. The UPSC CSE 2025 Admit Card will be released one week before the examination. When the admit card will be available the candidates will get a notification regarding it. Candidates can download admit cards by entering their application number and password/date of birth. The candidate without admit card will not be allowed to attend the exam.

UPSC 2025 Related Exams:

• IES/ISS 2025 Application Form
• IFS Exam 2025 Application Form
• CDS 2025 Application Form
• UPSC IES/ESE 2025 Application Form
• UPSC GEOSCIENTIST 2025 Application Form
• NDA 2025 Application Form
• UPSC CMS 2025 Application Form
• CISF AC 2025 Application Form
• UPSC CAPF AC 2025 Application Form

UPSC IAS 2025 Result:

The result would be declared on the official website after the completion of each phase. The candidates need to visit the official website of UPSC to check the result. The candidate can check it by entering their registration id and password.