UPSC IFS Syllabus 2021: IFS Subjects Wise Syllabus For Prelims & Mains Exam 2021

Author : Kanak Joshi

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UPSC IFS Syllabus: UPSC or Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has invited applications for Civil service exam, which includes IFS Exam. The UPSC IFS Exam Notification will be released soon and the UPSC IFS Online Application will be released soon. The prelim exam is scheduled in May 2021. Practically 2 months are left. Entrants must start early to complete their studies. The UPSC IFS Exam 2021 will be conducted in three phases. The Prelim, the Main and the personality test round. The IFS Exam process is not very easy to crack so it is very important to know the revised UPSC IFS Syllabus for 2021.

However, the UPSC IFS Exam Pattern will help entrants to understand the level of difficulty in the exam. There will be 9 papers themselves for the main exam of IFS, hence a lot to be covered. However, before we jump to the syllabus for the exam, let’s have a look into the IFS Syllabus 2021:

UPSC IFS Syllabus 2021:

As we already discussed the exam has three phases and all phases are vital in IFS Exam. UPSC has scheduled the Prelim Exam 2021 in the month of May. However, the Main exam is in December 2021 there will be 6 fixed paper to attend and 7th paper is of optional subjects. If the entrants qualify in the prelim exam they will further appear in the Main exam. Both Prelim and Main exam of IFS is offline and pen and paper exam. If the entrant is shortlisted in the main exam the entrants will be then called for the Personality test. Let’s have a look on UPSC IFS Syllabus.

For complete notification check UPSC IFS Recruitment 2021

UPSC IFS Prelims Exam:

The IFS Prelim exam had been scheduled in the month of May 5th 2021. However, due to the Corona Virus outbreak, the exam date had been rescheduled to the month of October 2021. The prelim exam is the same for all entrants appearing for various Civil Service Exams. This paper will have two papers. English and General awareness. Let’s have a look into the subjects to study:

UPSC IFS Exam Pattern:

Papers	Exam mode	Total Marks	Total Questions	Qualifying score	Time limit
General Ability Test	Offline	200	100	Not Applicable	2 hours for normal entrants 2hr + 20mins for VH entrants.
Civil Service Aptitude Test	Offline	200	80	33%	2 hours for normal entrants 2hr + 20mins for VH entrants.

Note:

Entrants have to score at least 33% to qualify in the exam.
There will be negative marking in both the papers. Deduction of 1/3 marks will be applicable for each wrong answer.
However, there will be no deduction for leaving a question unanswered.

UPSC IFS Syllabus for General Awareness & Reasoning:

Current Affairs of National and International Importance.
Indian History & National Movements.
Physical, Social & Economical Geography of India & the World.
Polity & Governance of India (Political System, Constitution, Public Policy, Rights Issues, Panchayati Raj).
Developments (social & Economical) – Poverty, Social Sector initiatives, Inclusion, Sustainable Development, Demographics.
Issues Relating to Bio-diversity, Climate Change, Environmental Ecology which doesn’t need specialization.
Analytical Ability & Logical Reasoning
Problem-solving & Decision making.
Mental Ability (general)
Numeracy (Basic) (Numeric Relations & Magnitude and its order) (10th Standard Level)
Interpretation of Data (Tables, Graphs, Data Sufficiency, Chart- 10th Standard Level).

UPSC IFS Syllabus 2021: English Language:

Reading comprehension.
Communication Skill.
Grammar 10th standard Level.

After qualifying in the Prelim exam, the entrants will enter the IFS Main Exam, which is specifically for IFS. So, let’s have a look at the subjects:

UPSC IFS Mains Exam:

The Main exam is the most vital part as it is the bumpiest hurdle in the IFS exam. There will be Seven paper in the exam of which one paper will be optional and all of them are fixed. Let’s have look at the details of the subjects of IFS Main Exam:

IFS Mains Exam Pattern:

SL No	Merit Counting Papers	Total Marks
1	Writing Essay	250 Each segment
2	General Studies on Cultural, Heritage, historical, Geographical studies of the world.
3	General Studies on Polity, Governance, Social Justice, Relation of India with other countries.
4	General studies on Economics, Technology, Security, Environment, management of Disasters, Bio-Diversity
5	General Studies on Aptitude, Ethics & Integrity
6	Regional Language Exam
7	Paper -2 Optional Subject
	Total	1750

Note:

There will be a deduction of 5% marks if the handwriting of the entrants is not clear or understandable.
Rewarding will be done for proper handwriting and orderly answers.
Entrants must use SI units where ever required.
Entrants must use the international numbering sequence in the answer paper.

UPSC IFS Syllabus (Mains Subjects and Topics):

Paper 1: UPSC IFS Syllabus for Heritage/ Culture of India, Modern India, World History, Geography & Social issues:

1	Literature and Architecture from old to present times.
2	Indian culture will cover the main features of Art Forms.
3	Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century till present- significant events, personalities, issues.
4	The Indian Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.
5	Post-independence consolidation and restructuring within the country.
6	History of the world will include events from the 18th Century.
7	Indian Society’s Salient Features, Diversity of India.
8	The role of women and women’s organizations.
9	Effects of globalization on Indian Society.
10	Social Empowerment.
11	Salient Features of world’s Physical Geography.
12	Key Natural Resources Across the world & their Distribution.
13	Important Geographical Phenomena.

Paper 2- UPSC IFS Syllabus for International Relations, Governance, Constitution, Polity, and Social Justice.

1	Functions and duties of the Union and the States, issues and challenges of the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
2	Role of Civil Services in a democracy
3	Regional, Bilateral, and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
4	The consequence of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.
5	Institution of Important Internationals, agencies- their role, structure and mandate.
6	Policies of Government and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
7	Processes of Development and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
8	Parliament and functioning, the conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
9	Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
10	Policies Of Government and interventions for development in various sectors
11	Development process and the development industry
12	Schemes of Welfare for the vulnerable section of the population by centre and states.
13	Important aspects of Governance

Paper 3: UPSC IFS Syllabus for Development of Technology, Economic, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security & Disaster Management

1	Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
2	Government Budgeting.
3	Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.
4	Challenges Of Security and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
5	Processing Food and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
6	Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
7	Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development, and employment of India.
8	Conservation, environmental pollution, and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
9	Disaster and disaster management.
10	Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
11	Land reforms in India.
12	Effects of Liberalization on the economy.
13	Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, roads, etc.
14	Investment models.
15	Science and technology.
16	Achievements of Indian in Science and technology.
17	Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, etc.
18	Conversation, environmental pollution, and degradation.
19	Disaster and Disaster Management.
20	Linkages between development and spread of extremism etc.
21	Role of external state.
22	Challenges of internal security through communications networks.
21	Security challenges.

Paper 4- UPSC IFS Syllabus for Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

1	Human Interface & Ethics: Essence, determinants, and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.
2	Content, structure, function (Attitude); its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
3	Intelligence Of Emotional concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
4	Moral thinker’s Contributions and philosophers from India and the world.
5	Values of Human– lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; the role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
6	Probity in Governance: Concept of Public Service.
7	Case studies on Above Issues etc.

UPSC IFS Syllabus For Language and Options Paper:

Indian Language Exam – The language must one that is approved in the Indian constitution.

UPSC IFS Syllabus on English Language:

Essay writing

Comprehension (unseen passage)

Writing Precis

Grammar (vocabulary).

Entrants can choose any of the below-mentioned lists of subjects:

Electrical Engineering

Agriculture

Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

Anthropology

Botany

Electrical Engineering

Chemistry

Physics

Geography

Civil Engineering

Economics

Commerce and Accountancy

Geography

Management

History

Mathematics

Law

Mechanical Engineering

Philosophy

Medical Science

Political Science and International Relations

Sociology

Statistics

Zoology

Public Administration

Political Science and International Relations

Literature

Zoology

UPSC IFS Syllabus: Personality Test

Entrants will have to go through a round of Personality tests of interviews after qualifying in the main exam. A body of unbiased IFS and competent officers will conduct the interview. The motif of the interview is to judge the entrant on the basis of their educational qualification and to find if the entrant’s personality is fit for the job profile. The interview will be conducted on the basis of the following subjects:

For latest updates check UPSC IFS Interview Schedule 2021.

UPSC IFS Syllabus on Interview Subjects:

Relation Of Indian with Foreign Countries	Foreign culture	Cultural Diplomacy	Knowledge of trade between countries.	Knowledge of Economic Developments.
Indian History	Current Affairs of Nationa and International Importance.	Defence Mechanism	Leadership Ability	Communication Skills

UPSC IFS Syllabus FAQ:

How many papers are there in UPSC IFS Main exam 2021?

There will be a total of 7 papers in UPSC IFS Main Exam 2021.

How many phases of the exam are there in total for the entire IFS Exam?

There are 3 phases of the exam. The prelim, mains and personality test.

If an entrant fails to qualify in any of the paper of the Main exam will they call him or her in Personality test?

No, entrants will have to qualify in all the papers and all the phases of exam to qualify.

What is the qualifying marks in Prelim exam of IFS?

The qualifying marks in the IFS Prelim exam is 33%.

What is the negative mark deduction in the Prelim exam?

In the prelim exam there will be a deduction of 1/3 marks applicable for every singly wrong answer. In conclusion, the exam dates are already out now. Entrants looking forward to completing the registration must check their UPSC IFS Eligibility to appear for the exam 1st. Entrants must also prepare your UPSC IFS Study plan to crack the exam. It not very difficult to crack the exam if entrants study and do the revisions.

Author: Kanak Joshi

Kanak Joshi is an experienced content writer with a demonstrated history of working in the education news domain for the last two years. Her role at admisure is write to SEO-based and Unique articles. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization, Microsoft Words, Microsoft Excel, and Web Content Writing.

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