All in all, the commission holds the exam in the first quarter of the year. However, India is one of the countries heavily affected by Covid-19. Thus, owing to the pandemic, the Board has postponed the exam.
About Indian Police Service Exam
In all honesty, the pattern of the examination is very simple. The Exam tests the candidates’ knowledge of a variety of subjects. Also, the candidates will have to pass the interview.
The physical screening test requires the candidates to pass through a specified set of chest and height measurements. Also, the candidates should show their physical proficiency. The commission needs the candidate to go through foundational training and other such courses. Only then, the Commission sees the candidate as qualified to become a full-fledged Indian Police Service officer.
Thus, one can divide the selection process for Indian Police Service officers into three initial parts:
- IPS Prelims
- Indian Police Service Mains
- IPS Interview.
Every year, thousands of candidates across the country apply for the IPS Exam. But vacancies are extremely limited. Thus, the Indian Police Service is one of the most coveted positions in the country.
| Abbreviation |
UPSC |
| Type |
Government Recruitment Body |
| Division |
Indian Police Service or IPS |
| Purpose |
Recruitment of Police Personnel (and other such positions) |
| Location |
Dholpur House, New Delhi |
| Chairman |
Shri Pradeep Kumar Joshi |
| Founding Date |
01.10.1926 |
| First Chairman |
Sir Ross Barker |
| UPSC Official Website |
www.upsc.gov.in |
Indian Police Service Exam Notification and News
The Commission released the official notification for the Indian Police Service exam 2021 on the 4th of March 2021. You can find it at the Union Public Service Commission’s official website. The application procedure started on the 4th of March 2021. The application link to apply for the exam was open until the 24th of March 2021. The last date for the submission of the application fee was not specified in the official notification.
However, the Board postponed the dates of the exam from June to October. In fact, the UPSC did so because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, the objective type Prelims exam starts in October.
| Events |
Date |
| Release of the Indian Police Service Notification |
04.03.2021 |
| Starting date of Applications |
04.03.2021 |
| Last date of Applications |
24.03.2021 |
| The revised date of Indian Police Service Prelims |
10.10.2021 |
Indian Police Service Exam Date
The Commission has postponed the exam dates for the Indian Police Service 2021. So, it will start on the 10th of October, 2021. The Board was initially holding the exams in June. But the UPSC postponed it following the devastating situation of Covid in the country.
Now, the UPSC will conduct the exams over a span of 4 months for several posts. For instance, some of the posts are that of the Indian Police Service and Indian Administrative Service.
| Exam |
Date |
Duration |
| IPS Prelims |
27.06.2021 (Original) |
2 hours |
| IPS Prelims |
10.10.2021 (Revised) |
2 hours |
| Indian Police Service Mains |
07.01.2022 |
3 hours per Paper |
| IPS Interview or Personality Test |
Not Declared |
NA |
| Physical Screening Test or PST |
Not Declared |
NA |
Know More – IPS Important Date & Notifications
Application Fee
The candidates who are interested to appear for the Indian Police Service 2021 should pay an application fee. They can do so both while or after filling up the application form. The value of the application fee differs as per the candidates. The UPSC has provided the application fee details on their Notification. Thus, in turn, we have provided the fee structure in the following section for a clearer idea.
| Exam |
Male |
Female |
| Indian Police Service |
General candidates: Rs. 100 |
General Candidates: Nil |
| (SC) Scheduled Caste: NIL |
Scheduled Caste: NIL |
| (ST) Scheduled Tribes: NIL |
Scheduled Tribes: NIL |
| PWD Candidate: NIL |
PWD Candidate: NIL |
Indian Police Service Eligibility Criteria
The Board has provided the eligibility criteria to appear in the Indian Police Service 2021 examination. Prospective candidates of this exam must consider the basic criteria to qualify for the Exam.
Minimum Educational Qualification
The Board requires that the candidates who are appearing for the different posts to be a graduate. Also, the UPSC can offer relaxation on certain merits. But the candidates must be matriculated. One of the major reasons why the IPS qualification bar is set is to ensure that the candidates appearing for these posts are educated and have a piece of knowledge about the job. Also, the questions that are asked in the examinations are at the level of 10+2. Hence the UPSC has set the minimum qualification as a graduate.
Minimum Age Requirement
The UPSC requires the candidate to be between the ages of 21 years to 32 years. Thus, the candidate must not be born later than 1st August 2000. The Board allows any and every candidate who falls within this age group to appear for the Indian Police Service Exam 2021.
Moreover, the Board allows the following relaxation for various categories.
| Category |
Relaxation (in years) |
| SC/ST |
5 |
| OBC |
3 |
| Ex-Servicemen |
5 |
| Person with Benchmark Disability (For example, people with blindness, hard of hearing, etc) |
10 |
Nationality
The candidate appearing for the Indian Police Service Exam has to be Indian. However, one should note that a few candidates do get relaxation. The Board grants those who belong to the reserved category with an age relaxation when applying for the examination.
They should be either:
- An Indian citizen or
- A native of Bhutan or
- A native of Nepal or
- A Tibetan refugee. However, the refugee should’ve arrived before 1st January 1962. Moreover, they should arrive to become permanent residents or
- They might be a person of Indian origin. For example, they should come here from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Vietnam. Moreover, they may belong to Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, etc.
All in all, the Government of India should authorize the candidate’s eligibility.
IPS Exam Number of Attempts
UPSC has given certain relaxations according to the candidate’s category. Therefore, candidates cannot surpass the maximum number of attempts to sit for the Exam.
| Category |
Number of Attempts |
| General |
6 times |
| OBC |
9 times |
| Economically Weaker Sections |
9 times |
| SC/ST |
Unlimited |
Indian Police Service Vacancies
The number of vacancies for the post of the Indian Police Service 2021 is an important consideration. Therefore, the IPS candidates should check it before applying. Also, people have estimated the total number of UPSC vacancies for this year at 712. Because they have considered the different posts of the Indian Police. However, the total number of IPS vacancies is about 200.
Thus, UPSC will conduct the exam to fill the total vacancies of the state. Moreover, this will ensure the selection of eligible candidates for the IPS. The information regarding the vacancies at the examination is as follows.
| Category |
Vacancies |
| General Candidates |
83 number of posts |
| SC Candidates |
27 number of posts |
| ST Candidates |
20 number of posts |
| OBC Candidates |
50 number of posts |
| Economically Weaker Sections |
20 number of posts |
Indian Police Service Officer Salary
Firstly, there are many reasons to consider joining the Indian Police Service. And the attractive salary package is one of those reasons.
The pay scale for the Indian Police Service 2021 is different for the various ranks. The pay scale for an Indian Police Service or IPS officer lies between Rs. 56,100 to Rs. 2,25,000. However, this is only the basic salary. The Indian Police Service officer also receives a lot of perks and benefits along with the salary.
For instance, it provides allowances like Dearness, House Rent, and Travelling allowances.
Indian Police Service or IPS Syllabus
The syllabus is one of the most important components of the Indian Police Service examinations. This is because the syllabus will guide the candidates regarding what subjects and concepts to study. The general syllabus for the examination on which the test will be conducted comprises a variety of subjects and topics.
All in all, the Exams are divided into two parts. They are Prelims and Mains.
IPS Prelims Syllabus:
There are two papers in the Indian Police Service Prelims. They are Objective-type papers. Moreover, the two papers are of two hours each.
Paper I:
- Current Events
- Indian History
- Indian as well as World Geography
- Polity
- Economics
- General Science in addition to Environmental Science
Paper II:
- Comprehension as well as Communication skills
- Logical Reasoning as well as analytics
- Decision making as well as problem-solving
- General mental Ability
- Lastly, Numerical ability
IPS Mains Syllabus:
There is a total of 9 papers. However, two of these papers are qualifying in nature.
The two qualifying papers are:
- Indian Language Paper
- English Paper
Next, the Compulsory papers are as follows:
- Essay paper
- Then, General Studies 1 (Indian Heritage/Culture, History in addition to Geography of the World and Society)
- General Studies 2 (Governance, Polity, Constitution, Social Justice in addition to International relations)
- General Studies 3 (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
- Lastly, General Studies 4 (Ethics, Integrity in addition to Aptitude)
Next, the candidates will be able to choose for the following papers:
- Optional Subjects – Paper 1
- Optional Subjects – Paper 2
Indian Police Service Exam Pattern
The IPS candidate should study the exam pattern thoroughly. Because each section of the examination consists of different types of questions. And each section carries a separate set of marks. We have provided the following information about the exam pattern. Thus, this will make it easy for the candidates to understand the pattern.
- There will only be two papers in the IPS Prelims.
- The questions will be objective type questions in the form of multiple-choice questions
- The two Prelims papers will consist of 200 marks each. Moreover, each question will carry around 2marks
- The Board will provide candidates with 120 minutes or 2 hours to complete each paper.
- However, there is negative marking in Indian Public Service exams
- The level of difficulty in the questions is given at the 10+2 level
- The candidate can attempt the exam in either English or Hindi language
- The candidate has to score a minimum of 33% to qualify for the Indian Police Service Prelims
- The qualifying papers of the IPS Mains are worth 300 marks each. However, the other papers are of 250 marks each.
- The duration of the IPS Mains papers is 3 hours each.
Know More – IPS Exam Pattern and Syllabus
Admit Card
The Admit Card is an important document to sit for the Indian Police Service Exam. The candidate needs to collect the Admit card before appearing for the examination of the Indian Police Service
The Admit Card for the examination is generally released a few weeks before the start of the examination. The candidates appearing for the exams can download Admit Card from the official website of UPSC. The candidates will need to provide their roll number. Moreover, they should download the Admit Card for later use. It is important that every candidate downloads the Admit Card at least a week before the exam and has more than one copy at hand. Because UPSC will not allow any candidate to give the examination unless they bring it at the time of the examination.
The Indian Police Service Admit card is important for another reason as well. In fact, it contains the exam venue and reporting time.
Know More – IPS Admit Card and Interview call letter
Result
The UPSC usually releases the Indian Police Service Exam result within a few months from the date of the examination. There is no fixed date regarding the release of the results. However, after analyzing the pattern of the last two years candidates can expect that the result will come out within a span of 2-3 months.
The UPSC will release the results on the official website of the Union Public Service Commission. Then, IPS candidates will need to check the results. Additionally, the UPSC will release the result in the form of a PDF. This is where the roll numbers of the selected candidates are available.
Know More – IPS Result & Cut off Marks
How to Apply?
The Indian Police Service is one of the most prestigious examinations that is conducted in the country. Every year thousands of students apply for the examination for the various ranks in the Indian Police force. The job is opened to both males and females. Of course, they must be citizens of the state as well as the country. Any candidates who are interested in the IPS and also eligible can apply for it. The candidates can fill up the application form at the official website of the UPSC. The link will remain open until 24.03.2021. Thus, the link will be disabled after the given date.
To make the entire application procedure simple, we have provided the following guidelines on how to apply for the application.
Indian Police Service Application Process
- The first step includes the prospective candidates opening the official website of the Union Public Service Commission or upsc.gov.in.
- Next, the candidates will have to register themselves. Additionally, they should create a profile on the site by providing details of the candidate
- Now, the candidate generates the username and password. Then, the site will ask them to log in to their accounts
- On clicking the link, the site displays the application form page.
- Here, the candidate will be asked to provide all the details. For instance, it includes the name of the candidate, address details, education, and contact number
- Next, the candidate will have to scan the documents that have been asked for. Then, they will have to upload them to the website
- The site will guide the candidate to a new page with the payment options
- The candidate after selecting the payment method and completing the process will need to click on the submit button
- Once all the steps have been completed, the applicant will need to download the page. Additionally, they should print it and keep the document for future use.
- Next, the candidates will learn of the completion of the entire procedure through the mail and phone number.
However, keep in mind that this application is only for the Prelims. Thus, successful candidates will have to fill up the Mains form later. Moreover, they should specify that they prefer to join the IPS on the form.
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FAQs
Q1. When will the UPSC hold the Indian Police Service Exam?
The UPSC postponed the exam from the month of June 2021 to the month of October 2021. Thus, the Indian Police Service Prelims will happen on the 10th of October, 2021.
Q2. What is the salary structure of the Indian Police Service officer?
The pay scale for the Indian Police Service officers 2021 is different for the various ranks. The pay scale for an Indian Police Service or IPS officer lies between Rs. 56,100 to Rs. 2,25,000. However, an Indian Police Service officer also receives a lot of perks and benefits along with the salary.
For instance, it provides allowances like Dearness, House Rent, and Travelling allowances.
Q3. Where can I find the Admit Card for the Indian Police Service Examination?
You can find the Admit Card for the “Indian Police Service” examinations can on the official website of UPSC. Also, you can find the Admit Card on the official website a few weeks before the exam. Candidates should download it before appearing on the exam.
Q4. When will the result of the IPS Exam come out?
The results of the Indian Police Service examinations have no scheduled date for its release. However, you can expect it to come out sometime within the span of two to three months after the exam has been conducted.
Q5. Is the application fee for all candidates the same for appearing for the IPS exam?
The application fee for the IPS examination is different for different candidates. The fee structure is different for the reserved and unreserved candidates. The fee structure is also different for the male and female candidates. Only the General Male candidates should pay the 100/- fee. Thus, UPSC exempts all the other candidates from paying the fee.
Q6. What is the syllabus for the Indian Police Service Examination 2021?
The syllabus for the IPS examination consists of a variety of subjects. For instance, the subjects include numerical ability, reasoning, agriculture, current affairs, general studies, general awareness, and computers. Moreover, the level of difficulty for the examination is subject to change according to the paper.
Q7. What are the eligibility criteria for appearing at the Indian Police Service examination?
The eligibility criteria for appearing at the examination is that the candidates need to be between the age of 21 to 32 years. Also, they must have a graduate and matriculation degree recognized by the Government of India. Additionally, the candidates need to be residents of India to apply for the examination.
Q8. When will the UPSC conduct the Indian Police Service examination in 2021?
The UPSC has decided to conduct the examinations for 2021 on the 10th of August after it was postponed.
Q9. What is the exam pattern to appear for the Indian Police Service Examination?
The exam pattern of the Indian Police Service 2021 consists of two major stages. They are Prelims and Mains. Also, the Prelims comprise of two papers. On the other hand, the Indian Police Service Mains consists of nine papers.
Moreover, the marks and durations for the two exams are different as well. You can find the detailed exam pattern here.
Q10. How can I apply for the UPSC IPS exam?
You can apply for the Indian Police Service recruitment examination by visiting the official website of the UPSC. Then, you can fill up the application form and pay the application fee. Once the application fee has been submitted, the candidate can give the IPS examination.
