IPS Full Form- Key Facts, Eligibility, Syllabus

Elite IAS Academy
5 min readJun 20, 2022

IPS, the position that speaks power, status and a position which is prestigious of the lot. Do you know what the complete full form of IPS is? Do you know what the eligibility criteria for being able to appear for an IPS examination are? Do you have any idea about the IPS exam pattern?

Well, if you want to explore all answers to the questions mentioned above, you have come to the right place. Make sure to go through this guide at your early convenience to explore all the critical facts about the IPS exam. Here is a detailed review on the key facts, eligibility, syllabus and much more.

IPS: Full Form and Definition

The full form of IPS is the Indian Police Service which belongs to the one arm of the three-armed All Indian Services, including IAS and IFoS. One who manages to pass this highly cooperative examination can ensure a powerful position, career, and lots of prestige throughout his life. Every year, millions of aspirants compete to reserve at least one seat for themselves in the IPS field.

An IPS officer is highly responsible for the effective and right distribution of law and orders in all India districts, states, cities, and villages. However, the job of an IPS officer is not as easy as it sounds. An IPS position is the only position of the entire All-Indian Services. Therefore, the IPS officer has to handle many duties single-handedly and perform various duties concerning different departments. Everything falls under the duty of an IPS officer, from crime prevention to disaster management.

Eligibility Criteria

To appear for the IPS examination in India, you must follow a few eligibility criteria. So let’s have a look at them.

· Nationality: the candidate must be an Indian citizen

· Age limit: All candidates must be under 21 to 37 years old, depending on their caste and category.

o General category: If you are an Indian from the General category, you can appear for an IPS exam if you are between 21 and 32 years old

o OBC category: If you are an Indian from the OBC category, you can appear for an IPS exam if you are between 21 and 35 years old

o SC/ ST category: If you are an Indian from the SC/ ST category, you can appear for an IPS exam if you are between 21 and 37 years old

o Physically challenged: If you are a physically challenged Indian from the General, OBC, or SC/ ST category, you can appear for an IPS exam if you are between 42, 45, and 47 years old, respectively

· Educational Qualification: All appearing candidates must have a Bachelor’s degree from a recognizable university in India

· Physical Ability: To appear for an IPS exam, you must fulfill the physical ability criteria mentioned below.

o Length:

General category: At least 165 centimeters (for male candidates)

At least 150 centimeters (for female candidates)

OBC, SC/ST category: At least 160 centimeters (for male candidates)

At least 145 centimeters (for female candidates)

o Chest: At least 84 centimeters (for male candidates ) and 79 centimeters (for female candidates)

o Eyesight: The candidates must have good eyesight, from 6/6 to 6/9. Weak eyesight from 6/12 to 6/9 is also accepted.

Examinations and exam pattern

All eligible candidates must appear for the Civil Service exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission or UPSC for cracking exams like IAS, IPS, IRS, and more. If you want to know how to read effectively for the UPSC exam, make sure to read it now.

Exam pattern

Like most other UPSC examinations, the IPS exam is also divided into three parts. All eligible candidates must opt for all three exams to become an Indian Police Service officer, which is the full form of IPS. So, let’s look at the exam pattern of an IPS examination.

· Preliminary examination or Prelims

The first stage of an IPS examination is the Preliminary exam, where all candidates have to give answers to two compulsory papers of 200 marks each. These two papers consist of only objective type (multiple choices) questions of 200 marks. Please note that the questions come with negative markings.

· Mains Examination

You can opt for the Main exam once you get selected by getting 33% marks on the prelims paper. Let’s look at the papers you have to attend in the Main exam of the Indian Police Service, the full form of IPS.

1. Paper I: General English 300 Marks

2. Paper-II: General Knowledge 300 Marks

3. Papers III, IV, V, and VI: The applicant needs to choose any two subjects from the options of subjects set out in para 2 below.

Please note that each subject will have two papers of 200 marks for each paper in the IPS Main exam.

· Interview

Once you successfully ace both Prelims and Main exams, you will be called for an interview round, also known as a personality test. In this round, you will get asked simple yet tricky questions about yourself, current affairs, and general knowledge. If you pass this round by impressing the front panel, you will surely become a successful IPS officer.

IPS Prelims Syllabus

Paper I:

· Current events of national and international importance

· History of India and the Indian National Movement

· Economic and Social Development

· General Science

· General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change

· Indian and World Geography -Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Paper-II:

· Comprehension

· General mental ability

· Class X level Basic Numeracy (orders of magnitude, numbers and their relations, etc.), Data Interpretation (graphs, tables, charts, data sufficiency, etc.)

· Logical reasoning and analytical ability

· Decision making and problem-solving

Conclusion

These, in short, were IPS full form, definition, eligibility criteria, exam pattern, and IPS Prelims syllabus. So, if you want to become a successful IPS in the future, follow your instincts, and study hard. If you follow the right study pattern and work hard, nothing can stop you from becoming a successful IPS officer soon.

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