FAQ

About Our Academy & Courses

Discover the excellence of Kamaraj IAS Academy, a premier institute renowned for its top-notch faculty, comprehensive study materials, and personalized guidance. Explore our admission procedures and FAQs to embark on your journey towards success.

Prelims Combined Mains class is a 16 months courses programme, with 5 days a week class and the classes are for 2 hours and 30 minutes each.
Yes, subject specific doubt clearing classes will be available depending upon the syllabus coverage and difficulty of the subject.
Most of the faculty have mains and interview experience and we also have academicians who are specialized in the various fields.
Materials will be sent to the students through India Post regularly.
We do have regular class test and also test series. Totally the number of tests will be around 50 test.
Each student will be allocated a separate mentor and separate group will be created for regular interaction, apart from this regular one-to-one session is available either in online mode or offline according to your convenience with your allocated mentor and the director.
Recording of the classes will be given to you through a separate portal wherein you will get a username and password for login will be provided. Maximum the access to the recording will be there for 1.5 years.
We have 10% cumulative results in the past few years.
We are working as an institute from 2005 before that we were working as a study group mentoring students for nearly 20 years. We are well known institute in Chennai and Mr. K.Kamaraj, the grand nephew of Bharat Ratna former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Kamarajar is the honorary director.
Yes, we provide hostel facilities for both men and women separately and we also have contacts of various hostels for your reference.
Fee Reduction: We provide 10% discount to students from farming community, children of police, children of defence personnel and economically weaker sections and for students who are taking fully online course (Applicable only for Prelims Combined Mains Batch - PCM Batches).
Scholarship: We provide scholarships through Kanagavel Kamaraj Trust.
Fortnight Current Affairs Classes, Exclusive Prelims based subject wise Current Affairs and KIOSK Current Affairs monthly magazine is available to the students. And the pass students can attend the current affairs classes .

Full guidance, personal mentoring, some updation classes and support will be given to you till you succeed in the exam.

Yes, the PCM course is designed in such a way that within the time span of 15 months the entire Prelims and Mains syllabus is covered.

Refer to the admission link to know the fees structure : 

We have the ideal batch size of 60 students including both offline and online students 
No further payment is required for repetition of classes.

Maximum 6 months

Yes, we have study hall which is accessible for all the students and we have books for reference.

We provide free interview guidance to all students irrespective of whether they are enrolled students of our academy or not.

(Click here to know about the various mentors)

We provide maximum 4 instalment for full payment of fees.

We do not have any other branches, we are available only in “AP - 127, AF block, 6 th street, 11th Main Rd, Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600040”

About UPSC CSE

Unlock your potential with Kamaraj IAS Academy's specialized UPSC courses. Benefit from our proven teaching methodologies, extensive mock tests, and track record of student success. Prepare comprehensively for the UPSC Civil Services Examination with us. Explore our UPSC FAQs for more information.

ALL INDIA CIVIL SERVICES
  1. Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
  2. Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
  3. Indian Police Service (IPS)

GROUP ‘A’ CIVIL SERVICES
  1. Indian Audit And Accounts Service (IAAS)
  2. Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
  3. Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
  4. Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
  5. Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
  6. Indian Information Service (IIS)
  7. Indian Postal Service (Ipos)
  8. Indian P&T Accounts And Finance Service
  9. Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) 
  10. Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) 
  11. Indian Trade Service (ITS)
  12. IRMS (Indian Railway Management Service)
    1. Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
    2. Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)
    3. Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)

Group ‘B’ Civil Services
  1. Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service
  2. Delhi, Andaman And Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu And Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS)
  3. Delhi, Andaman And Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu And Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS)
  4. Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS)
  5. Pondicherry Police Service
(I) Nationality

  1. For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.
  2. For other services, a candidate must be either:
    1. a citizen of India
    2. a subject of Nepal
    3. a subject of Bhutan
    4. a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India
    5. a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

(II) Age Limits:

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years.

Relaxation for maximum Age Limit:
  1. OBC – Maximum Age Limit :35
  2. SC/ST – Maximum Age Limit: 37
  3. Maximum of 10 years in the case of candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD)

(III) Minimum Educational Qualification:

Any UG Degree, Any University with UGC Norms

Every candidate appearing at the examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six (6) attempts at the CSE. However, relaxation in the number of attempts will be available to the SC/ST/OBC and PwBD category candidates who are otherwise eligible. The number of attempts available to such candidates as per relaxation is as under:

Number of Attempts:

1. For SC/ST -  Unlimited
2. For OBC - 09
3. For PwBD - 09 for GL/EWS/OBC & Unlimited for SC/ST 
The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages 
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and
(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) 

This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit

There will be negative marking for incorrect answers. 1/3rd marks will be deducted as penalty for wrong answers.

Question papers for the papers of UPSC Preliminary Exam will be set in both Hindi & English.

 | Paper Name | Time Duration | No. of Questions | Total Marks | Nature of Paper
| GS Paper I | 2 hours | 100 | 200 | Marks considered for Preliminary Exam Merit
| GS Paper II (CSAT) | 2 hours | 80 | 200 | Qualifying in nature (33% of total marks)
List of optional subjects for Main Examination:

(i) Agriculture

(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

(iii) Anthropology

(iv) Botany

(v) Chemistry

(vi) Civil Engineering

(vii) Commerce and Accountancy

(viii) Economics

(ix) Electrical Engineering

(x) Geography

(xi) Geology

(xii) History

(xiii) Law

(xiv) Management

(xv) Mathematics

(xvi) Mechanical Engineering

(xvii) Medical Science

(xviii) Philosophy

(xix) Physics

(xx) Political Science and International Relations

(xxi) Psychology

(xxii) Public Administration

(xxiii) Sociology

(xxiv) Statistics

(xxv) Zoology

(xxvi) Literature of any one of the following languages:

Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.

Part A—Preliminary Examination

Paper I - (200 marks) 

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

Paper II-(200 marks) 

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

Part B—Main Examination

QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH

The aim of the paper is to test the candidates' ability to read and understand serious discursive prose, and to express ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian language concerned.

The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows :

(i) Comprehension of given passages.

(ii) Precis Writing.

(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.

(iv) Short Essays

Indian Languages :—

(i) comprehension of given passages.

(ii) Precis Writing.

(iii) Usage and Vocabulary.

(iv) Short Essays.

(v) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa.

PAPER-I - Essay

PAPER-II - General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

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

Ø 

PAPER-III - General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.

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

PAPER-IV - General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

Ø  Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Ø  Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Ø  Government Budgeting.
Ø  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.
Ø  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.
Ø  Food processing and related industries in India- scope’ and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
Ø  Land reforms in India.
Ø  Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
Ø  Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Ø  Investment models.
Ø  Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
Ø  Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Ø  Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Ø  Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Ø  Disaster and disaster management.
Ø  Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
Ø  Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
Ø  Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.
Ø  Security challenges and their management in border areas - linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
Ø  Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.


PAPER-V - General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case study approach to determine these aspects.

The following broad areas will be covered :

Ø  Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
Ø  Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
Ø  Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections.
Ø  Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
Ø  Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
Ø  Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
Ø  Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
Ø  Case Studies on above issues

Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2023 – Date of Notification - 01.02.2023

Last Date for receipt of Applications -  21.02.2023

Date of Preliminary Exam - 28.05.2023

Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2023 - 15.09.2023

S.No

Exam Paper

Name of the Paper

Nature of the Paper

Duration of the Exam

Marks

1

Paper – A

Compulsory Indian Language

QUALIFYING NATURE

3 Hours

300 Marks

2

Paper – B

English

3 Hours

300 Marks

3

Paper – I

ESSAY

MERIT RANKING NATURE

3 Hours

250 Marks

4

Paper – II

General Studies I

3 Hours

250 Marks

5

Paper – III

General Studies II

3 Hours

250 Marks

6

Paper – IV

General Studies III

3 Hours

250 Marks

7

Paper – V

General Studies IV

3 Hours

250 Marks

8

Paper – VI

Optional Paper I

3 Hours

250 Marks

9

Paper – VII

Optional Paper II

3 Hours

250 Marks


TOTAL


1750 Marks



Interview or Personality Test



275 Marks



GRAND TOTAL



2025 Marks

About TNPSC

Excel in the TNPSC exams with Kamaraj IAS Academy's tailored courses. Experience our unique coaching sessions, designed specifically for TNPSC aspirants. Avail of our resources and support to ace the TNPSC examination confidently. Learn more about our TNPSC courses through our FAQs.

Yes, all the classes are inclusive of the test series and regular class test, totally 25 to 30 tests are conducted.

No, we provide only regular classes from Thursday to Sunday every week. This is because we have Group I and II officers who are mentoring students, it become difficult for them to handle both regular and weekend, so for the convenience we have a Thursday to Sunday cycle.

TNPSC Group I – 10 Months (including Mains)

TNPSC Group II / II A – 8 months (including Mains)

TNPSC Group IV – 6 months

Yes, Video recording is available for all the classes

Yes, we provide institute material in both English and Tamil.

No, the materials are provided to the enrolled students and it is not for sale to other students 
We have 12 years of experience in coaching for TNPSC exams.

We have a 50% passing rate for TNPSC alone.

Yes, we have hostel facilities for both men and women separately

Once the students are enrolled, they can attend the classes in any batch for free till they clear the exam.

Yes, we have Mains Answer Writing Practice.