Shakti Dubey IAS is the name behind one of the most talked-about results in recent UPSC history. She secured All India Rank 1 in the Civil Services Examination 2024. The result came out on 22 April 2025, and among 1,009 recommended candidates, nobody finished ahead of her.
Her story is not about instant success. She comes from a middle-class family in Prayagraj and studied Biochemistry. She then chose Political Science and International Relations as her UPSC optional subject.
She could not clear the Prelims in her first three attempts. In the fourth, she reached the interview but missed the final list. In the fifth, she topped the country.
Today, she is an IAS officer of the 2025 batch in the Uttar Pradesh cadre. This guide covers her age, education, family, UPSC attempts, marks, cadre and latest posting. Every detail comes from official records or reported interviews. Where sources disagree, we leave the disputed number out instead of guessing.
Quick Information Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Shakti Dubey |
| Profession | IAS officer, Uttar Pradesh cadre (2025 batch) |
| Date of Birth | 1996 (year as shown in the DoPT civil list) |
| Age | 28 years at the time of the UPSC result |
| Hometown | Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh |
| Family Roots | Ballia, Uttar Pradesh |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biochemistry |
| College | University of Allahabad (B.Sc.), Banaras Hindu University (M.Sc.) |
| Father’s Name | Devendra Kumar Dubey |
| Mother’s Name | Prema Dubey |
| Marital Status | Unmarried, as per media reports |
Shakti Dubey IAS Age, Early Life and Education
Shakti Dubey grew up in the Mama Bhanja Ka Talab area of Prayagraj. Her family originally comes from Ballia. Since she was born in 1996, she was about 22 when she began her UPSC preparation in 2018.
Schooling: She studied at St. Mary’s Convent (SMC) in Ghurpur, Prayagraj. Her mother says she scored good marks without anyone pushing her to study.
Graduation: She earned a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Allahabad, in her home city.
Postgraduation: She then moved to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for an M.Sc. in Biochemistry. She lived in the BHU hostel during these years.
About her universities: The University of Allahabad, founded in 1887, is among the oldest modern universities in India. It has produced many civil servants, and its home city of Prayagraj is well known as a hub for UPSC aspirants. Banaras Hindu University, in Varanasi, was founded in 1916 by Madan Mohan Malaviya and is one of Asia’s largest residential universities. Shakti therefore studied at two institutions with deep roots in Indian higher education.
A switch from science to humanities: Most toppers pick an optional subject close to their degree. Shakti did the opposite. She chose Political Science and International Relations (PSIR), a subject far from the lab. Her choice shows that a science student can succeed in a humanities optional with steady effort.
UPSC Journey: Attempts and Success Story
Shakti started her UPSC preparation in 2018, right after her master’s degree. That year she also moved to Delhi to study. Her path was long, and it had several setbacks.
| Stage | What Happened |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Began UPSC preparation and moved to Delhi |
| Attempts 1 to 3 | Did not clear the Prelims |
| 2020 | Returned to Prayagraj during the Covid outbreak and kept studying at home |
| Attempt 4 (CSE 2023) | Cleared Prelims and Mains, reached the interview, but missed the final list |
| Attempt 5 (CSE 2024) | Cleared all three stages and secured All India Rank 1 |
After the 2023 disappointment, she started again the very next day. She says her biggest mistake earlier was using too many books and sources. In her view, aspirants should choose a limited set of books and revise them again and again.
What motivated her: Her father’s police job gave her a close look at public service. She has said that living in the BHU hostel helped her understand how much public service can help ordinary people.
UPSC 2024 Result Snapshot
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Result Declared | 22 April 2025 |
| All India Rank | 1 |
| Optional Subject | Political Science and International Relations |
| Mains (Written) Marks | 843 |
| Interview Marks | 200 |
| Total Marks | 1,043 out of 2,025 (Mains 1,750 + Interview 275) |
| Candidates Recommended | 1,009 |
Shakti Dubey’s Advice for UPSC Aspirants
Shakti Dubey has shared a few simple lessons from her own years of preparation. They come from her phone interview with ETV Bharat after the result.
Study with a plan each day. She says the number of study hours matters less than choosing what to focus on. Decide your target every morning and stick to it.
Memorise and understand. Whatever you study, she says, you should remember it and also clear the basic concepts behind it.
Do not fear failure. She points out that people win and lose in every field, and UPSC is no different. She says success often arrives only after a failure.
Lean on your family. She credits her parents, brother and sister for believing in her when results did not go her way. She also urges young people never to lose hope after one bad result.
Her advice matters because it comes from someone who has seen both sides. She has failed Prelims, missed a final list by a small gap, and then topped the exam.
Family Details
Father: He serves as a Sub-Inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police. He has said his job kept him away from home for long periods. His role in her studies, he says, was simply to arrange whatever she needed.
Mother: She is a homemaker. Her husband credits her with playing the main role in their daughter’s success. She herself says she had no role, because Shakti studied day and night.
Siblings: Shakti has spoken of a brother and a sister who believed she could crack the exam.
Husband: Media reports describe her as unmarried. No interview or official record names a husband.
Family background: Shakti describes her family as middle class. Her parents spoke to the press right after the result, and both said they were overjoyed.
Shakti Dubey IAS Current Posting and Latest Update
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) allotted her the Uttar Pradesh cadre, which is her home state. She joined as a direct recruit through the UPSC examination.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Service | Indian Administrative Service (IAS) |
| Batch | 2025 |
| Cadre | Uttar Pradesh |
| Pay Level | Level 10 in the Pay Matrix |
| Foundation and Phase-I Training | LBSNAA, Mussoorie (Phase-I ended 17 April 2026) |
| District Training (April 2026 reports) | Assistant Magistrate and Assistant Collector, Moradabad |
| DoPT Civil List Entry | On training at LBSNAA since 17 May 2026 |
How Her Cadre Was Decided
DoPT does not choose cadres at random. It looks at each candidate’s rank, cadre preference, category, the number of vacancies, the insider-outsider ratio and the home state. She received Uttar Pradesh, her home state, so she counts as an “insider” officer in the cadre.
Training at LBSNAA
The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, trains new IAS officers. It was set up in 1958. Its motto, in Sanskrit, means that character is the highest virtue.
Training has a classroom phase at the academy and a field phase in the home cadre. In Uttar Pradesh, the 2025 batch reported to district magistrates after finishing the academy phase.
News reports from April 2026 placed her in Moradabad district for field training. In this phase, a young officer learns revenue work, public grievance handling, law and order, and how schemes reach villages.
Moradabad is a district in western Uttar Pradesh. As an Assistant Magistrate, a trainee works under the District Magistrate and sits in on revenue courts, tehsil work and grievance hearings. As an Assistant Collector, she learns how land records and revenue matters are handled. These months form the base for later posts, such as Sub-Divisional Magistrate, that IAS officers usually take up after probation.
The DoPT civil list can lag behind actual transfers, so its entry may differ from news reports. Her later postings will follow as her probation moves ahead. For confirmed orders, check the DoPT and Uttar Pradesh government notifications.
Why Her Rank Matters
Her result also stood out for another reason. Among the top 25 rankers of 2024, 11 were women and 14 were men, and a woman held the first rank. For many young women in small cities, her story shows that the top of the UPSC list is within reach.
The Civil Services Examination has three stages: Prelims, Mains and the Personality Test, which is the interview. Shakti reached the interview stage in two attempts in a row. The first time, she fell just short. The second time, she topped the list.
That pattern is worth noting for future candidates. Her improvement did not come from a sudden change of luck. It came from reviewing what went wrong, cutting down her study material, and returning to the same syllabus with a cleaner plan. Her rise is a strong example of steady effort paying off over several years.
Awards & Achievements
- Secured All India Rank 1 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024.
- Scored 1,043 marks, including 843 in Mains and 200 in the interview.
- Cleared the exam in her fifth attempt after not clearing Prelims three times.
- Allotted the IAS with her home cadre, Uttar Pradesh.
- Completed Phase-I training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie, in April 2026.
- Began district training in Moradabad as an Assistant Magistrate and Assistant Collector.
Interesting Facts
- When she downloaded the result, she saw her name at rank one and did not believe it. She scrolled through the whole list to check if another Shakti Dubey existed.
- After she missed the 2023 list, her parents were so upset that they did not cook that day.
- Her school principal recalls that she always said she wanted to be an IAS officer, never a doctor or engineer.
- Among the top three rankers of 2024, she was the only one to get her home state cadre. AIR 2 Harshita Goyal went to Gujarat, and AIR 3 Dongre Archit Parag went to Karnataka.
- She is one of 21 IAS officers of the 2025 batch given district training in Uttar Pradesh.
- Her name came first on the district posting list released for those 21 officers.
- Her mother did not believe the news until she saw her daughter’s name on a mobile phone.
- She has said that if given the chance, she wants to work on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Conclusion
Shakti Dubey IAS shows that a top rank can come after several failures. She did not clear Prelims three times, missed the final list once, and still returned to study the next day. Her fifth attempt gave her the first rank in the country.
Her path also breaks a common belief. A Biochemistry student from Prayagraj chose a humanities optional and beat more than a thousand other selected candidates. Her advice is simple: pick a few good books, revise them well, and treat failure as part of the journey.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is Shakti Dubey?
She is an IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre who topped the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024.
2. What is Shakti Dubey IAS age?
She was 28 when the result came out in April 2025. The DoPT civil list gives her birth year as 1996.
3. What is Shakti Dubey’s education qualification?
She holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Allahabad and an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from BHU.
4. How many attempts did Shakti Dubey take to clear UPSC?
She cleared it in her fifth attempt. She did not clear Prelims in the first three.
5. When was the UPSC 2024 result declared?
UPSC announced the final result on 22 April 2025.
6. Who is Shakti Dubey’s husband?
Media reports describe her as unmarried, and no husband has been named anywhere.
7. Who are Shakti Dubey’s parents?
Her father is a Sub-Inspector in the UP Police, and her mother is a homemaker.
8. Which school did she attend?
She studied at St. Mary’s Convent (SMC), Ghurpur, in Prayagraj.
9. Which cadre was she allotted?
DoPT allotted her the Uttar Pradesh cadre, her home state.
10. What is Shakti Dubey’s latest posting?
April 2026 reports show her in Moradabad for district training. The DoPT civil list still lists her as on training at LBSNAA.
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