UPSC 2025: Patna youth earns 11th rank
Yashaswi Raj Vardhan, a 26-year-old from Patna, just scored the 11th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2025.
After not clearing the exam in 2024, he quit his job at Barclays in September 2024 to focus fully on his preparation, and it paid off big time when the results were declared on Friday, March 6, 2026.
Vardhan's journey so far
Vardhan grew up as the only child of a registrar father and homemaker mother.
He finished school in Patna and Delhi before earning a computer science degree from Delhi College of Engineering in 2021.
He worked his way up at Barclays in Noida, but decided to leave corporate life behind for the UPSC.
Self-study and online classes
Instead of expensive coaching, Vardhan relied mostly on self-study and online classes.
He picked public administration as his optional subject and attended some online classes instead of formal coaching.
His story is proof that switching gears (and believing in your own plan) can really pay off.