The Indian Education Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj from 1896 to 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, largely staffed by Europeans. It replaced a previous system of provincial administrations by a uniform all-India service.
The IES was formed based on the recommendations of the 1886 Public Service Commission, as part of the Superior Education Service, which comprised also the Provincial Education Service. In practice the IES was mostly British, and the Provincial Education Service was staffed by Indians, with substantial differentials of pay between the services. As a delayed consequence of the Islington Commission of 1912 on public services in India, the existing distinction between the IES and Provincial Education Service officials began to be dismantled in the early 1920s.