"Unlocking Success: Mastering the Comprehensive UPSC Syllabus for Your Path to Excellence"

UPSC Civil Service Examination Complete Syllabus

Civil Services Exam (IAS Exam), the most coveted exam of all, is conducted by UPSC every year to recruit candidates to various services & posts in the Government of India. It is a two stage exam consisting of:

Civil Services Preliminary Examination (objective type) for the selection of candidates for UPSC Mains.

Civil Services Main Examination (Written & Interview) for the selection of candidates for various services & posts as mentioned in official notification.

UPSC IAS Preliminary Exam Pattern & Syllabus

The first stage of the exam i.e., the Civil Services Preliminary Exam is only a screening test and is conducted to shortlist candidates for the Main Examination. Marks secured in Preliminary Exam are not taken into account while preparing the final merit.

Preliminary Exam consists of two papers of objective type carrying a maximum of 400 marks.

1. General Studies Paper-I Syllabus

It has 100 questions broadly covering the following topics carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.

Current events of National & International importance.

History of India & Indian National Movement.

Indian & World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India & the World.

Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Economic & Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity & climate change – that do not require subject specialization.

General Science.

2. General Studies Paper-II Syllabus

It comprises of 80 questions from the following topics carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.

Comprehension.

Interpersonal skills including communication skills.

Logical reasoning & analytical ability.

Decision making & problem solving.

General mental ability.

Basic numeracy (numbers & their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)

General Studies Paper-II of IAS Exam is a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

It is mandatory for a candidate to appear in both the Papers of IAS Prelim Exam for the purpose of evaluation.

Syllabus of UPSC Main Examination Papers

I. Qualifying Papers on Indian Languages and English

II. Paper-I: Essay

III. Paper-II: General Studies-I

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

IV. Paper-III: General Studies-II

Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.

V. Paper-IV: General Studies-III

Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

VI. Paper-V: General Studies-IV

Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

VII. Paper – VI & VII

Optional Subject Papers I & II.

A candidate may opt for any one Optional Subject from the following:

Agriculture

Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

Anthropology

Botany

Chemistry

Civil Engineering

Commerce and Accountancy

Economics

Electrical Engineering

Geography

Geology

History

Law

Management

Mathematics

Mechanical Engineering

Medical Science

Philosophy

Physics

Political Science and International Relations

Psychology

Public Administration

Sociology

Statistics

Zoology

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.

Each Optional Subject has 2 compulsory papers.