Table of contents
UPSC Civil Services Exam Pattern :
UPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam Pattern :
| Paper No. | Max Marks |
| 2 hours for Each Subject | |
| General Studies 1 | 200 |
| General Studies 2 | 200 |
Points To Be Noted For Civil Services Prelims Exam
- Prelims Examination is an Objective type of Examination with Multiple Choice Questions
- Exam consists of two papers namely Paper I and Paper II, which will be of 02 to 02 hours duration.
UPSC Civil Services Prelims Syllabus
UPSC Civil Services Paper I Syllabus:
| Current events of national and international importance. |
| History of India and Indian National Movement added in UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam Syllabus |
| Indian and World Geography -Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World added in UPSC Civil Services Pre Syllabus |
| Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc |
| Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. |
| General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization added in UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Syllabus |
| General Science. |
UPSC Civil Services Paper II Syllabus:
| Comprehension |
| Interpersonal skills including Communication Skills |
| Logical reasoning and analytical ability |
| Decision-making and problem-solving |
| General mental ability |
| Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level). |
| English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level) added in UPSC Civil Services Pre Exam Syllabus |
UPSC Civil Services Main Exam Pattern :
| Subjects Description | Max Marks |
| Qualifying Paper | |
| Paper-A: One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the 18 languages included in the VIIIth Schedule to the Constitution (Qualifying Paper) | 300 |
| Paper-B: English (Qualifying Paper) | 300 |
| Papers To Be Counted For Merit | |
| Paper-I: Essay | 250 |
| Papers II: General Studies I | 250 |
| Papers III: General Studies II | 250 |
| Papers IV: General Studies III | 250 |
| Papers V: General Studies IV | 250 |
| Papers VI: Optional Subjects Paper 1 | 250 |
| Papers VII: Optional Subjects Paper 2 | 250 |
| Total Marks for Written Examination | 1750 |
| Personality Test | 275 |
| Grand Total | 2025 |
Important Points concerning UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam :
- Mains Examination is a written Examination.
- It consists of 9 Papers out of which 2 are Qualifying in nature namely Paper A and Paper B; remaining 7 papers which are namely Paper I to Paper VII which are based on Ranking.
- Questions will be available in Hindi as well as English.
UPSC Civil Services Mains Syllabus
Civil Services Mains Exam contains nine (9) papers including optional (2 papers) which is Descriptive in nature.
UPSC Civil Services Mains Qualifying Paper Syllabus:
| Paper – A Any Indian Language: |
| For this examination, candidates have to choose one language from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. |
| This exam is not compulsory for applicants hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim |
| Paper-B English: |
| This paper is conducted to test the eligibility of aspirants and to check skills of aspirants in English and Indian Language are concerned. |
| Aspirants are selected on basis of some facts like how they understand these languages and how they express their ideas clearly and correctly. |
| The pattern of questions would be generally as follows:-Comprehension of given passagesPrecise WritingUsage and Vocabulary |
UPSC Civil Services Mains Paper 1 Syllabus:
- Candidates required to write essays on multiple topics.
- They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion and to write concisely Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.
UPSC CSE Syllabus – Paper 2- General Studies Paper 1:
Indian Heritage/ Culture, World History & Geography
| Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from olden to present times. |
| Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues |
| The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country. |
| Post-independence consolidation and restructuring within the country |
| The history of the world will include events from the 18th Century. |
| Salient Features of Indian Society, Diversity of India |
| Role of women and women’s organization. |
| Effects of globalization on Indian Society |
| Social Empowerment |
| Salient Features of world’s Physical Geography |
| Distribution of Key Natural Resources Across the world |
| Important Geographical Phenomena |
| India and its neighborhoods-relations |
| Bilateral, regional and global groupings |
| Effects of policies |
| Important international institutions etc |
Paper 3- General Studies 2:
Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations:
- Functions and duties 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.
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
- Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
- Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
- Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
- Government Policies and interventions for development in various sectors
- Development process and the development industry
- Welfare schemes for vulnerable section of the population by centre and states.
- Issue relating to development
- Issues relating to poverty and hunger
- Important aspects of Governance
- Role of Civil Services in a democracy
- Role of external state
- Challenges of internal security through communications networks
- Security challenges
- Various security forces and agencies and their mandate etc
Paper 4- General Studies 3:
Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security & Disaster Management:
| Inclusive growth and issues arising from it |
| Government Budgeting added in UPSC Civil Services Syllabus |
| Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management. |
| Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism |
| Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management |
| Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate |
| Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development, and employment |
| Conservation, environmental pollution, and degradation, environmental impact assessment. |
| Disaster and disaster management |
| Linkages between development and spread of extremism |
| Land reforms in India |
| Effects of Liberalization on the economy |
| Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, roads, etc |
| Investment models |
| Science and technology |
| Achievements of Indian in Science and technology added in UPSC Civil Services Syllabus |
| Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers etc |
| Conversation, environmental pollution and degradation |
| Disaster and Disaster Management |
| Linkages between development and spread of extremism etc |
Paper 5- General Studies 4:
Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude:
- Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.
- Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
- Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
- Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.
- Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
- Probity in Governance: Concept of Public Service
- Case studies on Above Issues etc
Paper 6 & 7 Optional 1 (Of your choice)/ Optional 2 (Of your choice):
Applicants can choose any optional from the subjects, which are given below and also download Civil Services Optional Subjects Syllabus / Civil Services Syllabus Pdf In Hindi
| S.No. | Topics |
| 1 | Chemistry |
| 2 | Electrical Engineering |
| 3 | Physics |
| 4 | Agriculture |
| 5 | Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science |
| 6 | Anthropology |
| 7 | Botany |
| 8 | Civil Engineering |
| 9 | Commerce and Accountancy |
| 10 | Economics |
| 11 | Geography |
| 12 | Geology |
| 13 | History |
| 14 | Law |
| 15 | Management |
| 16 | Mathematics |
| 17 | Mechanical Engineering |
| 18 | Medical Science |
| 19 | Philosophy |
| 20 | Political Science and International Relations |
| 21 | Psychology |
| 22 | Public Administration |
| 23 | Sociology |
| 24 | Statistics |
| 25 | Zoology |
| 26 | Literature |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the full form of UPSC?
The full form of UPSC is Union Public Service Commission.
What are the Civil Services? How to get into the Civil Services of India?
Civil Services are jobs like IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, etc. directly related to public service and are widely considered prestigious in India. UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) conducts Civil Service Exams for Central Government job vacancies.
What is the structure of the UPSC Civil Service Prelims Exam?
Prelims exam is objective in nature. There will be two papers – 200 marks each. Paper 1 is related to General Studies and Paper 2 is related to Mental Ability and Aptitude. For selection to the main exam, only marks of Paper 1 will be counted, provided the candidate has 33 percent marks in Paper 2. (Pattern from 2015)
Will there be an individual cut-off for two papers in Civil Service Prelims?
The minimum cut-off mark for Paper 2 is 33 percent. The Commission may fix a minimum cut-off mark for Paper 1 too.