About UPSC

The UPSC IAS exam, officially known as the Civil Services Examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) annually. In spite of being regarded as one of the toughest exams in the country, it is the most sought after exam among today’s youth. Right approach & correct planning can make an aspirant get through the IAS exam with flying colours in the very first attempt.

To prepare for the examination aspirant need to have a clear and focus knowledge and understanding of the syllabus and patterns of the examination.

The IAS examination comprises of two successive stages. Those who make it through all the stages of the UPSC exam enter into the most coveted services of the Country like IAS, IPS, IFS, IFoS, IRS and others.

Name of the Paper	No. of Questions	Marks Allotted	Time Alloted	Nature of Exam
Paper I: General Studies (Objective type)	100	200	2 Hours	The score will be considered for Cut-off
Paper II: General Studies-II(CSAT) (Objective type)	80	200	2 Hours	Qualifying Nature-Candidates will have to score 33% to quality CSAT.

The two stages of the Civil Services Exam (IAS Exam) are:

1. Stage I – Civil Services Preliminary Examination

2. Stage II – Civil Services Main Examination

Civil Services Preliminary Examination

Civil Services Preliminary Examination is conducted to select candidates for the Main Examination. It is objective type in nature and consists of two papers carrying 200 marks each. The marks of the candidates who qualify the Preliminary Exam are not taken into account for determining the Final Merit.

Paper Name	Time Duration	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Nature of Paper
GS Paper I	2 Hours	100	200	Marks considered for Preliminary Exam Merit
GS Paper II (CSAT)	2 Hours	80	200	Qualifying in nature

• While CSAT is qualifying in nature, the marks obtained in the General Studies paper determine your selection for UPSC Mains. It means your score in the General Studies Paper will be considered for the Prelims cutoff.
• Additionally, there is negative marking for the wrong answers. 1/3rd of the marks allotted for the question would be deducted as a penalty for marking the wrong answer. However, if you do not attempt the question, there will be no deductions. Hence, you should take only calculated risks when it comes to marking doubtful questions

UPSC Age Limit, Eligibility Criteria, Educational Qualifications

Civil Services Main Examination

Civil Services Main Examination consists of written examination and interview test.

The written examination consists of 9 papers out of which 2 papers are only qualifying in nature. The marks obtained in the remaining 7 papers and the interview test together are considered for making the final merit.

Paper	Subject	Duration	Total Marks	Time Alloted	Nature of Paper	Type of Paper
Paper A	Compuls0ry Indian Language	3 Hours	300	3 Hours	Qualifying	Descriptive
Paper B	English	3 Hours	300	3 Hours	Qualifying	Descriptive
Paper I	Essay	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper II	General Studies I	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper III	General Studies II	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper IV	General Studies III	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper V	General Studies IV	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper VI	Optional I	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive
Paper VII	Optional II	3 Hours	250	3 Hours	Merit	Descriptive

General Studies Paper

The subjects which are covered in different General Studies Paper in the Mains Exam are mentioned as under:

General Studies I	Indian Heritage and Culture, History n Geography, Society
General Studies II	Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social justice, International Relations
General Studies III	Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
General Studies IV	Ethics, Aptitude Integrity

Check out the Subject-wise strategy for UPSC Mains in the linked article

Get Free Syllabus PDF

List of Optional Subjects for UPSC Mains

Here’s the list of optional subject that can be opted for UPSC Mains:

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

The options for literature subjects are:

Assamese	Bengali	Bodo	Dogri	Gujarati
Hindi	Kannada	Kashmiri	Konkani	Maithili
Malayalam	Manipuri	Marathi	Nepali	Odia
Punjabi	Sanskrit	Santhali	Sindhi	Tamil
Telugu	Urdu	English

Important Points:

• The papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and paper B) will be of qualifying nature and the marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
• The papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and paper B) will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard.
• The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates will be taken cognizance who attain 25% marks in ‘Indian Language’ and 25% in ‘English’ as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.
• Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper I-VII only will be counted for merit ranking.