UPSC Syllabus – IAS Syllabus For Prelims, Mains |
|---|
TheHinduzone is your one-stop platform where all your queries will be solved, you’ll find all sorts of information about every competitive examination that is conducted in India. We will provide you with the full detailed UPSC syllabus for the Civil Service Examination which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. Considered as the most difficult competitive exam in the country, the Civil Services examination has gained huge popularity as the exam is the most prestigious competitive exam and young aspirants from all around the country have a dream of becoming a Civil Service officer.
To crack the UPSC exam with great results and understand all the exam aspects, a proper understanding of the UPSC syllabus is required. This will vastly help eliminate any doubt or misinformation that the candidate might have and help the candidate prepare for the exam.
The official notification released for the UPSC syllabus 2021 has been released and along with the official notification of the Civil Service exam on 4th March 2021.
The UPSC exam syllabus is available on the official website of UPSC https://upsc.gov.in/ and can be downloaded easily.
A common exam pattern is followed for all Civil Service Examinations like Indian Revenue Service, Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Foreign Service, however different phases of the IAS exam have different syllabi. The UPSC Prelims syllabus focuses on general studies and societal awareness which is tested by objective-type MCQ questions, the Mains syllabus is far more comprehensive as it contains 9 papers out of which 2 papers are qualifying papers.
The Civil Services Exams are conducted in three phases: |
|---|
- Phase: Prelims Exam (Preliminary Exam) This exam is an objective type exam.
- Phase: Mains Exam This exam is a descriptive type exam and has 9 theoretical papers out of which 2 papers are qualifying papers.
- Phase: Interview also known as a personality test.
Let’s now discuss all three phases in full detail-
Phase 1- UPSC Prelims Exam |
|---|
UPSC Prelims Exam- the Prelims exam is divided into two parts General Studies and CSAT (Civil Service Aptitude Test).
| Paper | Subjects | Total Marks | Duration |
| I | General Studies (GS) | 200 | 2 hours (9:30 AM to 11:30 AM) |
| II | CSAT | 200 | 2 hours (2:30 PM to 4:30 PM) |
General Studies (GS)- The first paper of the UPSC Prelim exam is the General Studies exam, the GS exam is conducted to test the general awareness of candidates in a wide range of subjects like Indian Polity, Geography, History, Indian Economy, Science and Technology, Environment and Ecology, International Relations and UPSC related current affairs.
CSAT (Civil Service Aptitude Test)- The CSAT paper is conducted to test the aptitude of candidates in solving reasoning and analytical questions, and reading comprehension, and the occasionally asked decision-making questions. The decision-making-based questions do not attract any negative marking, prelims exam is only meant for screening a candidate and to test their knowledge and skills. The marks obtained in Prelims will not be added up while arriving at the final rank list.
Phase 1 :- UPSC Prelims Syllabus 2021 |
|---|
Syllabus For GS Paper
- Current events of national and international importance
- Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of Inda and the World
- 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, Biodiversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization
- General Science
Syllabus For CSAT Paper
- 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, order of magnitude, etc., class X level) Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, Data sufficiency, etc., Class X level)
UPSC Mains Exam (1750 Marks) |
|---|
The UPSC mains exam is known as Phase 2 and consists of a total of 9 papers, candidates are only allowed to appear for the 2nd phase of the UPSC exam if they clear the 1st phase with passing marks at least. The mains exam is conducted to test the candidate’s academic talent in full depth and their ability to present their understanding in a proper manner according to the questions within a time-bound manner.
The UPSC mains exam consists of 9 papers out of which 2 papers are qualifying papers of 300 marks each, the two qualifying papers are Any Indian Language Paper and English language Paper.
Essay, General Studies, and Optional subject papers of candidates who attain 25% marks in both the language papers as a minimum qualifying standard in these qualifying papers will be taken cognizance of, for evaluation. If a candidate does not qualify in these language papers, then the marks obtained by such candidates will not be considered.
Let’s discuss the structure of the 2 qualifying language papers:
Types of questions asked-
- Essay – 100 marks
- Reading comprehension – 60 marks
- Precise Writing – 60 marks
- Translation: English to compulsory language – 20 marks
- Compulsory language to English – 20 marks
- Grammar and basic language usage – 40 marks
The rest of the 7 papers are to be written in any languages mentioned under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India or in English.
| Paper | Subject | Marks |
| Paper-I | Essay (can be written in any language the candidate chooses) | 250 |
| Paper-II | General Studies – I (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society) | 250 |
| Paper-III | General Studies – II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice & International Relations) | 250 |
| Paper-IV | General Studies – III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management) | 250 |
| Paper-V | General Studies – IV (Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude) | 250 |
| Paper-VI | Optional Subject – Paper I | 250 |
| Paper-VII | Optional Subject – Paper II | 250 |
The UPSC mains syllabus has a list of 48 Optional Subjects which include Literature of Different languages. Candidates are required to choose any one of the ‘Optional Subjects’ from the list. The full list of ‘Optional Subjects’ is given below:
| Agriculture | Zoology |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science | Assamese (Literature) |
| Anthropology | Bengali (Literature) |
| Botany | Bodo (Literature) |
| Chemistry | Dogri (Literature) |
| Civil Engineering | Gujarati (Literature) |
| Commerce & Accountancy | Hindi (Literature) |
| Economics | Kannada (Literature) |
| Electrical Engineering | Kashmiri (Literature) |
| Geography | Konkani (Literature) |
| Geology | Maithili (Literature) |
| History | Malayalam (Literature) |
| Law | Manipuri (Literature) |
| Management | Marathi (Literature) |
| Mathematics | Nepali (Literature) |
| Mechanical Engineering | Odia (Literature) |
| Medical Science | Punjabi (Literature) |
| Philosophy | Sanskrit (Literature) |
| Physics | Santhali (Literature) |
| Political Science & International Relations | Sindhi (Literature) |
| Psychology | Tamil (Literature) |
| Public Administration | Telugu (Literature) |
| Sociology | English (Literature) |
| Statistics | Urdu (Literature) |
Phase 3 – Interview/Personality |
|---|
Candidates who have qualified in both prelims and mains exam with at least passing marks are allowed to appear for phase 3 of the UPSC exam which is known as the Interview/Personality exam. The qualified candidates are summoned to the UPSC office in New Delhi and are interviewed by a board of officers appointed by the UPSC. The aim of conducting interviews is to judge the personal suitability and ability of the candidate for a career in the Civil Services by unbiased observers. The interview basically is a purposive conversation intended to judge the mental qualities and analytical ability of a candidate. The interview test is 275 marks and the total marks for the written exam is 1750 this sums up to a grand total of 2025 marks based on which the final merit list will be prepared.