UPSC Syllabus PDF for Prelims & Mains 2024

The UPSC syllabus is essential for aspirants to know before starting preparation for UPSC CSE. Knowing the UPSC civil services 2024 syllabus will help aspirants to understand the demands of the paper and segregate the syllabus into small goals.

The UPSC CSE Syllabus 2024 consists of 3 stages - Prelims, Mains, and Interview. UPSC Prelims syllabus is divided into 2 parts - GS & CSAT. GS (General Studies) includes a wide range of subjects like history, polity, economy, environment, and current affairs. CSAT stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test and UPSC CSAT syllabus includes maths, reasoning, and comprehension.

The syllabus for UPSC Mains is divided into 9 papers that include two language papers (qualifying only), one essay paper, four general studies papers, and two optional papers.

UPSC Syllabus PDF

The UPSC Syllabus PDF will help aspirants build a roadmap to complete the syllabus in a specific period and to create strategies according to the syllabus.

UPSC Syllabus for Prelims

No. Of Papers 2 (GS and CSAT)
Type of Questions Objective (MCQs Type)
Maximum Marks 200 Marks x 2 (400 Marks)
Duration for Exam 2 Hours Each
Negative Marking 1/3rd of the Marks

UPSC Syllabus for Prelims GS Paper 1

The UPSC exam pattern is divided in 3 stages - Prelims, Mains and Interview. This part contains 100 questions in objective type and the duration of the paper is 2 hours which carries 200 marks. The syllabus for paper -1 is:

UPSC Syllabus for CSAT Paper

The General Studies Paper - 2 (CSAT) is qualifying in nature and requires 33% marks in this paper.


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UPSC Syllabus for Mains

Aspirants who qualified for the 1st stage (UPSC CSE Prelims) are eligible to appear in mains paper. The UPSC mains syllabus is divided into 9 parts, in which 7 papers are to be counted for merit and 2 papers are qualifying only.

Aspirants who scored more than 33% in the CSAT and scored more than the cut-off marks in GS Paper can write the UPSC civil services mains exam.

UPSC Mains Exam Pattern

Paper Duration Marks Nature of Paper
Indian Language (Paper A) 3 Hours 300 Qualifying
English Language (Paper B) 3 Hours 300
Essay 3 Hours 250 Count For Merit
GS Paper 1 3 Hours 250
GS Paper 2 3 Hours 250
GS Paper 3 3 Hours 250
GS Paper 4 3 Hours 250
Optional Paper 1 3 Hours 250
Optional Paper 2 3 Hours 250
Total Mains Marks 1750 Marks
Interview / Personality Test 275 Marks
Total 2025 Marks

UPSC Syllabus For Language Papers

As these 2 papers are qualifying in nature, it requires candidates to score 25% marks to qualify.

UPSC Syllabus for English Langauge (Paper -1)

UPSC Syllabus for Indian Language (Paper -2)

Note: The marks obtained in these 2 language papers will not be counted for ranking.

UPSC Syllabus for Essay Paper:

Essay Paper: Candidates may be 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 Syllabus for General Studies 1,2,3 & 4

UPSC Syllabus for GS Paper 1

General Studies 1 - Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

UPSC Syllabus for GS Paper 2

General Studies 2 - Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations

UPSC Syllabus for GS Paper 3

General Studies 3 - Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

UPSC Syllabus for Ethics

General Studies 4 - Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case study approach to determine these aspects. The following broad areas will be covered :

UPSC Syllabus For Optional Subjects

Here is the list of optional subjects, from which aspirants can choose:

Note: Each Optional Subject has 2 compulsory papers.

FAQs Regarding Syllabus for UPSC

Ans. The UPSC prelims section has 2 papers - GS1 & CSAT. GS 1 carries 100 questions from History, Polity, Geography, Environment, Economics and Current Affairs. In comparison, CSAT carries 80 questions from Math, Reasoning, and English Comprehension. The UPSC mains section has 9 papers - 2 Language papers, 1 essay paper, 4 GS papers and 2 Optional papers. The syllabus for GS papers is - Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society for GS1, Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations for GS2, Technology, Economic Development, Bio-Diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management for GS3, Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for GS4.

Ans. The UPSC Mains paper has 9 papers, of which marks of 7 papers are counted for merit—1 Essay paper, 4 GS papers, and 2 Optional papers. These 7 papers combined carry 1750 marks, and marks scored by the candidate in these 7 papers are counted for the final merit along with the interview marks. Only qualified candidates get a call for the interview round.

Ans. The syllabus for the Ethics paper includes - Ethics and Human Interface, Attitude and behavior, Aptitude and foundational values, Emotional intelligence, and Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world, values and Ethics in Public Administration, Probity in Governance ,and Case Studies.

Ans. The full form of GS is General Studies.
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