KAS syllabus: KPSC Gazetted Probationers prelims and mains

KAS syllabus and exam pattern, stage by stage

A prelims question is worth 2 marks; for an incorrect one, KPSC subtracts 0.25. Clearing the prelims earns entry to the mains, but that score never reaches the final ranking.

Score under 35 percent in either language paper and KPSC will not evaluate the rest of your mains. There is no optional subject in the current scheme.

KAS prelims syllabus

Paper I

• Current national and global events
• Indian history: social, economic, cultural and political, with the national movement and Karnataka's part in it
• World, Indian and Karnataka geography
• Indian polity and economy: the political system, planning, rural development and economic reform
• Sustainable development, poverty, demography and social sector schemes

Paper II

• Current events of state importance and major Karnataka government programmes
• General science and technology and their recent developments
• Environment and ecology: biodiversity, health and climate change
• General mental ability at SSLC level: comprehension, logical and analytical reasoning, decisions, number sense and reading data

The 60 humanities questions in Paper I are the largest single block, so history, geography and polity deserve the biggest share of your prelims time.

KAS mains syllabus: language papers and essay

The Kannada and English papers are at SSLC level and test comprehension, precis, short essay, vocabulary and usage. They are not hard, but a candidate who ignores them can be eliminated before the merit papers are even marked. Write one practice paper of each a month.

The essay paper asks for two essays of 125 marks each: one on a national or international theme and one on a state or local theme. Good Karnataka essays draw on facts from the GS papers, such as the state's drought record, its information technology economy or the working of panchayats.

General Studies 1 and 2

General Studies 1

• Indian cultural heritage and major schools of social thought
• Karnataka history: Kadambas to Hoysalas, Vijayanagara and after (1336 to 1799), modern Mysore (1799 to 1947), the freedom movement and unification (1885 to 1956)
• Social and political perspective: post independence Karnataka, social change, movements and modernisation
• Indian economy, planning and rural development; India's external economic relations and decentralisation

General Studies 2

• Physical features and natural resources of the world, India and Karnataka
• The Indian Constitution: its nature, Fundamental Rights, distribution of legislative powers, unicameral and bicameral legislatures
• Public administration and management: public and private administration, organisation, behaviour and management concepts
• International relations

General Studies 3 and 4

General Studies 3

• Basics of science and technology and their role in India's development; space science and energy
• Disasters, pests and pollution; information technology in public services
• Modern trends in natural sciences, life sciences, agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, biotechnology, health and hygiene
• Ecology and environment: natural resources, ecosystems, biodiversity, pollution and solid waste management

General Studies 4

• Ethics: its essence, ethics in public administration, accountability and the concept of public service
• Integrity, impartiality, non partisanship and objectivity
• Civil service aptitude and core values; emotional intelligence

GS 4 follows the same idea as the national ethics paper, so the UPSC ethics paper syllabus is useful reading, though KPSC sets its own questions.

Getting the Karnataka part right

The state papers are where most candidates who are also writing the civil services lose ground, because national books stop at India. Build one notebook just for Karnataka with four parts: dynasties and their monuments, the Mysore kingdom and unification, physical geography and rivers, and current state schemes and budgets. That notebook feeds prelims Paper II, GS 1, GS 2 and the essay all at once.

Books and sources

NCERT books from Classes 6 to 12 cover national history, geography, polity and science. Add a standard Karnataka history text, the state's annual economic survey and budget speech, and the Karnataka state gazetteer chapters on geography. For administration and ethics, any standard textbook that follows the syllabus order will do. Past papers, where KPSC has published them, show how state questions are framed.

Set this beside other state services in the state exams page, or with the national pattern in the UPSC syllabus.