UPPSC syllabus and UPPCS exam pattern for prelims and mains

UPPCS exam pattern at a glance

CSAT only has to be cleared with 33 percent; the prelims merit list is drawn from GS I alone. In GS I and CSAT alike, a wrong tick pulls back 0.33 of the marks set for it.

The interview adds 100 marks, so the final merit is out of 1,600.

UPPCS prelims syllabus (UPPSC pre syllabus)

General Studies I

• Current affairs, Indian and global
• Indian history across all periods, and the national movement
• Physical, human and economic geography, for India as well as other countries
• Polity: the Constitution, Panchayati Raj, policy making and citizens' rights
• Economy and society: poverty, inclusion, population and welfare schemes
• Environment, ecology, biodiversity, climate
• Everyday general science

Expect a steady share of questions on Uttar Pradesh within these heads: its rivers, districts, schemes, festivals and history.

General Studies II (CSAT)

• Comprehension and interpersonal skills including communication
• Reasoning and analysis, plus problem solving and choices in a situation
• Mental ability questions such as series and coding
• Elementary maths up to class 10: arithmetic, algebra, geometry and statistics
• General English and general Hindi up to class 10

UPPCS mains syllabus, paper by paper

• General Hindi: comprehension of an unseen passage, official and business letter writing, notes and circulars, précis, vocabulary, idioms, grammar and usage.
• Essay: three sections, and you write one essay from each, typically on literature and culture, social and political themes, and science, environment or economy.
• GS I: culture and heritage of India, history from the eighteenth century and the struggle for freedom, world events, society, and physical and human geography.
• GS II: Constitution, governance, federal structure, social justice, welfare schemes and international relations.
• GS III: economy and planning, farming, science and technology, environment, disasters and security within the country.
• GS IV: ethics and integrity in public life, tested partly through case studies.
• GS V: Uttar Pradesh history, culture, art, architecture, literature, polity, governance and administration.
• GS VI: Uttar Pradesh economy, agriculture, industry, geography, natural resources, environment, and science and technology in the state.

The detailed sub-topics run to several pages in the official notice, so download it and use it as your checklist.

Why the two UP papers decide ranks

GS V and GS VI together carry 400 marks, more than a quarter of the mains. Many candidates treat them as easy because they are about the home state, then find the questions ask for district-level facts, budget figures and recent state schemes. Build a separate notebook for UP: its rivers and soils, crop patterns, industrial corridors, tribal and folk culture, and the working of its legislature and local bodies.

A year-long plan that fits the pattern

1. Months 1 to 4: build the base from NCERT books in every GS subject, and keep daily newspaper notes.
2. Months 5 to 7: mains subjects, GS IV ethics, and two UP-specific topics a week. Write two answers daily.
3. Months 8 and 9: prelims mode: 50 GS questions a day and a CSAT mock every week to stay above 33 percent.
4. After prelims: essay practice twice a week, General Hindi grammar and letter drafting, and full-length mains tests.

UPPSC syllabus in Hindi

For Hindi medium readers, here is the uppcs syllabus in Hindi in brief, covering the pre and mains stages.

यूपीपीएससी की पीसीएस भर्ती के तीन पड़ाव हैं, यानी प्री, मेन्स और इंटरव्यू। प्री में सामान्य अध्ययन प्रथम के 150 प्रश्न 200 अंक के होते हैं, और सीसैट के 100 प्रश्न 200 अंक के होते हैं, जिसमें केवल 33 प्रतिशत लाना जरूरी है। मुख्य परीक्षा में सामान्य हिंदी, निबंध और सामान्य अध्ययन के छह प्रश्नपत्र होते हैं। पाँचवाँ और छठा प्रश्नपत्र पूरी तरह उत्तर प्रदेश पर आधारित है। साक्षात्कार 100 अंक का होता है। संक्षेप में यही uppcs ka syllabus है।

Eligibility in brief

Recent notices ask for a bachelor's degree from a recognised university and an age from 21 up to 40 counted on the day the notice names, with relaxation for reserved categories of Uttar Pradesh and some other groups under state rules. A few posts need a specific degree or physical standard. See the UPSC eligibility page for the national exam, and browse other Uttar Pradesh recruitment papers through our state exams section.

More UPPSC pages

Once the syllabus is clear, compare your mock scores with past trends using our UPPSC cut off guide, and practise using the UPPSC previous year paper guide. Aspirants looking at lower level state posts can also check the UP lower PCS syllabus as well as the eligibility test explained in the UPSSSC PET guide.