UPSC mains syllabus: all nine papers explained

Where the mains fits in the civil services exam

The Civil Services Examination has three stages. The prelims is an objective screening test whose marks are not counted in the final rank. The mains is a written examination that forms the largest share of your final score. The interview, called the personality test, adds 275 marks.

The qualifying language papers are evaluated first. If you do not reach the qualifying standard in them, your essay, general studies and optional papers are not counted. Read the Commission's rules on qualifying marks in the latest notification; in recent years the minimum has been 25 percent in each language paper. For the earlier stage, see the UPSC prelims syllabus.

Paper wise scheme of the mains

Each paper lasts three hours. Paper A is not required for candidates from certain north eastern states and for some candidates with disabilities, as listed in the notification.

General Studies I: heritage, history, geography and society

• Indian culture: the main features of art forms, literature and architecture from ancient to modern times
• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century, significant events, personalities and issues
• The freedom struggle, its stages and the contributors from different parts of the country
• Consolidation and reorganisation within the country after independence
• World history from the eighteenth century: the industrial revolution, world wars, redrawing of national boundaries, colonisation and decolonisation, and political philosophies such as communism, capitalism and socialism
• Indian society: its diversity, the role of women and women's organisations, population, poverty and development issues, urbanisation, globalisation, social empowerment, communalism, regionalism and secularism
• Physical geography of the world, distribution of key natural resources, factors behind the location of industries, and phenomena like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity and cyclones

General Studies II: polity, governance and international relations

• The Indian Constitution: its history, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
• Functions of the Union and the states, issues of the federal structure, devolution to local levels, separation of powers and dispute redressal
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with other countries
• How Parliament and the state houses work, the structure of the executive and the courts, ministries, and pressure groups
• The Representation of the People Act, constitutional posts, and statutory, regulatory and quasi judicial bodies
• Government policies, the development sector, welfare schemes for vulnerable sections, and issues of health, education and human resources
• Governance, transparency, accountability, e governance and the role of civil services
• India and its neighbourhood, bilateral, regional and global groupings, the Indian diaspora, and international institutions

General Studies III: economy, environment, technology and security

• The Indian economy: planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, employment, inclusive growth and government budgeting
• Agriculture: cropping patterns, irrigation, marketing, farm subsidies and minimum support prices, public distribution, food security, food processing and land reforms
• Effects of liberalisation, infrastructure, and investment models
• Science and technology: developments and their uses, achievements of Indians, and awareness in IT, space, computers, robotics, nanotechnology, biotechnology and intellectual property rights
• Conservation, pollution, environmental impact assessment and disaster management
• Internal security: links between development and extremism, the role of external and non state actors, challenges through communication networks and cyber security, money laundering, border management, organised crime and terrorism, and the mandates of security forces

General Studies IV, essay and optional papers

Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

Ethics and human interface, human values, attitude, aptitude and the foundational values for civil service such as integrity, impartiality, objectivity, empathy and compassion, emotional intelligence, ideas of Indian and world moral thinkers, values in public administration, probity, and case based questions. A deeper breakdown is on our UPSC ethics paper syllabus page.

Essay

You write essays on topics chosen from the sections set in the paper. The Commission expects you to keep close to the subject, arrange your ideas in order and write concisely.

Optional subject

You pick one optional from the Commission's list, which covers many academic disciplines and the literature of the Eighth Schedule languages. Each optional has its own two paper syllabus; see for instance the sociology optional syllabus.

Turning the syllabus into answer writing

The surest guard against blind spots is the UPSC mains detailed syllabus itself, read one line at a time, since that official list is the syllabus of UPSC mains and nothing beyond it is promised. Paste it into your notebook and tick each line as you finish both the reading and at least three practice answers on it.

Keep NCERT textbooks as your base for history, geography and polity, add a standard constitution text, read the Economic Survey and the Union Budget for GS III, and follow a daily newspaper for linking static topics to current issues.

UPSC mains syllabus in Hindi

यूपीएससी मुख्य परीक्षा में कुल नौ लिखित पेपर होते हैं। पेपर ए (एक भारतीय भाषा) और पेपर बी (अंग्रेजी) केवल क्वालिफाइंग हैं, हर एक 300 अंक का। रैंक के लिए निबंध, जीएस के चारों पेपर तथा ऑप्शनल सब्जेक्ट के दोनों पेपर जुड़ते हैं, हर पेपर 250 अंक का, यानी कुल 1750 अंक। सामान्य अध्ययन एक में इतिहास, संस्कृति, भूगोल और समाज, दो में संविधान, शासन और अंतरराष्ट्रीय संबंध, तीन में अर्थव्यवस्था, पर्यावरण, विज्ञान और सुरक्षा, और चार में नीतिशास्त्र आता है। इंटरव्यू 275 अंक का है।