Complete UPSC Syllabus

Complete UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services (IAS) Exam and also download the UPSC Syllabus PDF.

Here’s the complete and in-detail information about the UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services Exam, which candidates’ can go through before preparing for UPSC IAS Exam.

The UPSC Syllabus for the IAS Civil Services Prelims and Mains Examination is given below. The syllabus is vast and defined except for current affairs. It is recommended to aspirants to know the syllabus very well, if possible by-heart it before starting their preparation for the civil services exam as knowing the syllabus thoroughly will reduce 20% of your preparation burden.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is one of the many constitutional bodies in India, which is accredited to conduct competitive examinations and interviews for recruitment of civil services, defence services and posts under the Union Government or Central Government.

Indian Civil Services functions as the pillar of Indian Administration that career in civil services and opportunities and responsibilities to serve for the country under various prestigious posts like Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Forest Service (IFoS), among others.

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) conducted by the UPSC is commonly known as IAS Exam and consists of three stages which is one, IAS Preliminary Examination or Prelims Exam; the Second, UPSC IAS Mains Examination, and third one, the Personality Test generally called as Interview.

UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services (IAS) Prelims Exam

UPSC has made an overhaul in the Civil Services Exam from 2011, though the syllabus has seen slight changes. Below given is the complete syllabus for UPSC Civil Services (IAS) Prelims and Mains Exam.

IAS Prelims General Studies Paper I Syllabus: Duration: 2 Hours; Marks: 200

• Current Events of National & International Importance
• Geography of India as well as the World: Physical, Economic and Social Aspects
• Polity & Governance of India: Constitution and the Political aspects
• General Science
• The General Issues on Environmental Ecology, Climate Change and Bio-Diversity
• Economic & Social Development:  Demography, Sustainable Development, Inclusion, Social Sector Initiatives, Poverty, etc.
• Indian History & Indian National Movement

IAS Prelims General Studies Paper II (CSAT) Syllabus: Duration: 2 Hours; Marks: 200

• Comprehension
• Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
• General Mental Ability
• Comprehension Skills English language (10th Standard Level)
• Interpersonal Skills including Communication Skills
• Decision Making & Problem Solving
• Basic Numeracy (Orders of Magnitude, Numbers & their Relations, etc., of 10th Standard Level), Data Interpretation such as Charts, Tables, Graphs, Data Sufficiency, etc., (10th Standard Level)
• Question based on the English Language Comprehension Skills (10th Standard Level) (The Candidates will be tested through giving questions on the Passages without providing Hindi translation for those Questions)

The UPSC Civil Services Prelims Examination is generally conducted on Sundays of the second or third week of the month of June or August, which is declared by the commission a year prior in their notification and as for UPSC 2020, the IAS Prelims Exam will be conducted on 4th October 2020, which is declared in the Official Website of UPSC (wwwupsc.gov.in). The prelims examination is a screening test for candidates to qualify to the next stage of the exam i.e., the mains. The prelims exam has two papers (GS Paper-I and CSAT Paper-II) each paper is for a duration of 2 Hours. The paper-I is held in the Morning Session, while Paper II (qualifying in nature) is held in the Afternoon Session. The marks scored by the candidates in the prelims are not considered for the final ranking.

The Exam Pattern of the UPSC Civil Services (IAS ) Preliminary Examination 

The UPSC Civil Services (IAS) prelims exam is of objective type with multiple choice questions (MCQs) i.e., the candidates have to choose an option among the four given choices of an answer for that specific question. The IAS Prelims Exam includes two Papers which are General Studies Paper-I and General Studies (CSAT) Paper-II. The Paper-I exam consists of 100 questions for 200 marks on current affairs and the topics of General Studies, while Paper II consists of 80 questions for 200 Marks on the topics of aptitude. The candidates qualify to the mains exam on the basis of the marks (Qualifying marks) scored in the Paper-I (General Studies). However, the candidates have to obtain a minimum of 33% in the Paper-II (CSAT) in order to consider their Paper-I score.  The candidates should know that the marks obtained in prelims are just for qualifying to the next stage but are not considered in the final ranking or merit.

Below given is the UPSC Civil Services Exam Pattern clearly by the below-provided table.

Note:

• The Paper I & Paper II in the UPSC Civil Services (IAS) Exam are qualifying in nature.
• Candidates should score at least a minimum of 33% in Paper II to qualify.

The Exam Pattern of the UPSC Civil Services (IAS ) Mains Examination 

The UPSC IAS Mains Exam has nine papers in which two papers are qualifying in nature, while the other seven papers considered for based final ranking.

Below given is the exam pattern for UPSC Civil Services Mains (IAS) Examination:

UPSC Syllabus for Mains

Find here the complete details of UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services (IAS) Mains Exam. 

Syllabus of Indian Language Paper-A

According to the UPSC Civil Service Mains Exam, the Paper-A with the subject Indian Languages consists of the languages that are listed in the 8th Schedule to the Indian Constitution. The script to be used by the candidates will be based on the language chosen for the Paper-A of Indian Languages. The Paper-A (Indian Language) in the mains exam is not compulsory for the candidates who belong to the North Eastern States such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura. 

Topics in the Indian Language Paper-A (Paper-I)

• Comprehensive type of questions related to the Given Passage
• Short Essay
• Vocabulary & Usage
• Precise Writing (making a summary)
• Translation from English to the Selected Indian Language and Vice Versa

The List of the Languages, as well as the scripts to be used for the particular languages, is given below here:

Topics in English Paper-B (Paper-II)

• Comprehensive type of questions related to the given passage
• Short Essay
• Vocabulary & Usage
• Precise Writing (like making a summary) 

Topics in Essay Paper-III

The Essay Paper consists of two sections each section with 4 topics for which candidates should write for 1000-1200 words. The essay topic writing format is same as the usual way of writing essay yet the style differs, as UPSC doesn’t see the writing style of the essay but it examines their opinion, the way it is presented, their analyzing ability that will reflect a candidate’s personality.

Also check:

• How to Write Essay for UPSC Exam
• Useful Quotes to use in Essay and General Studies Mains Paper 

Topics in General Studies-1 (Paper-IV)

• Indian Culture: Architecture, Literature, Art Form since the Ancient Times
• Modern Indian History from the Eighteenth Century till Present Significant events & Issues
• The Freedom Struggle of the Country: Different Stages and Contributions from various Parts of the Country
• Post-Independence: Consolidation as well as Reorganization within the Country
• History of the World: Events taking place since 18th Century; Industrial Revolution, Colonization & Decolonization, etc., Political Changes such as Capitalism, Socialism, etc., Effects of these Changes on the Society
• Indian Society, Diversity in India: Salient Features
• Geography of the World & its Salient Features
• The Concepts of Communalism, Secularism, Social Empowerment, Regionalism, etc.
• Distribution of key Natural Resources all over the World, etc.

Subjects in General Studies-2 (Paper V)

• Governance
• Constitution
• Polity
• Social Justice
• Internal Relations 

Topics in General Studies-3 (Paper VI)

• Technology
• Economic Development
• Disaster Management
• Environmental
• Security
• Bio-Diversity 

Topics in General Studies-4 (Paper V)

• Aptitude
• Ethics
• Integrity 

Topics in Optional Subject-1 (Paper VI)

The candidates have to select any one optional subject from the below-given list and questions are completely subject related. The optional subject has two papers i.e., paper 1 and paper 2. 

Topics in Optional Subject-2 (Paper VI)

The candidates have to select any one optional subject from the below-given list and questions are completely subject related. The optional subject has two papers i.e., paper 1 and paper 2.

Optional Subjects: The candidates have to select one subject as optional from the below-given list:

 
The UPSC IAS Civil Services Mains Examination is generally conducted in the month of November or December. This Mains Exam will span over 5 days. The papers in the UPSC Mains Exam are the descriptive type that requires answers in 150-400 words. The duration of each paper is 3 hours. There are 9 Papers in the UPSC Civil Services IAS Exam.

*The UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam 2020 will be held from the 8th January 2021 onward as scheduled by the commission in the official notification. 

The candidates those who qualify in the UPSC Mains Examination will be summoned for the interview.

UPSC IAS Interview Syllabus

The candidates who clear the UPSC Mains Exam will be summoned for the Personality Test/Interview Round in the following year, which takes place generally in the month of March/April/May.

Most of the candidates who clear the mains exam are not sure or well aware of the personality test or interview round like what questions would be asked by the board of interviewers. Here’s some clue about what kind of questions may be asked in the interview that would give a clear picture or some idea to the candidates about the personality test.

Initially, the candidates will be asked on their name, academic qualification, date of birth and some important events or occasion that may fall on the same day as their birthday or the year. Later questions may be asked why you want to join civil services, so it is advised to candidates to be honest while answering the question. Questions on some current events will be raised to check candidates’ opinion and the measures they may take during such situations.

The Personality Test/interview round is to assess the personality traits of a candidate and questions will be based on the facts like logical and reasoning than the subject knowledge. Other questions include on candidates hobby, their hometown, current affairs, general knowledge, economics, politics, questions on some scenarios, and etc.

The key aspects that are considered in the Personality Test/Interview are as follows:

• Rational awareness
• Precise and reasonable explanation
• Understanding and interest in Current Affairs
• Profundity and depth of Interests
• Leadership Skills
• Critical powers of Association
• Societal Traits
• Steadiness in Judgment
• Ability of Social Interrelation
• Intellectual and ethical uprightness

As of now, the UPSC Syllabus has not seen any enormous changes and candidates preparing for UPSC 2017 Civil Services (IAS) Exam can start their preparation sticking to this syllabus and any changes in the syllabus in the future will be updated to the candidates.

Download the UPSC IAS syllabus 2020 PDF by clicking on the links below:

2020 IAS Prelims Syllabus PDF

2020 IAS Mains Syllabus & Optional Syllabus PDF