UPSC Mains: Statistics on Candidates ' Medium of Examination

There are total nine descriptive papers in UPSC Civil Services mains examination. Candidates can choose either English or any one of the Indian languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India. A lot of candidates who are not comfortable in English opt to take Hindi or any other regional language as their medium of exam for the IAS mains. Some candidates, though, are apprehensive about taking a language other than English as the medium because of many preconceived notions like low success rate, lack of material availability, etc. But if we consider the truth, there are not many candidates who go for an Indian language in mains because the sheer numbers of candidates who opt for a non-English language are on the lower side. This article gives a few interesting statistics regarding the candidates’ medium of exam for the UPSC civil services mains exam. A good majority of candidates opt for English as their medium of mains exam.

In this article, we have discussed the figures from the annual report of the UPSC for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 and compiled them for the reference of candidates.

Statistics on Candidates Medium of Examination:-Download PDF Here

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Year-wise Statistics on Candidates ‘ Medium of Examination

YEAR 2021

Comparative statement showing the medium of examination (Indian languages/English) of candidates who appeared in Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2021:

Language Essay GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4
English 8388 8362 8348 8329 8318
Assamese 0 0 0 0 0
Bengali 0 0 0 0 0
Gujarati 20 20 20 20 20
Hindi 470 470 470 469 468
Kannada 3 2 2 2 2
Kashmiri 0 0 0 0 0
Malayalam 4 4 4 4 4
Marathi 30 30 30 30 30
Oriya 0 0 0 0 0
Punjabi 0 0 0 0 0
Sanskrit 0 0 0 0 0
Sindhi 0 0 0 0 0
Tamil 5 5 5 5 5
Telugu 5 5 5 5 5
Urdu 0 0 0 0 0
Konkani 0 0 0 0 0
Manipuri 0 0 0 0 0
Nepali 0 0 0 0 0
Bodo 0 0 0 0 0
Dogri 0 1 1 1 1
Santhali 0 0 0 0 0
Maithili 0 0 0 0 0

YEAR 2020

Comparative statement showing the medium of examination (Indian languages/English) of candidates who appeared in Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020:

Language Essay GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4
English 9720 9711 9694 9680 9677
Assamese 1 1 1 1 1
Bengali 2 2 2 2 2
Gujarati 44 44 44 44 44
Hindi 486 484 483 483 482
Kannada 6 6 6 6 6
Kashmiri 0 0 0 0 0
Malayalam 4 4 4 4 4
Marathi 43 43 43 43 43
Oriya 0 0 0 0 0
Punjabi 0 0 0 0 0
Sanskrit 0 0 0 0 0
Sindhi 0 0 0 0 0
Tamil 25 25 25 25 25
Telugu 4 4 4 4 4
Urdu 1 1 1 1 1
Konkani 0 0 0 0 0
Manipuri 0 0 0 0 0
Nepali 0 0 0 0 0
Bodo 0 0 0 0 0
Dogri 0 1 1 1 1
Santhali 0 0 0 0 0
Maithili 0 0 0 0 0

YEAR 2019

Comparative statement showing the medium of examination (Indian languages/English) of candidates who appeared in Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2019:

Language Essay GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4
English 10723 10705 10694 10681 10677
Assamese
Bengali 1 1 1 1 1
Gujarati 67 67 65 66 65
Hindi 571 570 565 563 562
Kannada 13 13 13 13 13
Kashmiri – – – – –
Malayalam 9 9 9 9 9
Marathi 49 49 49 49 49
Oriya – – – – –
Punjabi 1 1 1 1 1
Sanskrit – – – – –
Sindhi – – – – –
Tamil 21 21 21 21 21
Telugu 8 8 8 8 8
Urdu 3 3 3 3 3
Konkani – – – – –
Manipuri – – – – –
Nepali – – – – –
Bodo – – – – –
Dogri – – – – –
Santhali – – – – –
Maithili 1 1 1 1 1

Comparative statement showing the medium of examination (Indian languages/English) of candidates who appeared in Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2018:

Language Essay GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4
English 9122 9109 9097 9088 9082
Assamese 1 1 1 1 1
Bengali 1 1 1 1 1
Gujarati 89 89 89 88 88
Hindi 889 888 888 886 887
Kannada 12 12 12 12 12
Kashmiri
Malayalam 8 8 8 8 8
Marathi 75 75 75 73 72
Oriya
Punjabi 4 4 4 4 4
Sanskrit
Sindhi
Tamil 22 22 22 22 22
Telugu 15 15 15 14 14
Urdu 3 3 3 3 3
Konkani
Manipuri
Nepali
Bodo
Dogri
Santhali
Maithili

Comparative statement showing the medium of examination (Indian languages/English) of candidates who appeared in Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2017:

Language Essay GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4
English 11740 11719 11707 11691 11692
Assamese
Bengali 3 3 3 3 3
Gujarati 92 91 91 91 91
Hindi 1066 1065 1065 1068 1061
Kannada 8 8 8 7 8
Kashmiri
Malayalam 7 7 7 7 7
Marathi 85 87 87 85 86
Oriya 1 1 1 1 1
Punjabi 5 5 5 5 5
Sanskrit
Sindhi
Tamil 28 28 28 28 28
Telugu 16 16 16 16 16
Urdu 1 1 1 1 1
Konkani
Manipuri
Nepali
Bodo
Dogri
Santhali
Maithili

Comparative statement showing the medium of examination (Indian languages/English) of candidates who appeared in Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2016:

Language Essay GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4
English 13490 13457 13443 13429 13419
Assamese
Bengali 3 3 3 3 3
Gujarati 135 135 135 135 135
Hindi 1320 1318 1317 1317 1318
Kannada 29 29 29 29 29
Kashmiri
Malayalam 7 7 7 7 7
Marathi 87 87 87 87 87
Oriya
Punjabi 5 5 5 5 5
Sanskrit
Sindhi
Tamil 35 35 35 34 34
Telugu 30 30 30 30 30
Urdu 1 1 1 1 1
Konkani
Manipuri
Nepali
Bodo
Dogri
Santhali
Maithili

To check the statistics for the 2015 and 2014 UPSC CSE, candidates can download the PDF given below:

Statistics on Candidates Medium of Examination 2014 & 2015:-Download PDF Here

The above tables show that the dominating language in UPSC Mains exam is English. Hindi comes second in the list although it is way behind. There are also a few takers for Marathi and Gujarati languages, followed by Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Other languages figure only in single digits or none.

Also See | Pros and Cons of taking Literature Optionals in UPSC Mains Exam

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  1. Sir/Mam my question is—-
    Can I write my optional Paper (Agriculture) in English language and GS paper1,2,3,4 & Essay in Hindi language in upsc mains exam???????

  2. My question is
    Is it possible to write MAINS exam in English and give the interview in Hindi?