UPSC Prelims question paper subject wise
If you are a UPSC civil services aspirant, you would know the importance of practicing question papers from the previous years. You may be able to cover the entire syllabus and also complete revision a couple of times, but your UPSC civil services preparation will never be complete until you practice question papers.
Get past UPSC question papers here/IAS previous year question paper
In the civil services, there is a very high level of competition and you should not just clear the exam, but also get a reasonably good rank if you wish to get the posting and service you desire. For this, it would be highly beneficial if you can predict the type of questions that would be asked. Also, while you study, you should know what topics to concentrate more. This article gives you the subject-wise breakup of questions that were asked in the years from 2011 through 2016 UPSC prelims. This knowledge combined with your preparation would definitely give you the much-needed edge over your competitors in the upcoming June 2017 UPSC prelims.
Subject-wise breakup of the UPSC prelims question paper/IAS previous year question paper
The below given representation of pie chart clearly gives a picture of subject wise questions asked in the previous 6 years of UPSC Civil Services IAS Examination i.e. from year 2011 till 2016.
The year 2016, the UPSC Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam question paper saw a different trend from the last four years though the year 2015 prelims question paper saw the maximum number of questions from Current Affairs compared to other subjects but in 2016 UPSC Prelims question paper saw a drastic shift completely focusing on current affairs and resulted in almost 55-60% of question for current affairs.
The questions in Current affairs section was more of factual than conceptual
Questions from Polity section had moved towards traditional concepts like governance and public administration type questions than compared to last year’s (2015) trend
Economy section questions were mostly asked from Current Affairs
Nearly 60% of questions from UPSC 2016 Prelims exam could have been answered by just reading basic books and newspapers.
UPSC 2015 Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam Question Paper Analysis
It is in the year 2015; the UPSC Civil Services Exam completed shifted its focus on Current Affairs and questions from this section were directly from schemes and many were from newspaper and inclined more towards factual side.
Many conventional questions were from non-conventional sources and inferential
Polity section questions were from governance and public administration
Economic section questions were conceptual and analytical mostly from 2013 newspapers
Most of the questions were from newspapers (especially The Hindu) and some questions too easy from the topics of the UPSC Syllabus.
UPSC 2014 Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam Question Paper Analysis
The UPSC 2014 Civil Services IAS Prelims question paper was factual and conventional compared to the last three years. A complete knowledge about topics was required in this year. The year also saw questions from Indian Year Book.
The traditional questions were very easy and more questions were from art and culture
Polity section questions were from governance and public administration
Weightage to ecology and environment also increased
Most questions can be traced from The Hindu
UPSC 2013 Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam Question Paper Analysis
UPSC 2013 Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam question paper didn’t see any difference when compared to the last year.
Modern Indian had lost its charm not many questions from here
Importance of Ecology and Culture increased
Geography section was almost constant
Economy questions were basic and easy-medium-difficult type
Polity and History section questions were also same as Economy
Culture section questions were medium to difficult type
Current affairs didn’t have much importance
UPSC 2012 Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam Question Paper Analysis
The year UPSC 2012 Civil Services prelims exam brought back current affairs into limelight
More number of questions from various sections like culture
Questions from Polity, History, Geography, and Economy was constant
Comparatively very difficult questions in GS
UPSC 2012 Civil Services IAS Prelims Exam Question Paper Analysis
Lots of questions asked from basic material
Conceptual questions on current affairs linking to the topics
Questions from World Politics and Foreign relations were also asked
Also check the UPSC Civil Services Cut off marks of previous years
A look at the above pie-charts of previous years UPSC Civil services prelims question papers indicate that while the number of questions from history, geography, polity, Indian economy and environment sections have been almost same in all the years studied, the number of questions from the science and technology, and the current affairs/GK sections have been varying.
In 2013, there were no questions directly from the current affairs in the UPSC prelims. In contrast, in 2015 and 2016 most questions were from this section (22 and 27 respectively). It can be inferred that current affairs is increasingly becoming very important as far as UPSC is concerned. The UPSC wants to appoint people who are in sync with the times and who update themselves of the events affecting the country and the world.
Additionally, the questions from science and technology section mostly include those on new technologies. In the economy section also, questions are on inclusive growth, inflation, poverty, etc. all of which indicate the significance of current affairs. UPSC asks questions in a manner that one question can be classified as from, say geography but it could be related to current affairs also. If you want to crack the UPSC prelims, you must prepare specifically for current affairs. Be up to date on the various happenings around you. Learn to extract study material from the daily newspapers.
See also | Dissecting the Newspaper to Crack the UPSC Civil Services Examination
This indicates that UPSC civil services aspirants must be aware of the news and happenings inside and outside the country. For comprehensive news analysis, check out BYJU’S Daily News Analysis
It is equally important to practice previous years UPSC questions papers. Get the IAS previous year question paper here.
Keeping in mind, “There is no shortcut to success and unpredictable is the beauty of UPSC Civil Services Exam!”, therefore candidates should come up with the best strategy to cover all the sections effectively.
To get our experts guidance on current affairs and other section, candidates can click the below image.
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