UPSC Prelims 2024 - Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Notes, Strategy

As per the UPSC 2024 calendar, the IAS prelims is scheduled to take place on May 26, 2024. The UPSC Notification 2024 will be released on Feb 14, 2024. The UPSC 2023 Personality Test (IAS Interview) is being held in January – February 2024. Marks, cut-off marks and answer keys of the Prelims exam will be uploaded on upsc.gov.in after the entire process of the exam is over (declaration of the final result). The IAS Mains exams will be held in September 2024.

UPSC Prelims Syllabus
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Aspirants can check roll number-wise results on the UPSC Prelims Results 2023.

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Candidates who plan to take the UPSC CSE 2024 should start their preparation at the earliest.

The UPSC Prelims 2023 was successfully conducted on May 28 2023 and the UPSC Prelims Result 2023 was declared on June 12, 2023. The UPSC Mains exam concluded on September 24, 2023. Aspirants can download the UPSC Mains Question Papers 2023 from the linked page.

After the UPSC Prelims 2023, our faculty dissected and analysed the questions that were asked in the paper. Candidates can view the UPSC Prelims 2023 Answer Key and read the question paper analysis in the link below.

UPSC Prelims 2023 Question Paper Analysis

Candidates who are preparing for other UPSC exams can refer to the UPSC Calendar 2024.

Are you preparing for the Civil Services Examination? Check your UPSC Eligibility Criteria now!

Check the following links to complement your preparation to crack the examination in the first attempt!

  1. IAS Questions & Answers
  2. Topic-Wise UPSC Prelims Questions PDF
  3. Download PDFs of UPSC IAS Prelims 2023 Question Papers for GS1 and CSAT
  4. Check UPSC Prelims 2023 Answer Keys
  5. NCERT Notes for UPSC
  6. Current Affairs
  7. This Day in History

For details on IAS Exam, refer to the linked article.

UPSC Prelims 2024 – Exam Pattern

The UPSC Civil Service Prelims exam pattern as per the UPSC 2023 notification is given below. Any changes made in the forthcoming UPSC CSE Prelims exam pattern will be updated here after the release of the CSE 2024 notification. The UPSC CSE 2024 notification will be released on February 14, 2024.

The UPSC CSE Prelims comprises two objective-type papers (General Studies I and General Studies II or CSAT) for a total of 400 marks. Both papers are usually held on the same day in two sessions via offline mode (pen-paper).

The Prelims Admit Card will be released on the official website of UPSC 2-3 weeks before the date of the exam.

UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern General Studies I General Studies II or CSAT
Number of questions 100 80
Negative Marking Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question)

-0.66 marks for every incorrect answer

Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question)

-0.83 marks for every incorrect answer

Duration of exam 2 hours 2 hours
UPSC Prelims 2023 Date of exam 28th May 2023 28th May 2023
Language of exam English/Hindi English/Hindi
Maximum marks 200 200
Cut Off marks Counted for Merit. Cut-off varies every year. 33% qualifying criteria (66 marks)

The official cut-off for the Prelims 2024 will be released once the exam is conducted. For UPSC Cut Off, check the linked article.

Candidates should refer to the linked page on UPSC Prelims Previous Year Question Papers before starting their preparation.

Visit the linked page to download UPSC Prelims Answer Keys from 2016 through 2023.

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UPSC Prelims 2024 – Syllabus

The detailed UPSC Preliminary syllabus for the 2024 exam is given below:

General Studies Paper-1 Syllabus:

  • Current events of national and international importance.
  • History of India and Indian National Movement.
  • Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
  • Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
  • General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change- that do not require subject specialization.
  • General Science.

General Studies Paper-2 (CSAT) Syllabus:

  • Comprehension.
  • Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
  • Decision-making and problem-solving.
  • General mental ability.
  • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level)
  • Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level).
  • English language comprehension skills – Class X level.

You can find the in-depth syllabus for UPSC Prelims here.

Preparation Strategy for UPSC Prelims

The following strategy will help candidates to score well in the IAS prelims exam.

  • Current Affairs are an important part of UPSC Prelims. Ideally, candidates should prepare 12 to 15 months’ worth of current affairs.
  • Important sources for current affairs preparation for the UPSC exam 2023 are:
    1. Yojana Magazine
    2. Newspapers (The Hindu/The Indian Express)
    3. Press Information Bureau (PIB)
    4. Economic and Political Weekly (EPW)
  • Candidates should prepare for UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains simultaneously as there is a syllabus overlap. Check the complete IAS Syllabus 2023.
  • For CSAT or General Studies Paper-II in UPSC Prelims, go through the previous years’ question papers to gauge your level. The UPSC Prelims solved question papers will be useful. As such, there is not much preparation needed for CSAT, however, only you can take that call. For complete information on CSAT including books, strategy and trend analysis, refer to the link.
  • Focus Areas for different subjects in UPSC Prelims:
    1. Indian Independence Movement:
      • Main congress sessions with the year, president and important resolutions
      • Significant viceroys and their period with important decisions
      • The Government of India Acts 1909, 1919, 1935 and charter acts
    2. Ancient history:
      • Hindu philosophy, Buddhism and Jainism
      • Mauryan and Gupta Period
      • Art, architecture and scientific development during that period
    3. Medieval history:
      • Important kings such as Sher Shah, Akbar, etc.
      • Delhi Sultanate
    4. Polity:
      • Here, importance should be given to current events, such as any changes in the constitution, new acts or amendments, and schemes
      • Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)
      • Committee system, parliament, and parliamentary proceedings
      • Judiciary
      • Constitutional bodies
    5. S&T:
      • For basic science concepts, refer to NCERT books selectively as in-depth knowledge is not needed
      • Focus on the current affairs part
    6. Environment and Ecology
      • Important declarations, conventions
      • IUCN’s Red List
      • Biosphere Reserves, Tiger Reserves etc.
      • International bodies
    7. Geography:
      • Solar system
      • Latitudes and longitudes
      • Layers of the atmosphere
      • Global atmospheric wind, cyclones
      • Pressure belts
      • Revolution, rotation and seasons
      • Monsoons
      • Types of rainfall
      • Koeppen classification
      • Jet streams, ocean currents
      • El Nino, La Nina
      • India’s physical geography (NCERT)
      • Rivers, hills, soil (India)
      • Mineral resources (India), Geological history of India
      • Basics of agriculture (NCERT)
      • Maps
    8. Economy:
      • Importance should be given to current events like new bills and important committees
      • focus on basic and fundamental concepts like:
        • Growth and development, poverty, unemployment, inflation
        • State of the national and global economy
        • Major committees and bills
        • Latest budget and economic survey

UPSC Civil Services Prelims – Trend Analysis

UPSC has established itself to be predictably unpredictable. So, candidates should only see the trends as a reference and not draw too much inference.

In the table given below, we have broken down the UPSC Prelims 2019, UPSC Prelims 2020, UPSC Prelims 2021, UPSC Prelims 2022, and UPSC Prelims 2023 GS 1 papers:

UPSC Prelims 2023 GS Paper 1 Subject-Wise Analysis
Subject Number of questions
History 14
Economy 14
Polity 15
Environment & Ecology 14
Geography 16
Science & Technology 12
International Relations 11
Miscellaneous 4
Total 100
UPSC Prelims 2022 GS Paper 1 Subject-Wise Analysis
Subject Number of questions
History 10
Economy 16
Polity 11
Environment & Ecology 17
Geography 10
Science & Technology 14
International Relations 14
Miscellaneous 3
Total 100
UPSC Prelims 2021 GS Paper 1 Subject-Wise Analysis
Subject Number of questions
History 20
Economy 10
Polity 14
Environment & Ecology 11
Geography 10
Science & Technology 08
Current Affairs 27
Total 100
UPSC Prelims 2020 GS Paper 1 Subject-Wise Analysis
Subject Number of questions
History 18
Economy 14
Polity 16
Environment & Ecology 17
Geography 10
Science & Technology 10
Current Affairs 15
Total 100

The commission released the UPSC Prelims Result 2020 on 23rd October.

UPSC Prelims 2019 GS Paper 1 Subject-Wise Analysis
Subject Number of questions
History 17
Economy 14
Polity 15
Environment & Ecology 11
Geography 14
Science & Technology 7
Current Affairs 22
Total 100

For a similar analysis and comparison of subject-wise weightage in UPSC Prelims, check the link.

UPSC Prelims – Study Material for IAS Preparation

A big part of UPSC preparation is selecting the right study material. Studying from the best Civil services Prelims Books will be both efficient and effective. For both, UPSC Prelims and Mains, NCERTs are a must because of their credibility and easy-to-understand language.

From the links given below, IAS aspirants can download/view the NCERT books needed for UPSC Prelims preparation.

Free History NCERT Books PDF Download for UPSC Exam Free Geography NCERT Books PDF Download for UPSC Exam
Free Polity NCERT Books PDF Download Free Science NCERT Books PDF Download for UPSC
Free Economics & Social Issues NCERT Books PDF Download Complete List of NCERT Books Needed for IAS Exam Preparation

Check the list of UPSC Books here.

Candidates who clear the UPSC IAS Prelims have to fill out the Detailed Application Form (DAF) before they can take the Mains Exam.

For 2024, the UPSC Mains exams are scheduled to take place on September 20, 2024. Aspirants can check the linked article for more details on UPSC Mains.

UPSC Prelims Related Articles:

UPSC Exam Pattern UPSC Notification

Frequently Asked Questions on UPSC Prelims Exam

Q1

Q 1. Is the UPSC prelims exam only qualifying in nature?

Ans. Yes, the IAS prelims exam is only qualifying in nature. For the General Studies Paper-1, the cut off varies from year to year. However, for the CSAT paper, 33% is the qualifying criteria.
Q2

Q 2. What is the syllabus for the UPSC prelims exam?

Ans. The syllabus for GS Paper 1 is current affairs, History of India and Indian National Movement, Indian and World Geography, Economic and Social Development, Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change, and General Science. As for the CSAT paper, it tests the analytical skills, reasoning ability and Interpersonal skills of the candidate. To get the UPSC Prelims 2023 Detailed Syllabus, visit the linked article.
Q3

Q 3. How many exams are there in UPSC Prelims?

Ans. There are two papers in the IAS preliminary examination: GS Paper 1 and GS Paper 2 (CSAT). The maximum marks for each of these papers is 200 and the number of questions asked is 100 and 80, respectively.
Q4

Q 4. What is the educational qualification to apply for the civil services prelims exam?

Ans. To apply for the civil services exam, the applicant must possess a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
Q5

Q 5. Is the IAS prelims an offline or online paper?

Ans. The UPSC prelims exam is conducted through offline mode, i.e., the pen and paper mode.

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  1. Please provide me the detailed syllabus for Political science as optional subject and please also provide the study materials along with strategies for preparation.

    Thanks a lot

  2. please provide me the detailed syllabus of sociology optional subject

  3. provide me upsc prelims syllabus of 2020

  4. plz provide me math optional book list

  5. suggest me geology optional book list

  6. Sir Plz Privide me the topics and sub topics of History,Economy, and Geography for cse prelims 2020

  7. plz provide me PSIR optional book list

  8. Plz provide me upsc syllabus for pre and mains and syllabus of public administration optional subject

  9. Pls provide me detailed syllabus of commerce and accountancy optional syllabus and strategy
    And important booklist.

  10. Having only 100+ days for IAS prelims 2020,
    is it essential to study reference books or byju’s notes itself is enough Also plz suggest whether TATA McGraw hills guides are good for both GS & CSAT plz reply soon. Thank you

  11. Please provide me syllabus of political science optional syllabus and stretagy and important booklist

  12. provide me syllabus of psychology

  13. Provide me mains syllabus of the odia optional subject and books list

  14. Please provide GS 4 Ethics notes and strategy. Thanks

  15. Pls provide me chemistry optional book list

  16. Can you please provide me Psychology optional book list.

  17. Pls provided public administration optional subject and syllabus, books

  18. sir, I have passed plus two now. I got a seat on the course BSC. Family & Community Science. if I opt for this degree which optional must be good?

  19. Please provide me geography optional book list And strategy

  20. preparing for next year, can u please provide strategy, notes n current affairs n how do prepare

  21. suggest me a book for chemistry optional

  22. please send me psychology strategy for optional

    and send me current affairs monthly notes link or any other related

  23. please provide booklist for economics optional and preparation strategy.

  24. please provide me telugu optional syllabus,booklist and strategy

  25. please provide details of the study materials for botany as a optional subject .and regional language kannada
    literature as a option

  26. Please provide the Syllabus of Anthropology.

  27. sir plz guide me current afairs kha pe pdna hai

  28. When will the online registration for UPSC Civil Services prelim open?

  29. please provide me tamil
    optional syllabus,booklist and strategy

  30. Please provide the syllabus for Upsc syllabus in2021

  31. Hi,
    To prepare for UPSC 2022, which syllabus should I follow?

    • Hi,
      Please follow the UPSC syllabus given here. Usually, the Commission doesn’t change the syllabus often. If any changes would occur, same would be reflected on the linked page.

  32. NAMASTE SIR
    YOU’RE DOING A GOOD JOB WITHOUT ANY FINANCIAL SUPPORT
    IT IS HELPFUL SO MANY ASPIRANTS
    NO WORDS TO SPEAK
    THANK YOU