UPSC IAS EXAM PATTERN & SYLLABUSUPSC IAS Exam - Civil services exam (CSE) is a competitive exam conducted by UPSC for the recruitment of elite IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS and other Group A, Group B services. UPSC Civil Services Exam is also popularly called as IAS exam since it is the most preferred services and reputed government services in India. UPSC IAS exam is conducted in three phases: Prelims, Mains and Interview. Prelims qualified candidates will be eligible for IAS Mains exam.
List of posts under UPSC Civil Services Exam :UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) - Group A ServicesIndian Administrative Services (IAS)Indian Civil Accounts Services
Indian Foreign Services (IFS)Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS)
Indian Police Services (IPS)Indian Railway Accounts Services (IRAS)
Indian P & T Accounts & Finance ServicesIndian Railway Personnel Services
Indian Audit and Accounts Services (IAAS)Indian Railway Protection Force (Assistant Security Commissioner)
Indian Revenue Services (Customs and Central Excise) - IRS CustomsIndian Defence Estates Services
Indian Defence Accounts ServicesIndian Information Services (Junior Grade)
Indian Revenue Services (I.T.) - IRS (I.T.)Indian Trade Services, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
Indian Ordnance Factories Services (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)Indian Corporate Law Services
Indian Postal Services (IPoS)
UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) - Group B ServicesArmed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (Section Officer's Grade) Pondicherry Civil Services
Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Services Pondicherry Police Services
Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Services
UPSC IAS Exam Pattern and Syllabus :Stage 1 : UPSC Prelims Exam PatternThe pattern of preliminary exam is known as CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test).There will be 2 papers in the preliminary exam of 2 hours duration for each containing 200 marks for each paper.
Paper I will check the applicant’s knowledge on current events, Indian history, Indian national movements, Indian & world geography, Indian polity, economy, social development, environmental ecology, biodiversity etc.
Paper II will check the applicants’ knowledge on comprehension, interpersonal skills, communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem-solving, data interpretation, English language etc.
The exam will be conducted in offline mode in duration.
Each question will be 1/3 Mark penalty for the wrong answer.
Papers Details of the question papers I General Studies – This paper will be counted for qualifying to write the Civil Services Mains exam.
II Aptitude test (CSAT) – This paper is of qualifying nature, but candidate must score at least 33% marks in this paper. However, marks of this paper are not counted for writing the Mains examination.
Total Marks Total Time No. of questions
Paper 1 - 200 2 hrs 100
Paper 2 - 200 2 hrs 80
Total 400 4 hrs
Stage 2 : IAS exam pattern for UPSC MainsThe UPSC exam pattern for the Mains stage consists of 9 papers conducted over a period of 5-7 days. Only those candidates who secure at least the declared cut off in General Studies I and 33% in General Studies II in Prelims will be allowed to appear for the Mains Examination. As per the exam pattern of UPSC Mains, all of the papers consist of descriptive answer type questions. The details of UPSC Mains Exam are given below:
Paper Subject Duration Total marks
Paper A Compulsory Indian language 3 hours 300
Paper B English 3 hours 300
Paper I Essay 3 hours 250
Paper II General Studies I 3 hours 250
Paper III General Studies II 3 hours 250
Paper IV General Studies III 3 hours 250
Paper V General Studies IV 3 hours 250
Paper VI Optional I 3 hours 250
Paper VII Optional II 3 hours 250
Upsc Syllabus :All of the mains papers except for the language papers A and B are of a merit ranking nature. Paper A and B are of qualifying nature and candidates must score at least 25% in each for the marks from their Paper I – Paper VII to be given weightage. Paper A is not compulsory for candidates from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim as well as candidates with hearing impairment provided they can prove that they have been exempted from such 2nd or 3rd language courses by their concerned board or university. The Indian Language paper covers any of the languages included in the 8th Schedule of the constitution.
The subjects which are covered by the General Studies Papers in Mains Exam are:General Studies I - Indian Heritage and Culture , History and Geography of the World , Society
General Studies II - Governance , Constitution , Polity
General Studies III - International relations , Social Justice , Technology , Economic Development , Bio-diversity
General Studies IV - Security and Disaster Management , Ethics , Integrity , Aptitude , Environment
The Optional subjects for Paper VI and VII of the mains examination have to be any one of the subjects from the following list:Agriculture , Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science , Anthropology , Botany , Chemistry ,
Civil Engineering , Commerce and Accountancy , Economics , Electrical Engineering , Geography ,
Geology , History , Law , Management , Mathematics ,
Mechanical Engineering , Medical Science , Philosophy , Physics , Political Science and International Relations ,
Psychology , Public Administration , Sociology , Statistics , Zoology.
Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.
All the papers except the Language papers A and B can be answered in English or any of the languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India. The optional papers can be answered in English even if none of the other papers has been answered by the candidate in English.
Stage 3: UPSC InterviewThis is the final stage of the IAS Exam before the final results are declared. Officially it is called the Interview/Personality Test and counted as a part of the Mains Examination for merit ranking purposes. From a preparation standpoint, it is considered the third stage as preparation strategies for the written and interview stages are different. As per the IAS exam pattern, this consists of an interview by the UPSC board to assess the candidates’ suitability for a civil services career and associated responsibilities. The board consists of competent and unbiased observers who have a record of the candidates’ career. The board would judge the candidates mental and social traits by asking questions of general interest. Some of the qualities that the board looks for are mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, a balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.
The maximum marks allotted for the interview stage is 275, thus bringing the total marks for the merit list consideration to 2025.
