UPSC Civil Services Syllabus

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSE) conducts the Civil Services Examinations (CSE) to recruit suitable candidates in various positions, including Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS) and Indian Police Service (IPS). This is a distinct competitive examination and it is organized nationwide. The success rate of this test is less as it is one of the toughest examinations in India. However, this test is organized in two phases-Preliminary Examination (Objective type) and the Main Examination (Written and Interview). In preliminary exam, students' understanding level in general studies and aptitude is evaluated, whereas the Main examination is designed with the nine papers of conventional type. Finally, the personality test is conducted in the interview.

UPSC Preliminary Examination Syllabus:

The Preliminary Exam has two papers and each paper is designed with the multiple choice questions. 200 marks are allotted for each paper and hence, total 400 marks are designed for the entire Preliminary Exam. The duration for each exam is 2 hours.

Syllabus for Paper I:

• Current events including national and international.
• History of India and the National Movement.
• Social, Physical and Economic Geography of India as well as the World.
• Indian Governance- Constitution, Panchayati Raj, Political System, Public Policy, Rights Issues and others.
• Social and Economic Development- Demographics, Sustainable Development, etc.
• General issues on Biodiversity, Environmental Ecology (General Science)

Syllabus for Paper II:

• Comprehension
• Logical reasoning and analytical skill
• Interpersonal skills
• General mental ability
• Problem solving skill
• Basic numeracy skill (class X level -numbers and the relations, orders of magnitude and others) and Data interpretation ( class X level-charts, tables, graphs, data sufficiency and others.)

UPSC Main Examination Syllabus:

• Paper-I- Language contains 300 Marks (Qualifying Paper) 
• Paper-II-English contains 300 Marks (Qualifying Paper)
• Paper-III-Essay contains 250 Marks
• Paper-IV-General studies-I contains 250 Marks (Indian culture, heritage, historical events and geographical aspects of the society and the world.)
• Paper-V-General studies-II contains 250 Marks-(Constitution, governance, social justice and international relations)
• Paper-VI-General Studies-III contains 250 Marks-(Biodiversity, economic development, environment, disaster management and others)
• Paper-VI- General Studies-IV contains 250 Marks-(Integrity, ethics and others)
• Paper-VIII-Optional Subject(paper-I) contains 250 Marks
• Paper-IX-Optional Subject (paper-II) contains 250 Marks (Candidates can choose literature as an optional subject without the condition of having to do their graduation in the same language's literature.)

The marks for the total written test are 1750 marks as the score of English and Language are not counted. On the other hand, 275 marks are allotted for the interview/ personality test. Students can choose their preferred language for the interview and UPSC will do the required arrangement for the translators. Students can write the examination either in English or any one language from the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. However, the grand total for the UPSC Civil Services are 2025 marks.