UPSC Syllabus is one of the essential components of UPSC IAS Exam. A better understanding of UPSC syllabus must be a priority for IAS aspirants at the beginning of IAS preparation. A better strategy for IAS Exam can be made out only after the understanding of UPSC Syllabus.
UPSC syllabus is so vast and it has been designed in a manner so that the IAS aspirant’s expertise and proficiency in various subjects can easily be assessed. The main objective of the syllabus is to test the mental ability of IAS aspirants and their preparedness to deal with the issues arising out in a society or in a country as a whole. For this, an IAS aspirant must have a clear and coherent understanding of various issues which affects the masses in the country. Time to time, we provide better guidelines and every possible solution for the IAS aspirants so that they can find no difficulty while preparing for IAS Exam. For the beginners, our strategy and continued guidance will help them a lot to find a better way to crack the IAS Exam.
The UPSC syllabus is divided into three sections in a line with the three phases of Civil Services IAS Exam i.e. IAS Prelims, IAS Mains and IAS Interview (PT). By studying and analysing the UPSC syllabus and the previous year question papers, an IAS aspirant can partially decode the pattern of UPSC IAS Exam. Hence, they can chalk out the better strategy which can take less time to crack this coveted exam. So, while doing IAS preparation, an IAS aspirant should keep the syllabus beside them so that they can avoid the irrelevant topic by picking up the most relevant topics for UPSC IAS Exam. Now, go through the UPSC Syllabus for IAS Prelims Exam and IAS Mains Exam.
IAS Syllabus for Prelims Exam 2018: General Studies Paper I
Marks: 200
Duration: 2 hours
| Sl. No |
Subject-wise Division |
Detailed Syllabus |
| 1 |
History History of India and Indian Freedom Struggle |
Ancient History of India Medieval History of India Modern History 1857 to 1947 Indian National Movement |
| 2 |
Geography Geography of India and Concept of Physical Geography |
Physical Geography Human Geography Economic Geography World Geography |
| 3 |
Polity Indian Polity and Governance issues |
Union Executives State Executives Federalism in India Judicial System Panchayati Raj |
| 4 |
Economy Indian Economy and Social Development |
Basic Principles of Indian Economy Social Schemes of Government Social Development through Economic Empowerment Sustainable Development Demographics |
| 5 |
Environment and Ecology Principles of Environment and Ecology |
General Principles Climate Change and Climate Summits and Conferences |
| 6 |
General Science Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Technology |
General Principles Latest Science and Technological Development |
| 7 |
Current Events It covers all the events of National and International Importance |
Current Affairs Current Affairs with all Dimensions |
As per the trend followed by UPSC in the last few years, more focus is on current affairs. The IAS aspirants must prepare every subject in a manner so that every happening related to the static part must be covered during the process of IAS preparation.
UPSC IAS syllabus 2018 pdf free download
IAS Syllabus for Prelims Exam 2018: General Studies Paper II (CSAT) [Qualifying]
Marks: 200 marks
Duration: 2 hours
1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision making and problem-solving ability
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)
7. English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
8. Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper-II) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper.
IAS Prelims Plan of Exam
1. The UPSC Civil Services examination comprises of three successive stages:
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Exam.
(ii) Civil Services Mains Examination (Written) for the selection of candidates for the next level of UPSC IAS Exam.
(iii) Civil Services Personality Test (PT)
2. The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry each maximum of 200 marks in the subjects set out in Syllabus above. However, the General Studies Paper 2 is qualifying in nature. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total an approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of the respective year otherwise they will not be eligible for admission to the Main Examination.
IAS Main Exam Syllabus
| Sl. No. |
Name of Papers |
Syllabus Overview |
| GS Paper I |
Indian Heritage and |
|
| 1 |
GS Paper II |
Governance, Indian Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and |
| 2 |
GS Paper III |
Technology, Government Budgeting Land Reforms Inclusive Growth Security and Disaster Management |
| 3 |
GS Paper IV |
Ethics and Human Interface Attitude Aptitude Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence Public/Civil service value Probity in Governance Case study on above topics |
| 4 |
Essay Paper |
Any Topic/Topics (Current issues) |
| 5 |
Optional Paper I |
As opted by Candidate |
| 6 |
Optional Paper II |
As opted by Candidate |
| 7 |
Language Paper |
(i) Comprehension of given passages |
| 8 |
English |
Comprehension of given passages |
List of the Optional Subjects
The List of Optional Subjects is as follows:
(i)Agriculture
(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
(iii) Anthropology
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Civil Engineering
(vii) Commerce and Accountancy
(viii) Economics
(ix) Electrical Engineering
(x) Geography
(xi) Geology
(xii) History
(xiii) Law
(xiv) Management
(xv) Mathematics
(xvi) Mechanical Engineering
(xvii) Medical Science
(xviii) Philosophy
(xix) Physics
(xx) Political Science and International Relations
(xxi) Psychology
(xxii) Public Administration
(xxiii) Sociology
(xxiv) Statistics
(xxv) Zoology
Literature of any one of the languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, English.
Scheme of IAS Main Examination
The written examination will consist of the following papers:
| Name of Paper |
Max. Marks |
| Paper-A (One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution) |
300 Marks |
| Paper-B English |
300 Marks |
Papers to be counted for merit in IAS Exam:
| Name of Paper |
Subject of Paper |
Max. Marks |
| Paper-I |
Essay |
250 Marks |
| Paper-II |
General Studies-I(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) |
250 Marks |
|
|
General Studies -II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) |
250 Marks |
| Paper-IV |
General Studies -III(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) |
250 Marks |
| Paper-V |
General Studies -IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) |
250 Marks |
| Paper-VI |
Optional Subject - Paper 1 |
250 Marks |
| Paper-VII |
Optional Subject - Paper 2 |
250 Marks |
|
|
Sub Total (Written test) |
1750 Marks |
|
|
Personality Test (PT) |
275 Marks |
|
|
Grand Total |
2025 Marks |
The IAS aspirants must take the UPSC syllabus seriously because it plays an important role in IAS selection. An IAS aspirant can find a lot of books recommended for UPSC IAS Exam in the market but it is very important to be selective when it comes to picking up a right and relevant books for IAS.