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UPSC Syllabus 2022 | IAS Syllabus For UPSC Prelims & Mains
A thorough understanding of UPSC syllabus is an extremely important milestone in cracking the UPSC Clear Services Exam. Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in India for recruitment to various designated posts such as IAS (Indian Administrative Service), IPS (Indian Police Service), IFS (Indian Foreign Service). , IRS (Indian Revenue Service) and allied services. So, to be able to crack the IAS exam successfully, candidates must know the latest IAS syllabus for UPSC in detail.
In this article, we have discussed UPSC Syllabus 2022 for both UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam. Apart from this, we have also touched on the UPSC Exam Pattern in brief.
IAS Syllabus for Prelims in Hindi pdf UPSC CSE Complete Syllabus
Civil Services Exam (IAS Exam), the most prestigious exam of all, is conducted by UPSC every year to recruit candidates to various services and posts in the Government of India. It is a two stage exam which includes:
1. Civil Services Preliminary Examination for selection of candidates for Main Examination (Objective Type).
2. Civil Services Main Examination (Written & Interview) for selection of candidates for various services and posts mentioned in the official notification.
UPSC Prelims Subject-Wise Weightage
UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2022 will be held on 5th June 2022. Lakhs of aspirants are expected to appear for the exam hoping to make their IAS dreams come true.
UPSC Prelims is the towards making a career in the prestigious Civil Services of India. Civil Services Examination is a three-stage examination consisting of Preliminary Examination, Main Examination and Interview.
In this article, candidates can find the UPSC Prelims exam trends analysis along with videos of marks distribution and paper analysis from 2011 to 2021. UPSC Prelims Syllabus comprises of many topics under different subjects and reviewing the exam analysis can be very helpful in understanding the important topics.
UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern & Syllabus
There are two papers in the IAS Preliminary exam round. Prelims is essentially an eliminating round, in which around 5 lakh people (on an average) take the exam, only around 10 – 15 thousand clear it. The marks obtained in this exam decide whether the candidates can go to the next stage or not. It is important to prepare well and have a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered in this exam. In this article, we bring you an analysis of the marks distribution trends over the past decade according to various subjects covered in the exam.
The prelims paper consists of objective type questions with negative marking for wrong answers. The structure of the preliminary exam is as follows:
| Paper | Total Marks | No. of Questions | Duration | Type | Negative Marks | Nature |
| General Studies Paper 1 | 200 | 100 | 2 hours | Objective | Yes | Merit Ranking |
| General Studies Paper 2 (CSAT) | 200 | 80 | 2 hours | Objective | Yes | Qualifying |
UPSC IAS Preliminary Exam Pattern & Syllabus
The first stage of the examination i.e. Civil Services Preliminary Examination is only a screening test and is conducted to shortlist the candidates for the main examination. The marks obtained in the preliminary examination are not taken into account while preparing the final merit.
The Preliminary Examination consists of two objective type papers carrying a maximum of 400 marks.
| No. of Papers | 2 compulsory papers |
| Type of Questions | Objective (MCQ) type |
| Total Maximum Marks | 400 (200 each paper) |
| Duration of Exam | 2 hrs. each (20 minutes per hour extra time for blind candidates & candidate with Locomotor Disability & Cerebral Palsy [minimum 40% impairment]) |
| Negative Marking | 1/3rd of the marks assigned to a question |
| Medium of Exam | Bilingual (Hindi & English) |
UPSC Civil Services Exam (IAS Exam) is conducted in two stages:
- यूपीएससी चरण I: सिविल सेवा प्रारंभिक परीक्षा या यूपीएससी प्रारंभिक परीक्षा मुख्य परीक्षा के लिए उम्मीदवारों के चयन के लिए एक वस्तुनिष्ठ प्रकार की परीक्षा है।
- यूपीएससी चरण II: सिविल सेवा मुख्य परीक्षा या यूपीएससी मुख्य परीक्षा में आधिकारिक अधिसूचना में उल्लिखित विभिन्न सेवाओं और पदों के लिए उम्मीदवारों के चयन के लिए लिखित परीक्षा और साक्षात्कार शामिल हैं।
Civil Services Main Examination or UPSC Main Examination consist of a Written Exam and Interview for the selection of candidates for various services & posts as mentioned in the official notification
The entire process of the IAS Exam from Prelims and Mains to Personality Development Test or Interview takes around a year to complete. As per the trends of the previous year, UPSC follows the following UPSC exam calendar every year:
| Release of Notification | 2nd Feb 2022 |
| Prelims Exam | 5th June 2022 |
| Mains Exam | 16th September 2022 |
| Interview Process | Yet to be announced |
| Final Result | April/May of the following year |
Phase 1: Preliminary Examination
UPSC Prelims consists of two compulsory multiple-choice-question based papers of 200 marks each. Here’s a brief about the UPSC Prelims paper pattern.
| Number of Papers | 2 compulsory papers (GS Paper-I and GS Paper-II) |
| Type of Paper | GS Paper-I (Merit)
GS Paper-II (Qualifying) |
| Type of Questions | Objective (MCQ) type |
| Total Maximum Marks | 400 (200 each paper) |
| Duration of Exam | 2 hrs. each (20 minutes per hour extra time for blind candidates & candidates with Locomotor Disability & Cerebral Palsy [minimum 40% impairment]) |
| Negative Marking | 1/3rd of the marks assigned to a question |
| Medium of Exam | Bilingual (Hindi & English) |
UPSC Syllabus For Prelims
Download UPSC Syllabus Micro topics List Worth Rs. 599 For Free
The UPSC Civil Services Prelims has two papers namely General Studies-I and General Studies-II (CSAT). Check out the IAS syllabus for both the UPSC papers below:
UPSC Syllabus for Prelims: Paper-I
The IAS Syllabus for UPSC Prelims Exam includes the following topics:
- राष्ट्रीय और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय महत्व की समसामयिक घटनाएं।
- भारत का इतिहास और भारतीय राष्ट्रीय आंदोलन।
- भारतीय और विश्व भूगोल – भारत और विश्व का भौतिक, सामाजिक, आर्थिक भूगोल।
- भारतीय राजनीति और शासन – संविधान, राजनीतिक व्यवस्था, पंचायती राज, सार्वजनिक नीति, अधिकार मुद्दे, आदि।
- आर्थिक और सामाजिक विकास – सतत विकास, गरीबी, समावेशन, जनसांख्यिकी, सामाजिक क्षेत्र की पहल, आदि।
- पर्यावरण पारिस्थितिकी, जैव-विविधता और जलवायु परिवर्तन पर सामान्य मुद्दे – जिन्हें विषय विशेषज्ञता की आवश्यकता नहीं है सामान्य विज्ञान
Also, Read | How to prepare IAS Syllabus for GS-I in UPSC Prelims
UPSC Syllabus For Prelims: General Studies Paper-II
The GS-II in UPSC Prelims is also known as CSAT or Civil Services Aptitude Test. The following topics are included in the IAS syllabus for this paper:
- समझ
- संचार कौशल सहित पारस्परिक कौशल
- तर्क I तर्क और विश्लेषणात्मक क्षमता
- निर्णय लेना और समस्या का समाधान
- सामान्य मानसिक क्षमता
- बुनियादी संख्यात्मकता (संख्याएं और उनके संबंध, परिमाण के क्रम, आदि, – कक्षा X स्तर), डेटा व्याख्या (चार्ट, ग्राफ़, टेबल, डेटा पर्याप्तता, आदि, – कक्षा X स्तर)
Also, Read | How to prepare for CSAT for UPSC Prelims
Phase 2: UPSC Civil Services Main Examination
UPSC Mains exam consists of nine papers which are held in 4-5 days. Out of these, only seven papers are merit oriented. The remaining two papers including compulsory Indian language paper and compulsory English paper are of qualifying nature. Here is a brief about UPSC Mains Paper:
Papers to be Counted for Merit
Sub Total (Written Test)
Personality Test
Grand Total
| Qualifying Papers | 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 (Compulsory Indian Language) | 300 |
| Paper-B | English | 300 |
| Paper-I | Essay | 250 |
| Paper-II | General Studies-I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) | 250 |
| Paper-III | General Studies-II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) | 250 |
| Paper-IV | Genera Studies-III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) | 250 |
| Paper-V | General Studies-IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) | 250 |
| Paper-VI | Optional Subject – Paper 1 | 250 |
| Paper-VII | Optional Subject – Paper 2 | 250 |
| 1750 | ||
| 275 | ||
| 2025 | ||
Download UPSC Syllabus Micro topics List Worth Rs. 599 For Free
UPSC Syllabus For Civil Services Mains Examination
About the UPSC Prelims Cut off Marks:
Prelims cut off marks refers to the minimum marks required in GS Paper I to qualify for mains (provided the candidate scores at least 33% in CSAT). This cut off mark changes every year based on the performance of the candidates and the number of vacancies.
Read more about UPSC Cut Off Marks here.
Subject-Wise Weightage and Marks Distribution of IAS Preliminary Exam
The subject-wise weightage for the number of questions in General Studies I since 2011 is shown in the graph and table given below:
As we can see from the above chart, only Environment topic questions showed a somewhat steady trend, hovering around 15 to 18 questions for most of the years, but this section is showing a decreasing trend. Other themes show wide variations each year.
The above statistics also shows the importance and relevance of current affairs in the preliminary examination and its importance in the first stage of the written examination.
For example, politics questions have ranged from 7 in 2016 to 22 in 2017. This is a wide variation for a year. Similarly, questions directly related to current affairs ranged from 27 in 2013 to 27 in 2016, three years later. Hence it is very difficult to predict UPSC Prelims weightage for different subjects. It is deliberate on the part of UPSC to stop pattern-based study as it is very difficult to pick out the major topic for the next exam. However, Current Affairs tops the charts and a major portion of the question papers are devoted to it. Still, candidates must practice previous year UPSC papers to check their preparation. Also, a balanced study plan is essential to be able to beat the unpredictability of UPSC Prelims subject wise mark weights.
Through the following video lectures, you can get a detailed analysis of all the questions in UPSC Prelims 2021 Question Paper:
In the following video lecture, you can get a detailed analysis of all the questions in UPSC Prelims 2020 GS Paper I:
We have also done a detailed analysis of UPSC Prelims GS Paper I 2019. All the questions asked are analyzed and explained in the video below. The interpretation is divided according to topics for convenience.
- Prelims 2019: GS Paper I Discussion (History)
- Prelims 2019: GS Paper I Discussion (Economy)
- Prelims 2019: GS Paper Discussion (International Relations)
- Prelims 2019: GS Paper Discussion (Polity)
- Prelims 2019: GS Paper I Discussion (Science and Technology)
- Prelims 2019: GS Paper I Discussion (Environment and Ecology)
More IAS related queries
- Is there any negative marking in UPSC Prelims?
- Yes, for each wrong answer you will be penalized with 1/3rd of the total marks allotted for that question in the UPSC Preliminary Examination. This negative marking is there in both the papers of IAS Prelims – GS Paper I and GS Paper II (CSAT). However, no marks will be deducted if the question remains unanswered.
- What was the cut off for UPSC Prelims 2020?
For UPSC Prelims 2020, the cut off marks are given below:
| UPSC Cut Off – IAS Prelims 2020 | |
| Category | UPSC Cut Off |
| General | 92.51 |
| EWS | 77.55 |
| OBC | 89.12 |
| SC | 74.84 |
| ST | 68.71 |
| PwBD-1 | 70.06 |
| PwBD-2 | 63.94 |
| PwBD-3 | 40.82 |
| PwBD-4 | 42.86 |
- How can I check my UPSC Prelims marks?
- UPSC releases the mark sheet after the entire exam process is over. Refer the sequence given below for clarity:
- UPSC CSE Prelims
- UPSC Prelims Result
- UPSC Mains
- UPSC Mains Result
- IAS Interview
- UPSC Final Result and Merit List
- You can download the UPSC Marksheet for Prelims, Mains and Interview when they are available on the official website. For any doubts, read the detailed explanation related to UPSC mark sheet for Prelims, Mains and Interview.
- How many papers are there in UPSC Mains?
- The UPSC IAS Mains exam comprises nine theory papers:
- Two language papers
- Essay
- GS I-IV
- Optional Subject Paper I & II
- Here you can read/download the updated syllabus for Civil Services Main Examination for UPSC .
- What is the monthly salary of an IAS officer in India?
- The starting monthly salary of IAS officer in India after the 7th Pay Commission recommendation is Rs 56,100 ( DA, HRA etc.). Here, you can read the salary structure and pay scale for IAS officers after the 7th Pay Commission.
- What is the exam pattern for IAS exam?
- The UPSC IAS exam has three stages:
- Civil Services Prelims Exam: 5th June 2022
- Civil Services Mains Exam: September 16, 2022 onwards
- IAS Interview: TBA
- Is Indian language compulsory in UPSC?
- In UPSC Mains, Paper A and Paper B are compulsory language papers. Although, Paper A is not mandatory for candidates hailing from parts of North East India.
- How many marks are required to clear IAS prelims?
- The IAS prelims comprise two papers:
- GS Paper I – Candidates have to score above the UPSC cut off for that year (usually between 100-125 marks for General Category aspirants)
- GS Paper II (CSAT) – Candidates have to score above 33% and marks in CSAT won’t be counted for the merit list of UPSC Mains.
For study tips, tricks and preparation material on IAS 2022, please check out the following links: