UPSC Syllabus 2024: Union Public Service Commission conducts UPSC examination every year to shortlist candidates for various Grade-A posts in the government sector. UPSC Civil Services Examination is one of the toughest and prestigious examinations in the country. Candidates who are interested in the upcoming UPSC Recruitment must know about the UPSC Syllabus 2024. Understanding the UPSC syllabus helps candidates plan and strategize their preparation journey thereby maximizing their chances of success in the exam. Read below to check the detailed UPSC Syllabus and Exam Pattern for both Prelims and Mains Exam.
UPSC 2024 Syllabus
Understanding the Prelims syllabus is the first step for the candidates to focus on getting their favorite dream job. Candidates must be preparing for UPSC, and this is the right time to revise your UPSC Syllabus 2024 and prepare accordingly. The UPSC syllabus pattern for services like Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Revenue Service and other civil services is the same. Check more details for UPSC Syllabus 2024 here.
UPSC Syllabus 2024: Overview
The details of UPSC Prelims and Mains syllabus are tabulated below.
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UPSC Syllabus 2023 |
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| Particulars | Prelims | Mains |
| No. of Papers | two | nine |
| Types of Questions | Objective Type | Descriptive Type |
| Duration of Exam | 2 hours each | 3 hours each |
| Total Marks | 400 | 1750 |
| Medium of Exam | English & Hindi | English & Hindi (except language paper) |
| Negative Marking | ⅓rd mark | No negative marking |
| Marks Counted in Merit | no | yes |
UPSC Syllabus
Union Public Service Commission conducts UPSC CSE exam in 2 stages i.e. Prelims and Mains. The first stage i.e. Prelims is of qualifying nature. Candidates must have obtained minimum 33% marks with marks above the cut-off decided by UPSC. UPSC Prelims exam is conducted to shortlist the candidates for Mains exam. The UPSC syllabus for Prelims exam consists of two papers namely General Studies and CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test). Candidates can check UPSC Exam Pattern 2024 and UPSC Syllabus 2024 here for detailed information.
UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern 2024
Check UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern 2024 tabulated below. Candidates should check some important points to understand the exam pattern properly.
- For each wrong answer, 1/3 mark of total marks will be deducted.
- In General Studies (Paper I), each question carries 2 marks and there is negative marking of 0.66 marks
- In CSAT (Paper-II), each question carries 2.5 marks and there is a negative marking of 0.833 marks for each wrong answer.
- Paper II of the Civil Services (Prelims) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks set at 33%.
| paper | Subjects | Marks | No. of questions | Duration |
| I | General Studies (GS) | 200 | 100 | 2 hours |
| II | Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) | 200 | 80 | 2 hours |
UPSC Mains Exam Pattern 2024
Candidates who qualify UPSC Prelims exam will be eligible for UPSC Mains exam. The marks of Prelims exam will not be included in the final result (merit list). There are 9 papers in UPSC Mains exam. Language papers are of qualifying marks and marks will be given in the remaining papers. Mains examination is conducted to test the candidate’s academic knowledge and ability to present understanding as per the requirements of the question in a time bound manner.
- Candidates must obtain 25% i.e. 75 marks in both the qualifying papers.
- Mains examination consists of two qualifying papers, namely “Paper A” and “Paper B” of 300 marks each.
- The two qualifying papers are “Any Indian Language from the Eighth Schedule” and “English Language Paper”.
- All other seven papers are of scoring nature and their marks will be included in the final merit list.
- Candidates must select any one subject from the table as their optional subject for Paper VI and Paper VII.
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UPSC Mains Exam Pattern |
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|
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 |
300 |
| Paper-B | English | 300 |
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Papers Counted for Merit |
||
| 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 |
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Sub Total (Written Test) |
1750 | |
| Personality Test | 275 | |
| Grand Total | 2025 | |
Optional Subject List for UPSC Mains Exam:
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- anthropology
- Botany
- chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accounts
- Economics
- Electrical engineering
- geography statistics
- Sociology
- physics
- Visit
- medical science
- Politics and international relations
- public administration
- Psychology
- mechanical Engineering
- Mathematic
- zoology
- Geology
- History
- management
- Law
- Literature in any one language: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu And English.
Check detailed UPSC Prelims Syllabus 2024 for Paper 1 and Paper 2:
UPSC Prelims Syllabus – General Studies (Paper I)
- Events of national and international importance
- History of India and Indian National Movement
- India and World Geography – Physical, social, and 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, demography, social sector initiatives, etc.
- General issues of environmental ecology, biodiversity, and climate change: subjects that do not require specialization.
- general Science
UPSC Prelims Syllabus – Civil Services Examination (CSAT) (Paper II)
- Comprehension
- Communication skills including interpersonal skills
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision making and problem solving ability
- general mental ability
- Fundamental calculations (numbers and their relationships, respectively, Class X level), Data description (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level).
UPSC Mains Exam Syllabus 2024
There are 9 papers in Mains exam. Candidates can check subject wise syllabus here.
UPSC Mains Exam Syllabus for General Studies I:
Indian Heritage and Cultural, World History and Society:
- Indian cultural main features, literature, art forms, and architecture up to modern times.
- Important events, personalities, and issues in modern Indian history from the mid-seventeenth century to the present.
- Various stages and important contributors and contributions in the ‘Freedom Struggle’ in different parts of the country.
- Discussion of different parts and important contributors to the ‘struggle for freedom’ in the country.
- Prosperity and restructuring in the country after independence.
- Discussion of influential events, forms and effects on society since the 18th century in world history, such as world wars, industrial revolution, colonization, redrawing of national boundaries, decolonization, political systems of social systems, capitalism, socialism, etc.
- Important aspects of diversity of India and Indian society.
- Role of women and women’s organizations, population and related issues, poverty and development issues, urbanization, their problems, and solutions.
- Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism, and communalism.
- distribution of major natural resources around the world; Factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in different parts of India.
- Effects of globalization.
- Important geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, cyclones, etc., geographical features and their location – changes in important geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
- Main features of physical geography of the world.
UPSC Mains Syllabus for General Studies II
Judicial System, Constitution, Politics, Social Justice and International Relations:
- Indian Constitution – Historical Fundamental Principles, Development, Features, Amendments, Important Provisions and Basic Structure
- Functionalities and responsibilities of the Center and the States, related problems and challenges related to the federal structure, level of power and finance, devolution of powers to the local level, and challenges therein
- Comparison of Indian constitutional scheme with the constitutional schemes of other countries
- Division of power among various organs, dispute resolution mechanisms and institutions.
- Parliament and State Assemblies – structure, functions, conduct of business, powers and privileges, and problems arising therein
- Appointment to various constitutional posts, their powers, functions and responsibilities
- Functioning of the Center and the State and the structure, organization and functions of the judicial and executive ministries and departments.
- Issues resulting from government policies and interventions for development in public/scheduled sectors
- Various legal, regulatory, and various quasi-judicial bodies
- Devolution of security forces and agencies in crowded pilgrimage areas to the Center and States
UPSC Mains Syllabus for General Studies III
Technology, Economic Development, Bio-Diversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management:
- Indian economy and issues related to planning, mobilization of resources, development and employment.
- Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management
- government budget
- Inclusive development and the problems arising from it
- restrictions relating to cultivation patterns of major crops in different parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems, storage of agricultural products, transportation, and such circumstances; farmer assistive technology
- economics of animal husbandry
- Food processing and related industries in India – scope and importance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply makeup management
- Issues related to direct and indirect farming subsidies and minimum support prices and related stagnation problems; Objectives, functions, limitations, redefinition of the people’s rights system; Buffer stocks and food security; technical mission
- land reforms in india
- Effects of liberalism on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects
- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.
- investment models
- Science and Technology – Their Application and Impact in Daily Routine
- Achievements of Indians in science and technology
- Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
- Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment
- IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and related issues of intellectual property
- disaster and disaster management
- The role of external state and non-state actors and their role in negotiating
- Relationship of fight against terrorism, corruption
- Role of communication networks, media and social networking sites in terrorism, internal security challenges, basic knowledge of fundamentals of cyber security; Money Fraud and its Prevention
- Various security forces and agencies and their responsibilities
UPSC Syllabus 2024 PDF
For candidates preparing to appear for the UPSC exam in the upcoming year, we have provided a PDF below that compiles the detailed syllabus for both the stages of the exam.
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