UPSC Exam

UPSC is a national level exam which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission(UPSC). The UPSC exam is conducted in two stages, the preliminary and the main examination.

The preliminary examination consists of two papers- GS Paper 1 and GS Paper 2 . GS Paper 1 has 100 questions while GS paper 2(C-ASAT) has 80 questions.

GS Paper-1 of UPSC Prelims consists of general studies, general intelligence and analytical ability, General Knowledge & Current Affairs, General Science, Environmental Studies, Philosophy & Social Sciences.

In order to get a good rank in the UPSC prelims exam, you must have a strong knowledge of the syllabus.

UPSC Exam Prelims 2022 – Pattern

 

The UPSC Prelims comprises two objective type papers (General Studies I and General Studies II or CSAT) for a total of 200 marks. Both papers are usually held on the same day in two sessions via offline mode (pen-paper).

 

The Prelims Admit Card would be released on the official website of UPSC 2-3 weeks before the date of the exam.

 

UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern	General Studies I	General Studies II or CSAT
Number of questions	100	80
Negative Marking	Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question) -0.66 marks for every incorrect answer	Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question) -0.83 marks for every incorrect answer
Duration of exam	2 hours	2 hours
UPSC Prelims 2022 Date of exam	5th June 2022	5th June 2022
Language of exam	English/Hindi	English/Hindi
Maximum marks	200	200
Cut Off marks	Counted for Merit. Cutoff varies every year.	33% qualifying criteria (66 marks)

The cut off for Prelims 2020 is 92.51 for General Category candidates.


UPSC Exam Prelims 2022 – Syllabus

 

The detailed UPSC Prelims syllabus for 2022 Exam is given below:

 

General Studies Paper-1 Syllabus:

• Current events of national and international importance.
• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, 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, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change- that do not require subject specialisation.
• General Science.

General Studies Paper-2 (CSAT) Syllabus:

• Comprehension.
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
• Decision-making and problem-solving.
• General mental ability.
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level)
• Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level).
• English language comprehension skills – Class X level.

You can find the in-depth syllabus for UPSC Prelims here.

 

UPSC Mains Examination

UPSC prelims is a national level exam which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. The UPSC prelims exam is conducted in two stages, the preliminary and the main examination.

The UPSC prelims Mains test follows a pattern of 100 objective type questions based on GS Paper-1 and has four sections: English Language Comprehension & Vocabulary, General Mental Ability – Reasoning Section, General Science Section and General Knowledge Section. Candidates are required to attempt each question only once and no

In order to get a good rank in the UPSC mains exam, one must have a strong knowledge of the syllabus.

 

UPSC Mains – IAS Exam 2022

 

The UPSC Mains exam is the second stage of the Civil Services Examination. IAS aspirants who clear the Prelims i.e. those who score above the cutoff in General Studies Paper I and more than 33% marks in General Studies Paper-II (CSAT) are eligible to appear for the UPSC Mains.

 

Candidates who aspire to become IAS, IPS, IFS and IRS officers have to give UPSC Mains before they are cleared for the IAS interview/UPSC Personality Test stage.

 

How many candidates appeared for UPSC Exam Mains 2021?

 

As per UPSC, the total candidates allowed to appear for UPSC mains are twelve to thirteen times the number of Civil Service vacancies for that exam year. For UPSC 2021, the total number of vacancies is 712 so accordingly around 10 thousand candidates are expected to have written the UPSC Mains 2021.

UPSC Mains Exam Pattern for IAS 2022

 

The UPSC Mains or CSE (Main) pattern was revised in 2015. As per the revised pattern, the UPSC Mains 2022 will comprise nine theory papers (essay descriptive type). Out of the nine papers, only seven will be counted for merit ranking. Candidates also have to choose one optional subject for UPSC Mains. 

The maximum marks for the UPSC Mains exam are 1750 (7 papers * 250 marks each). All papers are of three-hour duration.

The UPSC Mains pattern for Civil Services Exam 2022 is given below:

S.No	Papers	Subject	Nature of Exam	Total Marks
1	Paper A	Indian Language	Qualifying	300
2	Paper B	English	Qualifying	300
3	Paper I	Essay	Counted for Merit	250
4	Paper II	General Studies (GS) I	Counted for Merit	250
5	Paper III	General Studies (GS) II	Counted for Merit	250
6	Paper IV	General Studies (GS) III	Counted for Merit	250
7	Paper V	General Studies (GS) IV	Counted for Merit	250
8	Paper VI	Optional Subject Paper-I	Counted for Merit	250
9	Paper VII	Optional Subject Paper-II	Counted for Merit	250

Important information regarding UPSC Mains and UPSC Mains Syllabus

• An IAS aspirant’s marks in UPSC Mains and IAS interview determine his/her final rank in the merit list

• The UPSC Mains intends to assess the depth of a candidate’s knowledge. Hence marks will only be given for “relevant, meaningful, and succinct answers.”

• The questions in UPSC Mains test an aspirant’s basic understanding, ability to analyse and “take a view on conflicting socio-economic goals, objectives and demands.”

• Although UPSC maintains that for General Studies papers (Paper II to Paper V), a “well-educated person will be able to answer them without any specialised study,” candidates are advised to go through previous year UPSC question papers to ascertain for themselves whether they need ‘specialised study.’

• Candidates are allowed to use Scientific(Non-Programmable) calculators in UPSC Mains if needed.

• The level of examination for the optional subjects in UPSC Mains will be equivalent to an honours degree (between bachelors’ and masters’ level). Only for engineering subjects, Law and Medical Science, the scope is limited to the bachelors’ degree level.

 

Candidates can download the pdf of UPSC mains syllabus 2022 here.