The UPSC syllabus is designed to assess candidates' knowledge, aptitude, and analytical abilities, and it comprises two stages: the Preliminary Examination (Prelims) and the Main Examination (Mains), followed by an interview/personality test. The UPSC Syllabus for Prelims includes two compulsory papers: General Studies Paper-I and General Studies Paper-II (also known as the CSAT or Civil Services Aptitude Test). These papers cover a wide range of subjects, including history, geography, economics, polity, environment, science, and current affairs.
The syllabus for UPSC Mains examination is more specialized and consists of nine papers, including one essay paper, four General Studies papers, two optional subject papers, and two language papers (both qualifying in nature).
The first stage of the exam, i.e., the Civil Services Preliminary Exam is only a screening test and is conducted to shortlist candidates for the Main Examination. Marks secured in the Preliminary Exam are not taken into account while preparing the final merit.
Preliminary Exam consists of two papers of objective type 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) |
has 100 questions broadly covering the following topics, carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.
It comprises of 80 questions from the following topics carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.
CSAT is a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%. It is mandatory for a candidate to appear in both the Papers of the IAS Prelim Exam for the purpose of evaluation.
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