Latest UPSC Syllabus PDF | IAS Syllabus PDF | Civil Services Syllabus PDF
Union Public Service Commission has released the UPSC Syllabus for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2021. At CAPSTONE IAS ACADEMY's, you will find the complete IAS syllabus for Prelims & Mains. The Civil Services Examination is widely considered one of the toughest and the most prestigious examinations conducted in India.
To understand the UPSC exam, one needs to understand the IAS syllabus. This helps to eliminate wasteful efforts like reading unnecessary topics leading to a loss of time and keeps one strictly aligned to the expectations of the UPSC from day one.
UPSC 2021 syllabus [UPSC Civil Services Prelims and Mains] has been released, along with the official notification for the Civil Service Exam on 4th March 2021. The syllabus is similar to UPSC Civil Service Exam 2020 syllabus. Get the link to the UPSC Syllabus PDF Download below. Hindi aspirants can also find UPSC Syllabus in Hindi in this article.
Table of Content for UPSC IAS Syllabus:
Syllabus for UPSC
The UPSC IAS syllabus can be found at the UPSC official website – https://upsc.gov.in/ or scroll down to download the UPSC syllabus pdf for both Prelims and Mains. Aspirants can also download the IAS Syllabus in Hindi|UPSC Syllabus in Hindi.
There is a common UPSC syllabus pattern for services such as the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) to name a few. However, different stages of the IAS exam have different syllabi. The UPSC Prelims syllabus focuses on general and societal awareness which is tested by objective-type (MCQ) questions. The UPSC Mains syllabus is much more comprehensive as this stage comprises nine theory papers.
The Civil services exam is conducted in three phases:
Phase 1: Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type)
Phase 2: Civil Services (Mains) Examination (Descriptive Type)
Phase 3: Personal Interview (Personality Test)
Check the UPSC Calendar 2021 at the linked article.
Phase 1: UPSC Prelims Exam
The UPSC Civil Services Prelims Examination is composed of two components:
1) General Studies
Paper | Subjects | Total Marks | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
I | General Studies (GS) | 200 | 2 hours (9:30 AM to 11:30 AM) |
II | CSAT | 200 | 2 hours (2:30 PM to 4:30 PM) |
2) Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT)
Broadly, the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination consists of two papers of objective type, each of 200 marks (hence totaling 400 marks) and of two hours duration. To qualify for the Civil Services Mains, a candidate must attempt both the papers.
Further, the UPSC General Studies (GS) paper consists of 100 questions, while the CSAT paper consists of 80 questions. Both papers have negative marks for wrong answers marked to the tune of 1/3rd of the total marks assigned to that question.
To further illustrate this, each correctly answered GS question will be awarded 2 marks. So, 0.66 marks would be deducted from the total for every question that is wrongly marked.
Similarly, in the CSAT paper, since we have 80 questions for 200 marks, correctly answered CSAT question would attract 2.5 marks each, while every wrongly marked question would attract a penalty of 0.833 for each such wrong answer, which will be deducted from the total.
Questions that are not attempted will not attract any negative marks.
The two papers of the IAS prelims are discussed in detail below:
1. General Studies (Generally conducted between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM)
The General Studies test is the first paper of the preliminary examination. This test is intended to test the general awareness of a candidate in a wide range of subjects that include: Indian Polity, Geography, History, Indian Economy, Science and Technology, Environment and Ecology, International Relations and associated UPSC current affairs.
2. Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) (Generally conducted between 2:30 PM and 04:30 PM)
UPSC Prelims Syllabus
Syllabus for GS Paper (Prelims Paper I)
Syllabus for CSAT Paper (Prelims Paper-II)
Download the compilation of Topic-Wise UPSC Prelims Questions PDF from the linked article.
Phase 2: UPSC Mains Exam (1750 Marks)
The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates who attain 25% marks in both the language papers as a minimum qualifying standard in these qualifying papers, will be taken cognizance of, for evaluation.
In case a candidate does not qualify in these language papers, then the marks obtained by such candidates will not be considered or counted.
Structure of the language papers:
The types of questions asked are – 1.Essay – 100 marks 2.Reading comprehension – 60 marks 3.Precis Writing – 60 marks 4.Translation:
UPSC Mains Syllabus
Paper | Subjects | Total Marks |
---|---|---|
Paper – I | Essay (can be written in the medium of the candidate’s choice) | 250 |
Paper – II | General Studies – I (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society) | 250 |
Paper – III | General Studies – II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice & International Relations) | 250 |
Paper – IV | General Studies – III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management) | 250 |
Paper – V | General Studies – IV (Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude) | 250 |
Paper – VI | Optional Subject – Paper I | 250 |
Paper – VII | Optional Subject – Paper II | 250 |
Please check the detailed UPSC Mains General Studies Syllabus in the linked article.
The UPSC Mains syllabus gives a list of 48 Optional Subjects which include Literature of different languages. Candidates need to choose any one of the ‘Optional Subjects’ from the list of subjects given below:
Civil Services Exam Syllabus For IAS Mains Optional Subjects:
IAS Optional Syllabus | UPSC Syllabus for Optional Subjects | |
---|---|
Agriculture – UPSC Syllabus | Zoology – UPSC Syllabus |
Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Assamese (Literature) |
Anthropology – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Bengali (Literature) |
Botany – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Bodo (Literature) |
Chemistry – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Dogri (Literature) |
Civil Engineering – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Gujarati (Literature) |
Commerce & Accountancy – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Hindi (Literature) |
Economics – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Kannada (Literature) |
Electrical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Kashmiri (Literature) |
Geography – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Konkani (Literature) |
Geology – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Maithili (Literature) |
History – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Malayalam (Literature) |
Law – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Manipuri (Literature) |
Management – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Marathi (Literature) |
Mathematics – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Nepali (Literature) |
Mechanical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Odia (Literature) |
Medical Science – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Punjabi (Literature) |
Philosophy – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Sanskrit (Literature) |
Physics – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Santhali (Literature) |
Political Science & International Relations – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Sindhi (Literature) |
Psychology – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Tamil (Literature) |
Sociology – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – English (Literature) |
Statistics – UPSC Syllabus | IAS Syllabus – Urdu (Literature) |
Candidates can check the success rate of optional subjects in the linked article.
Phase 3: IAS Interview/UPSC Personality Test (275 Marks)
Candidates should note that there are no changes in UPSC Syllabus 2021 in comparison to UPSC Syllabus 2019 and UPSC Syllabus 2020.
More UPSC Preparation Articles | |||
---|---|---|---|
IAS Exam | Online Preparation | UPSC Books | UPSC Online |
NCERT Notes | CSAT | IAS Eligibility | UPSC Mains |
IAS Interview Questions | Free Study Material | Life of IAS Officer | FAQ |
UPSC Notification | Best Magazines For UPSC | IAS Training | UPSC Prelims |
IAS Coaching | IPS | IAS Toppers’ Marks | IAS Salary |
UPSC Cut Off | Public Service Commissions | UPSC Question Papers | UPSC Marksheet |