Stages and Syllabus
of UPSC CSE
The UPSC Civil Services Examination is a national competitive examination
in India. It is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
It provides for recruitment to higher Civil Services of the Government of
India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service
and Indian Police Service.
The civil services exam is one of the most competitive and prestigious
examinations. It includes three types of services namely, the All India
Services, Group A and Group B Central Services.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Examination
(CSE) is broadly divided into three successive stages. Candidates have to
qualify for all the stages to make it to the final merit list.
THREE SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF UPSC CSE
01 02 03
Preliminary Examination Mains Examination Personality Test
(Objective Type) (Subjective Type) (Interview)
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Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination: Objective Type
The first stage, generally known as prelims, comprises two papers: GS I and CSAT. General
Studies I comprises a variety of topics, including history, geography, the environment, Indian
politics, economy, science and technology, and current affairs. While the Civil Services
Aptitude Test (CSAT) measures the aptitude and analytical skills of the aspirants.
Number of questions: 100 Number of questions: 80
Note: The cut-off of the preliminary examination is based on GS I only. However,
candidates have to compulsorily appear in both papers for evaluation.
Syllabus of Preliminary Examination
Preliminary Examination Paper I (GS I) General Studies Paper-II (CSAT)
• Current events of national and international • Comprehension.
importance. • Interpersonal skills including
• History of India and Indian National Movement. communication skills.
• Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, • Logical reasoning and analytical
Economic Geography of India and the World. ability.
• Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, • Decision making and problem
Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, solving
Rights Issues, etc. • General mental ability.
• Economic and Social Development- • Basic numeracy (numbers and their
Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, relations, orders of magnitude, etc.)
Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. (Class X level), Data interpretation
• General issues on Environmental ecology, (charts, graphs, tables, data
Biodiversity, and Climate Change - that do sufficiency, etc. — Class X level).
not require subject specialization.
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Mains Examination Pattern & Syllabus
The next step is appearing for the main exam if a candidate successfully completes the prelims
stage. There are a total of nine papers in the mains test, seven of which are merit-based and
two of which are qualifying.
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Syllabus of General Studies Papers
General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and
Society.
ʷ Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture
from ancient to modern times.
ʷ Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the
present- significant events, personalities, issues.
ʷ The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions
from different parts of the country.
ʷ Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
ʷ History of the world will include events from the 18th century such as industrial
revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization,
political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.— their forms and
effect on the society.
ʷ Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
ʷ Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty
and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
ʷ Effects of globalization on Indian society.
ʷ Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
ʷ Salient features of the world’s physical geography.
ʷ Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the
Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and
tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
ʷ Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanic
activity, cyclones etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical
geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna
and the effects of such changes.
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General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International
relations.
ʷ Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments,
significant provisions and basic structure.
ʷ Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges
pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local
levels and challenges therein.
ʷ Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and
institutions.
ʷ Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
ʷ Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business,
powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
ʷ Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—
Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal
associations and their role in the Polity
ʷ Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
ʷ Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities
of various Constitutional Bodies.
ʷ Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
ʷ Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues
arising out of their design and implementation.
ʷ Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs,
SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other
stakeholders.
ʷ Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States
and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
ʷ Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating
to Health, Education, Human Resources.
ʷ Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
ʷ Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance-
applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
ʷ Role of civil services in a democracy.
ʷ India and its neighborhood- relations.
ʷ Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests.
ʷ Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s
interests, Indian diaspora.
ʷ Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
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General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment,
Security and Disaster Management
ʷ Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth,
development, and employment.
ʷ Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
ʷ Government Budgeting.
ʷ Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, - different types of
irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
ʷ Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;
Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of
buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
ʷ Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location,
upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
ʷ Land reforms in India.
ʷ Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects
on industrial growth.
ʷ Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
ʷ Investment models.
ʷ Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in
everyday life.
ʷ Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and
developing new technology.
ʷ Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-
technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
ʷ Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact
assessment.
ʷ Disaster and disaster management.
ʷ Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
ʷ Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
ʷ Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media
and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security;
money-laundering and its prevention.
ʷ Security challenges and their management in border areas - linkages of organized
crime with terrorism.
ʷ Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
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General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude
This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to
issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem-solving approach
to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may
utilise the case study approach to determine these aspects. The following broad
areas will be covered :
ʷ Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-
human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships.
Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers
and administrators; role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating
values.
ʷ Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and
behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
ʷ Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-
partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and
compassion towards the weaker-sections.
ʷ Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration
and governance.
ʷ Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.
ʷ Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems;
ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules,
regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and
ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical
issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
ʷ Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance
and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to
Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture,
Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
ʷ Case Studies on above issues.
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Personality Test
ʷ The candidates qualified for the mains test, are called for a personal interview and
the UPSC board evaluates a candidate’s suitability for a career in civil services.
ʷ Maximum marks for the personality test: 275
ʷ The final UPSC CSE merit list ranking of a candidate is completely based on the
marks scored in mains and personality test together.
ʷ The candidate is interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of the
candidate’s career. The candidate is asked questions on matters of general interest.
ʷ The Personality Test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. The
assessment is not only of intellectual qualities but also social traits and interest in
current affairs.
Personality test is all about ➖
y Assessment of personality for its suitability for Public Services
y Judging the mental calibre of the candidate
y Its more about Social Traits , Interest in current events and Curiosity for new discoveries
What Personality Test is not all about :
y Intellectual debate
y Strict cross-examination
y Test of specialised or general knowledge
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