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What is the paper pattern of UPSC?

Author

Penelope Carter

Updated on February 20, 2026

What is the paper pattern of UPSC?

IAS exam pattern for UPSC Mains
PaperSubjectDuration
Paper ACompulsory Indian language3 hours
Paper BEnglish3 hours
Paper IEssay3 hours
Paper IIGeneral Studies I3 hours

Regarding this, what is the paper pattern of IAS?

Here are the highlights of IAS Exam Pattern for Prelims:

IAS Exam Pattern for Prelims
Exam ModeOffline
Number of Papers2- General Ability test (GAT) and Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)
Number of QuestionsPaper 1- 80; Paper 2-100
Question Paper TypeMultiple Choice Questions

One may also ask, what are the papers in UPSC mains?

  • UPSC 2019: 3 stages of paper.
  • Detailed UPSC Mains 2019 Syllabus.
  • Paper I: Essay Writing.
  • Paper 3: General Studies II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
  • Paper 4: General Studies III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)

Similarly, it is asked, how many papers are there in UPSC?

IAS Mains exam consists of a total of nine descriptive papers. Out of the Nine, two papers are of qualifying in nature. These IAS Question papers are of General English and General Language paper. There are Four General Studies papers, One Essay Paper and two optional Subject paper.

How many papers are there in UPSC Prelims?

A. UPSC Prelims comprises two objective type papers carrying 400 marks. Each paper of prelims will carry 200 marks with a total time duration of 2 hours. USPC Mains consists of 2 qualifying papers and 7 papers to be counted for merit.

Who checks the paper of UPSC?

The paper setter of the UPSC Exam is appointed as the Head Examiner and wherever the number of candidates in a particular subject is very large, the Commission appoints Additional Examiners for valuation of answer books.

How can I crack UPSC?

10 Must Habits Which Will Help You Crack UPSC in First Attempt
  1. Objectify the UPSC Syllabus.
  2. Stop looking at the IAS curriculum as a whole – Divide and Conquer.
  3. Make a timetable and follow it judiciously.
  4. Indulge in Quality Discussions.
  5. Solve Mock Papers Regularly.
  6. Develop Answer Writing Skills.

What are the questions asked in IAS interview?

'Out of the box' questions asked in IAS interviews: Check out the
  • Q 1. What if one morning you woke up and found that you were pregnant?
  • Q 2. Twins(Adarsh and Anupam) were born in May but their birthday is in June.
  • Q 3. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
  • Q 4.
  • Q 5.
  • Q 6.
  • Q 7.
  • Q 8.

What is IAS syllabus?

IAS Prelims Syllabus For General Studies Paper 2
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.

What is the age limit for IAS?

21 years

How is UPSC conducted?

Civil Services Examination (CSE)
The exam is attempted by around 5 Lakh candidates each year. UPSC Civil Services exam is conducted in 3 phases: 1) Prelims and 2) Mains 3) Interview. The exam window extends over a year (from June month of a year to June month next year when the results are announced).

Is exam a pattern?

Also simply referred to as the UPSC examination, it is conducted in three phases - a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II also popularly known as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT), and a main examination consisting of nine papers of

What is paper A in civil services?

2. Main Examination (2025 Marks)
PaperSubjectTotal Marks
Paper AOne of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution300 Marks
Paper BEnglish300 Marks
Papers to be counted for Merit (Ranking)
Paper-IEssay250 Marks

Which degree is best for IAS?

Sarat Chandra IAS Academy is the best UPSC civil service coaching institute. They also offer 3 year integrated degree along with civil services coaching (BSc or BA). They provide wide variety of course in BA to chose. In these 3 years, they cover the UPSC syllabus very comprehensively in an highly organized manner.

Which subject is best for UPSC?

After analyzing the above data, here are the list of best optional subject for UPSC.
  • Agriculture.
  • Medical Science.
  • Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
  • Economics.
  • Chemistry.
  • Commerce and Accountancy.
  • History.
  • Law.

Are IAS officers allowed to have tattoos?

Yes, A person with a tattoo is eligible for IAS. While on the other hand, the Civil Services Examination (through which one gets into IAS) does not talk about body tattoos.

What is an IAS officer starting salary?

The basic per month salary of an IAS officer starts at Rs. 56,100(TA, DA and HRA are extra) and can go on to reach Rs. 2,500,00 for a Cabinet Secretary.

What are the main subjects for IAS?

IAS Prelims has 2 subjects- General Studies and Civil Services Aptitude Test.

The optional subjects for UPSC Mains are as follows:

  • Law.
  • Agriculture.
  • Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science.
  • Botany.
  • Anthropology.
  • Chemistry.
  • Civil Engineering.
  • Commerce and Accountancy.

What is the total marks of UPSC exam?

A candidate's rank in UPSC Civil Service Exam depends only on the mark scored in Main and Interview. The main exam has 1750 marks while interview has 275 marks. The written examination (main) will consist of the following nine papers, but only 7 papers will be counted for final merit ranking.

What is Paper A and Paper B in UPSC?

Dear Aspirants, The second phase of the UPSC CSE Examination is the Main exam. It is a descriptive type paper held in offline mode. Paper A & B are qualifying papers on Indian Languages & English. These papers test candidates' abilities to read & understand prose, and to express their ideas correctly through languages.

How can I prepare for IAS 2020?

There are 15 important tips mentioned below:
  1. Tip #1: Prepare Yourself.
  2. Tip #2: Make a Time Table.
  3. Tip #3: Know the UPSC Syllabus.
  4. Tip #4: Newspaper Reading/Current Affairs for IAS.
  5. Tip #5: Choosing Optional.
  6. Tip #6: NCERTs.
  7. Tip #7: Making Notes.
  8. Tip #8: Answer Writing Practice.

Is there any changes in UPSC 2020?

UPSC Examination Calendar 2020 – Important Dates
The dates of notification, commencement and duration of Examinations are liable to alteration if the circumstances so warrant. Aspirants will get more clarity on the UPSC Exam Calendar for 2020, once the UPSC CSE 2020 notification is out (Feb 12, 2020).

Is language compulsory for UPSC?

Compulsory Language Paper UPSC Exemption for Mains Exam
Out of the nine papers in the UPSC civil services mains exam, the first paper is known as 'Paper A' and is the compulsory Indian language paper. This paper is compulsory for all candidates except for those hailing from the north-eastern states of India.

Why Upsc vacancies are decreasing?

While in 2014, the government released a vacancy of 710 seats in Group A services, this number fell to 384 in 2018. “The reason you see a reduction in UPSC recruitment is mainly because the number of IRS officers being recruited has been going down. So the number of new recruits is being reduced,” the official said.

How many IPS are selected per year?

The average IPS officers selected every year maybe around 150–200.

What are the compulsory subjects for IAS?

Compulsory subjects for UPSC exam
  • General Studies - 4 Papers of 250 marks each.
  • Essay - 250 marks, any language as medium.
  • English - Qualifying 300 marks.
  • Indian Languages - 300 marks, qualifying.

How many questions are in UPSC mains?

In UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE), each General Studies Paper is for 250 marks. Though there can be variations, there are usually 20 questions to answer in each paper - the time available is 180 minutes (3 hours). You can take approximately 8-9 minutes to answer each question if all questions carry same marks.

How do I become a PCS?

PCS stands for PROVINCIAL CIVIL SERVICES. The exam is conducted by State public service commission. For becoming a PCS officer you have to qualify the exam conducted by the State Public service commission(eg. UPPSC EXAM ,MPPSC EXAM).

How can I join IAS?

to become an IAS officer you need to clear UPSC exam first and make position in top 90,then take two year probation and at last you will be an IAS officer. There are two compulsory papers of 200 marks each in the Civil Services Prelims Exam.

How many papers are there in IAS?

9 papers

What is the qualification of IAS?

Candidates applying for IAS Exam must hold a Graduation degree in any discipline from any recognized University. Candidate must be more than 21 years of age and the upper age limit is 32 years for general candidates.

What is the last rank for IAS?

The last rank which fetched IAS was 650 and 773 for SC and ST respectively. In 2012, 116 was the last all-India rank, which fetched a candidate belonging to the general category IAS. At the same time, the last OBC candidate who secured entry into IAS had an all-India rank of 266.

Is 1 year enough for IAS preparation?

One year before the prelims is a decent preparation time for UPSC exams. However, you need to understand that it is the One year before the prelims is a decent preparation time for UPSC exams. However, you need to understand that it is the quality of the preparation rather than the length of it that is important.

Does IAS syllabus change every year?

More number of Students are preparing for the UPSC Prelims & Mains according to old UPSC Syllabus. UPSC does not change exams syllabus and question papers patterns every year mostly are same but some topics does change but now days no any types of changes in UPSC syllabus and question papers.

What are the levels in IAS exam?

The IAS Exam pattern is: Stage I: Preliminary Examination (IAS Prelims) Stage II: Mains Examination (IAS Mains) Stage III: UPSC Personality Test (IAS Interview)

Does IAS exam have negative marking?

Prelims is MCQs based test . There is 1/3 i.e . 33 negative marking for each wrong questions in preliminary examination . However there is no negative marking for the question which are not attempted .

How many questions are asked in IAS prelims?

Here are the highlights of IAS Exam Pattern for Prelims:
IAS Exam Pattern for Prelims
Number of Papers2- General Ability test (GAT) and Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)
Number of QuestionsPaper 1- 80; Paper 2-100
Question Paper TypeMultiple Choice Questions
IAS Prelims Total Marks400

How many questions are asked in prelims?

The IAS Preliminary Exam stage consists of two papers- General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II. General Studies Paper I consists of 100 questions of 2 marks each which is to be answered in 2 hours.

Is there any negative marking in UPSC Prelims?

Negative marking in UPSC Prelims
Both contain multiple-choice questions(MCQs). You have four choices out of which only one is the correct answer. For each incorrect answer, you will be penalised 1/3rd of the marks in UPSC Prelims. This means, if you mark one right answer and three wrong answers, you get zero marks.

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