UPSC Syllabus 2024 PDF – IAS Prelims and Mains Syllabus

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UPSC Mains Exam Pattern

Here, we have mentioned the UPSC Mains exam pattern –

Paper	Subject	Marks
Paper-I	Essay	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

UPSC Prelims Syllabus

UPSC Mains Syllabus

UPSC Syllabus Mains

• The Mains examination is the 2nd phase of the UPSC examination
• The Mains examination consists of 9 papers, out of 9, two papers are qualifying papers of 300 marks each
• These two qualifying papers are English Language Papers and Any Indian Language
• The papers on General Studies, Essay and Optional Subjects of only those candidates who gets 25% marks in both language exam papers

Qualifying Papers on Indian Languages and English

PAPER‐I

Essay: Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics(Generally 2)

IAS Syllabus for UPSC Mains GS-I (Paper II)

• Indian Heritage and Culture, Geography and History of the World & Society
• Modern Indian History from about the middle of the 18th century until the present, personalities, issues, significant events
• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of literature, architecture, art forms
• The freedom struggles of various stages and contributions from different parts of the country
• History of the world will include the events from the 18th century as an industrial revolution, colonization, political philosophies, communism, capitalism, etc. their forms and effects
• Salient features of Indian Society and Diversity of India
• Role of women and women’s organizations
• Poverty and developmental issues, urbanization and their problems and remedies
• Communalism, social-empowerment, secularism and regionalism
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world
• 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

Check here: UPSC Mains GS 1 Syllabus

IAS Syllabus for UPSC Mains GS-II (Paper III)

1. Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
2. Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges about the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein
3. Separation of powers between various organs, dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions
4. Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries
5. Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, the conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these
6. Structure, organisation 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
7. Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
8. Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies
9. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
10. Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
11. Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders
12. 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
13. Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
14. Issues relating to poverty and hunger
15. Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures
16. Role of civil services in a democracy
17. India and its neighbourhood- relations
18. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
19. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora
20. Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

See here: UPSC Mains GS 2 Syllabus

IAS Syllabus for UPSC Mains GS-III (Paper IV)

1. Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources, growth, development and employment
2. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it
3. Government Budgeting
4. 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
5. 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
6. Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management
7. Land reforms in India
8. Effects of liberalisation on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth
9. Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways and others
10. Investment models
11. Science and technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
12. Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and development of new technology.
13. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights
14. Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
15. Disaster and disaster management
16. Linkages between the development and spread of extremism
17. Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security
18. Challenges to internal security through communication networks, the role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money laundering and its prevention
19. Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism
20. Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Click here: UPSC Mains GS 3 Syllabus

IAS Syllabus for UPSC Mains GS-IV (Paper V)

1. 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; the role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values
2. Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion
3. 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
4. Emotional intelligence concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance
5. Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world
6. 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
7. 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, Utilisation of public funds, challenges of corruption
8. Case Studies on the above issues

Click here: UPSC Mains GS 4 Syllabus

IAS Syllabus for UPSC Mains Optional Paper (VI & VII)

Candidate may choose any optional subject from amongst the List of Optional Subjects mentioned below:

Agriculture – UPSC Syllabus	Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science – UPSC Syllabus	Anthropology – UPSC Syllabus
Botany – IAS Syllabus	Chemistry – IAS Syllabus	Civil Engineering – IAS Syllabus
Commerce and Accountancy – UPSC CSE Syllabus	Economics – UPSC CSE Syllabus	Electrical Engineering – UPSC CSE Syllabus
Geography – UPSC Syllabus	Geology – UPSC Syllabus	History – UPSC Syllabus
Law – UPSC Syllabus	Management – UPSC Syllabus	Mathematics – UPSC Syllabus
Mechanical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus	Medical Science – UPSC Syllabus	Philosophy – UPSC Syllabus
Physics – IAS Syllabus	Political Science and International Relations – IAS Syllabus	Psychology – IAS Syllabus
Public Administration – UPSC CSE Syllabus	Sociology – UPSC CSE Syllabus	Statistics – UPSC CSE Syllabus
Zoology – UPSC Syllabus	Literature of any one of the languages mentioned in the notification

Literature optional subjects Syllabus 

The candidates can opt for the given literature subject as their optional for the UPSC Mains exam. There will be 2 papers of 250 marks each. Check out the syllabus below:

Assamese – UPSC Syllabus	Oriya – UPSC Syllabus
Bengali – IAS Syllabus	Punjabi – IAS Syllabus
Bodo – UPSC Syllabus	Sanskrit – UPSC Syllabus
Dogri – IAS Syllabus	Santhali – IAS Syllabus
Gujarati – UPSC Syllabus	Sindhi – UPSC Syllabus
Hindi – UPSC Syllabus	Tamil – UPSC Syllabus
Kannada – IAS Syllabus	Telugu – IAS Syllabus
Kashmiri – UPSC Syllabus	Urdu – UPSC Syllabus
Konkani – IAS Syllabus	English – IAS Syllabus
Maithili – UPSC Syllabus	Marathi – UPSC Syllabus
Malayalam – UPSC Syllabus	Nepali – UPSC Syllabus
Manipuri – UPSC Syllabus

Download UPSC Mains Syllabus PDF

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UPSC Syllabus Weightage for Prelims

The UPSC Prelims papers consist of objective questions with negative markings for wrong answers. Here, we have mentioned the structure –

Paper	Total Marks	No. of Questions	Duration	Type	Negative Marks	Nature
General Studies Paper 1	200	100	2 hours	Objective	Yes	Merit Ranking
General Studies Paper 2 (CSAT)	200	80	2 hours	Objective	Yes	Qualifying

Subject-Wise Weightage & IAS Prelims Marks Distribution

Overall-Subject	2020	2021	2022	2023
🌻Environment & AGRO	23	27	21	18
💰Economy & Govt Schemes	23	14	21	18
🧭Geography	5	5	12	15
🤴History & Culture	20	21	16	13
👩🏼‍⚖️Polity	15	18	10	16
🇺🇸IR/Defense	3	0	8	7
🔬Sci-Tech	11	11	12	11
🏏Misc.PIN./Awards/Sports	0	4	0	2
Total	100	100	100	100

Also read: How to Prepare for UPSC

UPSC Syllabus for IAS Interview/Personality Test

The candidates who qualify for the UPSC main exam will be called for the personal interview test. Such candidates will be interviewed by a Board appointed by the Union Public Service Commission –

1. The main objective of the IAS interview is to determine the personal suitability of the candidate in the civil service examination by the competent authorities
2. Apart from the academic study, the candidates must be aware of the crucial affairs happening in the country or outside the country
3. The candidate will be examined based on their career, professional and personal records which were filled by them in the DAF (Detailed Application Form)
4. The main purpose of this interview is to explore the mental qualities of the candidate and check their analytical ability
5. The interview will be 275 marks and the total marks for the written test is 1750, so their sum up is a total of 2025 marks based on which the final merit list will be prepared.

Discover Unacademy UPSC Coaching Centres in the following locations 

• IAS Coaching in Mukherjee Nagar Delhi
• IAS Coaching in Karol Bagh
• UPSC Coaching in Prayagraj

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• What are the Smart Tips for Self Studying UPSC
• How to do Answer Writing for UPSC CSE

Difference between UPSC Prelims and Mains Syllabus 

Prelims	Mains
The prelims exam follows the objective type pattern	Mains exam follows the descriptive pattern
IAS Prelims exam has 2 GS papers which are GS one and GS 2 (CSAT)	IAS Mains exam has 9 papers Out of 9, 7 will be evaluated for ranking purposes and 2 papers will be of qualifying nature
No optional subject in the Prelims	There are 48 optional subjects. The candidates need to choose 1 out of 48
GS Paper 1 covers the subject from Economy, Social Development, Indian Polity & Governance, Current Affairs, Indian History & National Movement, Science and Technology, Ecology, Biodiversity, World Geography, Environment, and Climate Change. Paper-2 CSAT covers – Analytical Ability, Quantitative Ability, Logical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Decision-making skills, Communication Skills etc.	Paper A – Candidates have to choose 1 compulsory Indian Language. Paper B – This is a compulsory English paper. ‘ Paper I – Essay Paper Paper II (GS Paper I) (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society.) Paper III (GS Paper II) – Governance, Constitution, Welfare Initiatives, Social Justice & International Relations Paper IV (GS Paper III) – Technology, Economic Development, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management Paper V (GS Paper IV) – This paper covers topics on Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude Paper VI – Paper 1 optional subject Paper VII – Paper 2 optional subject
Paper-II/CSAT paper is a qualifying exam with 33% pass criteria.	In Mains, English and Indian Language papers are of qualifying nature.
The maximum marks for both papers of Prelims are 200 marks each.	In the Mains, The total marks for each paper are 250 while the Indian and English language paper is of a total of 300 marks each.

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• Last-Minute Tips to Crack UPSC CSE Prelims
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• How to Prepare for UPSC 2024 without Coaching?
• 10 Tips to Develop a Great Focus/Concentration
• Note-Making Strategy & Tips for UPSC CSE Preparation

Is there any change in UPSC Syllabus 2024?

Usually, the UPSC does not change the syllabus for IAS Prelims and Mains examination every year. UPSC has not changed the syllabus since 2013. Before that, the pattern and syllabus of the UPSC exam were untouched for many years. In the earliest UPSC Syllabus format, there were 2 optional papers were chosen and the CSAT paper was not introduced. So, there will be no change in the syllabus as of now.

How to analyse the UPSC Syllabus?

To analyze the UPSC syllabus the candidates can follow the below-mentioned strategy –

1. Start by preparing the subheadings and related chapters to it.
2. Look through the previous year’s papers which will give you an idea of the type of questions that are being asked in the exam
3. Use the standard resource for the preparation of the UPSC exam
4. Think about all possible dimensions of preparing
5.  Cross-check once and look if you have covered all topics or not
6. Join a test series, solve mock tests and sample papers to analyze your performance
7. based on the UPSC syllabus, set a timetable and create the study plan in a manner which can cover all syllabi
8. Set a revision time daily

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• Tips To Remember Dates In History
• How to Learn Anything 5 Times Faster– UPSC Exam
• How to Prepare GS for UPSC CSE – Strategy, Booklist and Tips
• Tips and Tricks to Remember the Constitution of India in Under 10 Minutes
• Best Tips to Make Time by Waking Up Early in the Morning
• How to Excel at UPSC Civil Service Exam

Tips to Prepare for UPSC Syllabus 2024

To start your preparation for the upcoming UPSC exam, the candidates should download the syllabus for prelims, mains and optional papers. Once they analyze it carefully, they should thoroughly create a study plan to cover all the UPSC syllabus chapters. Here, we have mentioned the tips to prepare for the UPSC exam as follows –

1. A lot of study material will be available in the market for the UPSC exam. So, we advise the candidates to select the books carefully for all the subjects.
2. Refer to the UPSC books/syllabus carefully while completing the topic, so you know much time will it take to complete the topics and the sections to focus on.
3. Once the candidates complete each section, practice UPSC’s previous year’s test papers to examine your preparation level.
4. The candidates need to make sure that they revise the syllabus at least 3-4 times before the exam. Revision makes them improve their preparation and also their confidence level.

Check more here

• UPSC Batches
• UPSC Test Series