The UPSC syllabus is printed in Section III of the Commission's examination notice. General Studies Paper I at the Preliminary Examination has seven lines, the CSAT paper has six, and each of the four General Studies papers at the Main Examination runs to between 238 and 330 words. This guide reproduces the official text of every General Studies paper and then sets it against what the papers have actually asked, counted from 1,500 Preliminary questions between 2011 and 2025.
What the UPSC Civil Services Examination Consists Of
Two Stages, Three Steps and Which Marks Count
The UPSC syllabus is published in Section III of the Commission's examination notice, and it is shorter than most candidates expect. The Preliminary Examination syllabus runs to seven lines for General Studies Paper I and six for the CSAT paper. The Main Examination syllabus runs to between about 240 and 330 words for each of the four General Studies papers. Everything else that circulates as a syllabus is somebody's expansion of those lines.
The examination has two successive stages in the notice and three steps in practice. The Preliminary Examination screens. The Main Examination has nine written papers. The Personality Test follows for those who clear the written stage. Only the second stage decides the rank.
The practical consequence matters more than the structure. Preliminary marks are discarded once a candidate qualifies, so the Prelims syllabus decides whether a candidate continues and nothing else. The Main Examination carries 1,750 marks across seven papers, the Personality Test carries 275, and the final merit is out of 2,025. The marks themselves are set out in the guide on the UPSC exam pattern.
The Nine Mains Papers and the Two That Only Qualify
Of the nine written papers at the Main Examination, two are language papers that a candidate must pass but whose marks are never counted. Paper A is an Indian language from the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution and Paper B is English, each of 300 marks, each needing 25 per cent. Failing either means the rest of the papers are not evaluated at all.
The seven papers that count are the Essay, General Studies I, II, III and IV, and two papers on one optional subject. Each carries 250 marks. A candidate therefore writes about the whole General Studies syllabus for 1,000 marks and about one optional subject for 500.
Each of those papers has a guide of its own on this site, built the same way: the official syllabus in full, then what the paper has actually asked, counted from past papers. The Essay guide also carries every essay topic printed since 2007.
The UPSC Prelims Syllabus: General Studies Paper I, Line by Line
The Seven Lines of the Official Syllabus
This is the whole of the General Studies Paper I syllabus, as the Commission prints it. Two hundred marks, two hours, and these seven lines.
- Current events of national and international importance.
- History of India and Indian National Movement.
- Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
- Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
- Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
- General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.
- General Science.
Read them closely and three things stand out. The first line is current events, with no boundary of time or subject. Three lines end in the word etc., which is the notice declining to close the list. And the last line is two words long, General Science, with no indication of level or scope.
What Each Line Has Actually Carried, 2011 to 2025
A syllabus line tells a candidate what may be asked. It does not say how often. We counted every question in the Preliminary General Studies Paper I for fifteen years, 1,500 questions in all, and sorted them against the seven lines. 1,494 of them fall inside one of the seven lines. The six that do not are tagged international relations or sport, neither of which the Preliminary syllabus names separately.
| Syllabus line | Questions | Average a year | 2011 to 2015 | 2021 to 2025 | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic and Social Development | 299 | 19.9 | 19.0 | 17.0 | -2.0 |
| Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change | 274 | 18.3 | 20.2 | 16.6 | -3.6 |
| History of India and Indian National Movement | 250 | 16.7 | 17.4 | 15.0 | -2.4 |
| Indian Polity and Governance | 216 | 14.4 | 13.8 | 15.2 | +1.4 |
| General Science | 205 | 13.7 | 13.8 | 13.6 | -0.2 |
| Indian and World Geography | 168 | 11.2 | 12.6 | 13.6 | +1.0 |
| Current events of national and international importance | 82 | 5.5 | 3.2 | 8.0 | +4.8 |
Economic and Social Development is the heaviest line at 19.9 questions a year, and environment follows at 18.3. History carries 16.7 and polity 14.4. Geography, at 11.2, is the lightest of the traditional subjects, which surprises most candidates who allot it a third of their time.
The Lines That Are Moving, and Which Way
The syllabus text has not changed across these fifteen years. The paper has. Comparing the first five years with the last five shows where the Commission has shifted weight without changing a word of the syllabus.
Current events has more than doubled, from 3.2 questions a year to 8.0. That is the single largest movement in the paper, and it is the line with no syllabus boundary at all. Environment has fallen by 3.6 questions a year, history by 2.4 and economy by 2.0. Polity and geography have each risen by about one.
What General Science Covers When the Paper Asks It
The shortest line in the syllabus is also one of the hardest to prepare. General Science is two words long, and the notice gives no level and no list. In practice the line has carried 205 questions since 2011, about 13.7 a year, and it has been the steadiest line of the seven: it has moved by 0.2 of a question a year across fifteen years.
Of those questions, 97 turn on school-level science, biology, health, genetics, physics and chemistry. The rest turn on applied technology: launch vehicles and satellites, biotechnology regulation, telecommunications, semiconductors, nuclear power. The Commission almost always asks the school concept through a current application, which is why a candidate who reads only the technology news struggles with the reasoning and a candidate who reads only the textbook struggles with the framing.
The safest reading of this line is the school science textbooks for the concepts, and the year's science news for the framing. Our Study Library covers both sides of it.
The CSAT Paper: Qualifying Marks and What It Tests
The Official CSAT Syllabus and the 33 Per Cent Rule
General Studies Paper II, universally called the CSAT, carries 200 marks over two hours and has six syllabus lines.
- Comprehension;
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
- 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., Class X level); Note 1: Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%. Note 2: The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type. Note 3: It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.
Two notes in the notice govern this paper, and both matter more than the syllabus lines. The paper is qualifying at 33 per cent, which is 66 marks of 200. And a candidate must appear in both Preliminary papers to be evaluated at all: missing the CSAT disqualifies the candidate even if General Studies Paper I was written well.
Why a Qualifying Paper Still Ends Attempts
A paper that does not add to the score is easy to treat as a paper that does not matter. It is the reverse. A candidate who clears the General Studies cut-off and misses 66 in the CSAT is out of the examination for that year, and an attempt is spent. The paper cannot raise a rank and it can end a candidature, which is the worst possible risk profile to ignore.
The syllabus lines explain why it catches people out. Comprehension and basic numeracy are described as Class X level, but the difficulty of a CSAT paper sits in reading speed and in the density of the passages rather than in the mathematics. A candidate out of practice with sustained reading can know every concept in the syllabus and still miss the mark.
What the CSAT Questions Actually Test
Our bank holds 1,195 CSAT questions. Read across the years, the paper is dominated by comprehension passages and by reasoning that is closer to puzzle-solving than to arithmetic. Basic numeracy and data interpretation appear reliably but rarely account for most of the paper.
The practical target is not 33 per cent but a margin above it, because comprehension accuracy is the part of the paper a candidate controls least on the day. The UPSC Prelims Test Series 2027 includes CSAT papers written to the same pattern, with every option explained.
The Mains Syllabus: Four General Studies Papers and the Essay
General Studies I: Heritage, History, Geography and Society
General Studies I is the broadest of the four papers in period and in geography. Its syllabus covers Indian culture from ancient times, modern Indian history from the middle of the eighteenth century, the freedom struggle, post-independence consolidation, world history, Indian society, and physical geography. Our bank holds 294 questions from this paper.
General Studies II: Polity, Governance, Social Justice and International Relations
General Studies II is the most institutional of the four. It runs from the Constitution and the separation of powers through the functioning of Parliament, the judiciary and the executive, to welfare schemes, the social sector, and India's relations with its neighbours and the wider world. Our bank holds 285 questions.
General Studies III: Economy, Technology, Environment and Security
General Studies III carries the widest spread of unrelated subjects: the Indian economy, agriculture, science and technology, biodiversity and environment, disaster management and internal security. Our bank holds 284 questions from it.
General Studies IV: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude
General Studies IV is the only paper whose syllabus states its own method: the notice says the paper will test approach and attitude through problems, and about half the paper is case studies. Our bank holds 252 questions, including the case studies.
The Essay Paper and the Forty-Five Words That Govern It
The Essay paper carries 250 marks and the entire official syllabus for it is forty-five words. It is worth reading them, because they state the marking priorities plainly and most candidates never see them.
Three instructions sit inside those words: keep closely to the subject, arrange the ideas in order, and write concisely. The notice adds that credit is given for effective and exact expression. None of that is about the topic, and all of it is about the writing.
| Paper | What the syllabus covers | Questions in our bank |
|---|---|---|
| General Studies I | Heritage and culture, history and geography of the world and society | 294 |
| General Studies II | Governance, Constitution, polity, social justice and international relations | 285 |
| General Studies III | Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environment, security and disaster management | 284 |
| General Studies IV | Ethics, integrity and aptitude | 252 |
Reading a Syllabus Line Without Over-Reading It
The Etc. Problem: Where the Syllabus Deliberately Stops
Three Preliminary lines end in etc.: polity and governance, economic and social development, and basic numeracy. The word is doing real work. It tells a candidate that the list is illustrative rather than closed, and it is the reason two coaching syllabuses for the same examination can differ by a hundred topics.
The useful response is neither to ignore the word nor to treat it as infinite. A topic belongs inside an etc. if it sits in the same family as the items named before it. Panchayati Raj is named in the polity line; municipal governance is not, but it is plainly in the same family. Election law is in the family. The monetary policy framework is not in the polity family at all, and belongs to the economy line.
The Standard of Questions the Notice Itself Promises
The notice states the standard of the General Studies papers in its own words, and the sentence is a ceiling as much as a description. It says the questions will be such that a well-educated person can answer them without specialised study.
A candidate can use that sentence as a test. If a preparation resource is teaching a level of detail that a well-educated non-specialist could not reach, it has left the syllabus, whatever its cover says. This is the single most useful line in the notice for controlling how deep to read.
Turning a Syllabus Line Into a Reading List
The method that works is mechanical. Take one line. Write out every distinct topic it names. Add the topics that sit in the same family as the named ones. Then find the shortest authoritative source for each, and read the source rather than a summary of it.
Worked on the polity line, that gives the Constitution, the political system, Panchayati Raj, public policy and rights issues as the named topics, and then the institutions that run them. The authoritative sources are the bare text of the Constitution, the polity articles in our Study Library and the standard school textbooks for the underlying concepts.
Doing this once for each of the seven Prelims lines produces a reading list defensible against the notice, which is a stronger position than a list inherited from somebody else. The guides to the Prelims paper, the CSAT paper, the Essay and General Studies I, II, III and IV do exactly that, one paper at a time.
Common Questions About the UPSC Syllabus
Has the UPSC syllabus changed for 2027?
No notification for the 2027 Civil Services Examination has been published yet, so no 2027 syllabus exists. The syllabus on this page is the one printed in the notice for 2026, and it has been stable for years. UPSC's published programme lists the 2027 notification for 13 January 2027 and the Preliminary Examination for 23 May 2027. This page will be updated when that notice appears.
Is there a UPSC syllabus PDF to download?
Yes, and it is the Commission's own. The syllabus is Section III of the examination notice, which UPSC publishes as a PDF: Examination Notice 05/2026-CSE, with the syllabus beginning on page 32. That file is the authority, and any other syllabus PDF is somebody's retyping of it. The link is in the sources at the foot of this page.
A coaching PDF can be out of date, can silently expand a syllabus line, and cannot be checked against anything. The notice can. If a PDF disagrees with the notice, the notice wins.
How many pages is the official UPSC syllabus?
Section III of the notice runs to dozens of pages, but almost all of that is the optional subjects and the literature papers, and a candidate reads only the one they have chosen. The General Studies syllabus that applies to every candidate is six pages: seven lines for Prelims Paper I, six for the CSAT, the Essay paragraph, and about a page for each of the four General Studies papers.
Is the Prelims syllabus the same as the Mains syllabus?
No. They overlap in subject names and differ completely in demand. The Preliminary syllabus lists broad subjects for an objective paper that only screens. The Main Examination syllabus names specific themes for written answers, and it adds material that never appears in Prelims, such as ethics, case studies and answer writing itself.
Does the CSAT syllabus count towards the final merit?
It does not. The CSAT is qualifying at 33 per cent and its marks are never added to any score. It still has to be cleared, and a candidate who does not appear in it is disqualified from the Preliminary Examination altogether.
Which syllabus line carries the most questions?
Economic and Social Development, at 19.9 questions a year across 2011 to 2025, followed by the environment line at 18.3. The lightest of the traditional subjects is geography at 11.2. Current events carries 5.5 on average but has risen to 8.0 in the last five years.
Official Sources
- Union Public Service Commission: Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE, Civil Services Examination 2026
- Union Public Service Commission: Programme of Examinations and Recruitment Tests 2027
- Union Public Service Commission: Civil Services Examination 2025, minimum qualifying marks
- Union Public Service Commission: 74th Annual Report 2023-24 (Appendix 9, profile of candidates, Civil Services Examination 2022)
- Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice: The Constitution of India (Eighth Schedule, languages)
- Department of Personnel and Training: Gazette notifications (the Civil Services Examination Rules are notified here each year)
- National Council of Educational Research and Training: school textbooks, the standard reading for several syllabus lines
- Union Public Service Commission: online registration and application portal
- Wikipedia: Civil Services Examination
Editorial Disclaimer
The syllabus on this page is reproduced from the Commission's current examination notice, with the notice's dashes replaced by commas and colons for readability. The notice published in the Gazette of India is the final authority, and the syllabus for a later year applies only as the Commission notifies it.