Prelims Syllabus For UPSC

The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each.
Note:
(i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions) and each will be of two hours duration.
(ii) The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
(iii) The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.

Note: Aspirants are urged to read over this section for the Prelims and Mains, as the syllabus has been revised on a regular basis in various areas.

Preliminary Examination

Paper	Marks	Duration	Subjects Covered
Paper I	200 (Correct Answer= +2)  (Wrong Answer= -o.67)	Two hours	Current events of National & International importance History of India & Indian National Movement Indian and World Geography (Physical, Social, Economic) Indian Polity and Governance (Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.) Economic & Social Development (Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.) General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change (not requiring subject specialization) General Science
Paper II	200 (Correct Answer= +2.5)  (Wrong Answer= -o.83)	Two hours	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 CS(P)E will be qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

Note 2: MCQs, objective type.

Note 3: It is mandatory to appear in both the papers of CS(P)E for evaluation, otherwise candidate will be disqualified.

Additional Information

The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks in the subjects set out in sub-section (A) of Section II. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.

The number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this Examination. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination.

Note I: The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Services (Main) Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies Paper-II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination as may be determined by the Commission.

Note II: There will be negative marking for incorrect answers as detailed below:

(i) There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
(ii) If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the
given answers happen to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.
(iii) If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that
question.