The Preliminary Examination of UPSC Civil Services is the first elimination round which consists of two papers. Or we can say that it is a screening stage of the Civil Services Exam which is conducted by the Union Public Services Commission every year.
In this article, we are providing the syllabus of UPSC Prelims 2021 in-depth that will be helpful for preparing the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2021 for the IAS aspirants.
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The competitive examination comprises two successive stages:
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination; and
(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.
UPSC Prelims Syllabus
It is divided into two parts:
1. General Studies Paper I
2. CSAT or General Studies Paper-II
The preliminary examination of UPSC (IAS) Civil Services is for screening purpose only. It is of qualifying nature that is the marks obtained in the UPSC prelims examination qualifies the candidate to take the UPSC Main examination and will not be counted for determining a candidate’s final order of merit.
Both the papers are conducted on the same day. Paper I in the morning session and Paper-II in the evening session. The maximum limit to complete both the papers is two hours. The questions will be of multiple-choice, objective type.
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General Studies Paper I (200 marks); Duration (Two hours)
- 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
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Paper I: Subject-Wise Division
| Subject-Wise Division | Syllabus in Detail |
| Current Events: Events covered are of National and International Importance | Current Affairs
Current Affairs with all Dimensions |
| History: Indian History and Indian Freedom Struggle | Ancient History of India
Medieval History of India Modern History (1857-1947) Indian National Movement |
| Geography: Geography of India and Concept of Physical Geography | Physical Geography
Human Geography Economic Geography World Geography |
| Polity: Indian Polity and Governance issues | Constitutional Framework
Union Executives State Executives Federalism in India Judicial System Panchayati Raj |
| Economy: Indian Economy and Social Development | – Basic Principles of Indian Economy
– Social Schemes of Government – Social Development through Economic Empowerment – Sustainable Development Demographics – Poverty, Inclusion, etc. |
| Environment and Ecology:
Principles of Environment and Ecology |
General Principles
Climate Change and Climate Summits and Conferences Biodiversity, etc. |
| General Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Science and Technology | General Principles
Latest Science and Technological Development |
CSAT/ General Studies Paper-II (200 marks); Duration(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)
Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) 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 (Prelim) Examination.
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