If you are aspiring to become an IAS officer, then you need to crack the UPSC examinations. It is one of the toughest competitive exams in India, and every year lakhs of candidates appear. But only a very of them get selected. If you are serious about making this dream come true, you need to begin by knowing UPSC Syllabus. You must note that the UPSC board describes the standard IAS Syllabus. It is broadly explained in the Civil Services notification every year. However, it would be best to understand in much greater detail as a candidate as defined in the IAS Syllabus.
The UPSC Syllabus Structure
At the outset, you need to note that the Civil Services Exams are standard for all the services. These include the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service, and Indian Revenue Service, which have Customs, Central Excise, Etc.
The Civil Services Examinations are conducted in 3 stages
1. Prelims
2. Mains
3. Interview
In the Prelims Stage, an assessment is made of the candidate’s overall societal and general awareness. Here there are the Multiple-Choice Questions. In these sections, both General Studies as well as CSAT papers are objective.
On the Other hand, the Mains have all the subjective questions. You also must note that the syllabus for the 9 Papers in the Mains is broadly Comprehensive.
Prelims Syllabus
There are two papers in the Prelims. These are Paper-1 IAS Prelims & Paper 2 – IAS Prelims. Paper 1 is based on General Studies. The time duration here is 2 Hours, and the Candidates have to answer 100 Questions. Total Marks here is 200 Marks.
Paper-II- It is the CSAT- The complete form is the Civil Service Aptitude Test. Here 80 Questions are asked, and the Total Marks are 200 Marks. This paper is only Qualifying in nature, and the marks scored here are not included in the final total. Coming to the Prelims paper, the two papers have a duration of 2 hours. Paper 2, as already mentioned, is just a qualifying paper. The marks obtained here are not added to the overall score. But what is received in the 1st Paper is considered for the ranking.
IAS Examinations- Syllabus & Marks Distribution for the Main Papers
When it comes to the Mains, the following is the marks distribution and the syllabus:
| Qualifying Papers | Marks | |
| Paper-A | One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution | 300 |
| Paper-B | English | 300 |
| Papers to be Counted for Merit | ||
| Paper-I | Essay | 250 |
| Paper-II | General Studies-I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History, and Geography of the World and Society) | 250 |
| Paper-III | General Studies-II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) | 250 |
| Paper-IV | Genera Studies-III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) | 250 |
| Paper-V | General Studies-IV (Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude) | 250 |
| Paper-VI | Optional Subject – Paper 1 | 250 |
| Paper-VII | Optional Subject – Paper 2 | 250 |
| Sub Total (Written Test) | 1750 | |
| Personality Test | 275 | |
| Grand Total | 2025 |
As already mentioned, the UPSC mains are all subjective. Here candidates have to write long and descriptive answers to the given questions. Apart from 4 papers on General Studies, there is one more additional paper wherein two essays have to be written. The length of each of these essays has to be between 1000 and 1200 marks.
So to conclude, we can say that clearing the UPSC examinations is by no means child’s play. The syllabus, as you would realize, is enormous. You need a well-planned approach. But with determination and disciplined studies, you can indeed make your dreams come true.