UPSC CSE Interview 2024 Update: The first phase of the interviews was held from February 2024 to March 2024 for a total of 1026 candidates.
Union Public Service Commission is the Authority for conducting civil services examination. The candidates who missed the UPSC cut-off by 1 or 2 marks in 2023 can re-apply for UPSC 2024. Whether it is your first attempt or last, go through this article to learn about the UPSC Exam 2024 Application Process, Notification Date, Syllabus, and more
About UPSC Exam
UPSC Civil Services Examination is largely called UPSC Exam or IAS Exam. It is an annual examination conducted by the sole authority – Union Public Service Commission. Deriving its functions entailed under Article 320, UPSC conducts various examinations for appointment to the services of the Union. All such examinations are mentioned in the official UPSC Calendar 2024.
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Click here to download UPSC Calender 2024
Civil Services Examination takes place in three stages:
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for the Mains Exam.
(ii) Civil Services Mains Examination (Written) for the selection of candidates for the next level of the UPSC IAS Exam.
(iii) Civil Services Personality Test (PT)- The final stage for the selection process.
The syllabus for all three stages of the exam is interlinked and hence needs a deeper look to understand the requirement of each stage of the IAS Exam. You can check the detailed exam pattern on the link provided below:
UPSC IAS Prelims Syllabus 2024
In IAS Prelims, UPSC tests the analytical, logical, and reasoning ability of the candidates. The IAS Prelims Exam is divided into two parts:
(i) General Studies Paper-I
(ii) General Studies Paper-II
Both papers have a maximum time limit of two hours and the General Studies Paper-II, which is popularly known as CSAT, is only qualifying in nature. The exam is conducted on a single day with Paper 1 in the morning session and paper 2 in the evening session.
UPSC IAS Syllabus Prelims Exam 2024: GS Paper I
Marks: 200
Duration: 2 hours
The UPSC does not follow any particular trend in its prelims question paper, hence it is tough to comprehend anything from the previous year question papers. But they can definitely give clarity about what type of questions are asked in the UPSC IAS exam.
UPSC IAS Syllabus Prelims Exam 2024
General Studies Paper II (CSAT) [Qualifying]
Marks: 200 marks
Duration: 2 hours
1. Reading Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision making and problem-solving ability
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)
7. English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
8. We will assess your English Language Comprehension skills at the Class X level by using passages from the English language only. The question paper will not provide a Hindi translation of the passages.
UPSC IAS Main 2024: Syllabus
IAS Main Exam has four general studies papers, two compulsory language papers, one essay paper, and two papers of Optional subject. It is a descriptive type of exam and has a totally enhanced version of the IAS Prelims exam. It can be said that the IAS Main Syllabus is a mammoth expansion of the IAS Prelims Syllabus.
| Paper | Subject | Marks |
| Paper-I | Essay (can be written in the medium of the candidate’s choice) | 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 |
List of Optional Subject and Syllabus in IAS Mains Exam 2021
(Click on the subject to access its syllabus)
(i) Agriculture
(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
(iii) Anthropology
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Civil Engineering
(vii) Commerce and Accountancy
(viii) Economics
(ix) Electrical Engineering
(xi) Geology
(xii) History
(xiii) Law
(xiv) Management
(xv) Mathematics
(xvi) Mechanical Engineering
(xvii) Medical Science
(xviii) Philosophy
(xix) Physics
(xx) Political Science and International Relations
(xxi) Psychology
(xxii) Public Administration
(xxiii) Sociology
(xxiv) Statistics
(xxv) Zoology
The literature of any one of the languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Manipuri, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, English.
Once you have thoroughly assessed the syllabus, the next step is the right selection of reference books.
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