Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination Syllabus
Paper I – (200 marks)
- 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
Paper II – (200 marks)
- 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);
Source: UPSC CSE Notification
Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination Pattern (Objective type)
| Two Papers | Paper-I General Studies Paper-II CSAT |
| Question Paper Type | Objective type (Multiple choice questions) |
| Duration | Paper-I 2hrs (Morning) Paper-II 2hrs (Afternoon) |
| Number of Questions | Paper-I 100 Questions Paper-II 80 Questions |
| Marks Allotted | Paper-I Each Question Carries 2 Marks Paper-II Each Question Carries 2.5 Marks |
| Negative Marking | One-third of the marks assigned to that question |
| Nature of Exam | Qualifying in Nature Serve as a screening test only |
Note: Only those candidates, who are declared by the Union Public Service Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year, will be eligible to write Civil Services Main Examination.