Welcome to Educrat IAS Academy, the best IAS Coaching in Kolkata. We are here to provide you with the complete UPSC syllabus 2025 for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) or IAS Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
UPSC Syllabus 2025 is discussed below for IAS 2025 in great details. The UPSC Syllabus Prelims 2025 consists of UPSC GS & UPSC CSAT.
To understand the UPSC IAS exam, one needs to understand the UPSC syllabus 2025. This in turn will help students observe, analyze and strategize and will help eliminate wasteful efforts like reading unnecessary topics leading to a loss of time. This will help students not to sway from the topics of the IAS Exam conducted by UPSC.
UPSC 2025 Prelims exam is supposed to be held on 25th May, 2025.
The UPSC syllabus 2025 can be found at the UPSC official website – https://upsc.gov.in/ or click to download the UPSC syllabus 2025 for both IAS Prelims and IAS Mains.
There is a common UPSC syllabus 2025 pattern for services such as the Indian Administrative Service(IAS), Indian Police Service(IPS), Indian Foreign Service(IFS), Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) to name a few. However, different stages of the IAS exam have different syllabi, which is broadly categorized under IAS Prelims, IAS Mains and IAS Interview. The UPSC IAS Prelims syllabus focuses on general and societal awareness which is tested by objective-type (MCQ) questions. The UPSC IAS Mains syllabus is much more comprehensive as this stage comprises nine theory papers in the IAS Syllabus 2025.
The Civil Services Exam is conducted in three stages:
1st Stage: Civil Services (Preliminary) IAS Prelims Examination (Objective Type)
2nd Stage: Civil Services (Mains) IAS Mains Examination (Descriptive Type)
3rd Stage: Personal Interview (Personality Test) IAS Interview
| Paper | Subjects | Total Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | General Studies (GS) | 200 | 2 hours (9:30 AM to 11:30 AM) |
| II | CSAT | 200 | 2 hours (2:30 PM to 4:30 PM) |
Broadly, the UPSC Civil Services (IAS Prelims) Examination consists of two papers of objective type, each of 200 marks (hence totalling 400 marks) and of two hours duration. To qualify for the IAS Mains, a candidate must attempt both the IAS Prelims papers.
I. Further, the UPSC General Studies (GS) paper consists of 100 questions, while the CSAT paper consists of 80 questions. Both papers have negative marks for wrong answers marked to the tune of 1/3rd of the total marks assigned to that question.
a) To further illustrate this, each correctly answered GS question will be awarded 2 marks. So, 0.66 marks would be deducted from the total for every question that is wrongly marked.
b) Similarly, in the CSAT paper, since we have 80 questions for 200 marks, correctly answered CSAT question would attract 2.5 marks each, while every wrongly marked question would attract a penalty of 0.833 for each such wrong answer, which will be deducted from the total.
II. Questions that are not attempted will not attract any negative marks.
1. General Studies (Generally conducted between 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM)
The General Studies test is the first paper of the IAS prelims examination. This test is intended to test the general awareness of a candidate in a wide range of subjects that include:
a) UPSC Current affairs of National & International importance.
b) History of India & Indian National Movement.
c) Indian & World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India & the World.
d) Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
e) Economic & Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
f) General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity & climate change – that do not require subject specialization.
g) General Science.
Note:
a) The cut-off changes every year according to the difficulty of the paper.
b) This is not qualifying in nature, marks scored here will be taken into consideration to clear your UPSC Civil Services (IAS Prelims) Examination.
2. Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) (Generally conducted between 2:30 PM to 04:30 PM)
The CSAT test is the second paper of the IAS Prelims. This test is intended to test the analytical and reasoning ability of a candidate in a wide range of subjects that include:
a) Comprehension.
b) Interpersonal skills including communication skills.
c) Logical reasoning & analytical ability.
d) Decision making & problem solving.
e) General mental ability.
f) Basic numeracy (numbers & their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)
Note:
a) The ‘Decision Making’ based questions are generally exempt from negative marks.
b) The preliminary examination is only meant for screening a candidate for the subsequent stages of the exam.
c) This paper is qualifying in nature where the candidate has to score 33% to qualify and this marks will not be added up while arriving at the final rank list.
| NO. | SUBJECT | MARKS | DURATION | PAPER PATTERN | ATTENTION ASPIRATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | PAPER I – INDIAN LANGUAGE (QUALIFYING) | 300 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 25% |
| 02. | PAPER II – ENGLISH (QUALIFYING) | 300 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 25% |
| 03. | PAPER I – ESSAY | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
| 04. | PAPER II – GENERAL STUDIES I | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
| 05. | PAPER III – GENERAL STUDIES II | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
| 06. | PAPER IV – GENERAL STUDIES III | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
| 07. | PAPER V – GENERAL STUDIES IV | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
| 08. | PAPER VI – OPTIONAL PAPER I | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
| 09. | PAPER VII – OPTIONAL PAPER II | 250 | 3 HOURS | DESCRIPTIVE | MINIMUM 10% |
NOTE: There are two qualifying papers and they carry 300 marks each, they are as follows:
a) Any Indian Language
b) English Language Paper
The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates who attain 25% marks in both the language papers as a minimum qualifying standard in these qualifying papers, will be taken cognizance of, for evaluation.
In case a candidate does not qualify in these language papers, then the marks obtained by such candidates will not be considered or counted and hence will be disqualified and cannot appear for the 3rd Stage.
Structure of the language papers:
The types of questions asked are –
1. Essay – 100 marks
2. Reading comprehension – 60 marks
3. Precis Writing – 60 marks
4. Translation:
a. English to compulsory language (e.g. Hindi) – 20 marks
b. Compulsory language to English – 20 marks
5. Grammar and basic language usage – 40 marks
The rest of the seven papers can be written in any of the languages mentioned under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India or in English.
Please check the detailed UPSC syllabus 2025 for UPSC IAS Mains Paper I, II, III, IV in the link below.
Planner.pdf
The UPSC Mains syllabus gives a list of 48 Optional Subjects which include Literature of different languages. Candidates need to choose any one of the ‘Optional Subjects’ from the list of subjects given below:
| Agriculture – UPSC Syllabus | Zoology – UPSC Syllabus |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Assamese (Literature) |
| Anthropology – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Bengali (Literature) |
| Botany – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024– Bodo (Literature) |
| Chemistry – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Dogri (Literature) |
| Civil Engineering – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Gujarati (Literature) |
| Commerce & Accountancy – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Hindi (Literature) |
| Economics – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Kannada (Literature) |
| Electrical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Kashmiri (Literature) |
| Geography – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Konkani (Literature) |
| Geology – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Maithili (Literature) |
| History – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Malayalam (Literature) |
| Law – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Manipuri (Literature) |
| Management – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Marathi (Literature) |
| Mathematics – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Nepali (Literature) |
| Mechanical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Odia (Literature) |
| Medical Science – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Punjabi (Literature) |
| Philosophy – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Sanskrit (Literature) |
| Physics – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Santhali (Literature) |
| Political Science & International Relations – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Sindhi (Literature) |
| Psychology – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Tamil (Literature) |
| Public Administration – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Telugu (Literature) |
| Sociology – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – English (Literature) |
| Statistics – UPSC Syllabus | UPSC syllabus 2024 – Urdu (Literature) |
Important Points
1. The papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and paper B) will be of qualifying nature and the marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
2. The papers on Indian languages and English (Paper A and paper B) will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard.
3. The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subject of only such candidates will be taken cognizance who attain 25% marks in ‘Indian Language’ and 25% in ‘English’ as minimum qualifying standards in these qualifying papers.
4. Marks obtained by the candidates for the Paper I-VII only will be counted for merit ranking.
5. The question papers for the main examination will be of conventional (essay) type and each paper will be of 3-hour duration.
6. Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the Qualifying Language Papers, Paper-A and Paper-B, in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India or in English.
7. The question papers (other than the literature of language papers) will be set in Hindi and English only.
– Wear clean clothes. Clothes you wear must be well-washed, ironed and without any stains.
– Look smart by wearing the correct size. Clothes should not be very large or small.
– Avoid revealing clothes at any cost.
– Very little or no make-up is fine.
– Tie your hair neatly.
– Men should wear light coloured formal shirts and dark trousers.
– A neck-tie is recommended.
– Tucked in shirt, avoid printed or floral ones.
– Well-polished formal shoes with dark socks. Don’t wear chappals, sneakers or flip-flops.
– Short hair is recommended for men. It’s a matter of personal choice.
– Avoid flashy and expensive jewellery.
– Party wear or casual wear like jeans and T-shirts is strictly prohibited.
– Take care of your body odour with light or mild fragrances.
– You can wear a formal watch, again not too flashy.
– Carry a handkerchief to wipe out sweat.
IAS Prelims 2025 is going to take place on 25th May, 2025. There are plethora of study materials available for IAS aspirants both online and offline. Very few students end up choosing the correct study material for their UPSC 2025 IAS Syllabus. As our IAS Toppers would suggest that you mandatorily have to build your IAS foundation through NCERT books and henceforth you can move onto standard reference IAS books.
The best study material on UPSC IAS Syllabus 2025 can vary from candidate to candidate depending on their previous expertise and knowledge of the subject matter. However, our experts suggest that the best IAS Books recommended for UPSC are shared in the list below. Choosing the right IAS exam books for different stages of the UPSC exam is quite important. The UPSC IAS Prelims comprises only objective type questions while the IAS Mains contains descriptive essay type question papers.
| Subject | UPSC Books |
|---|---|
| History | 1. India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra 2. Facets of Indian Culture – Spectrum 3. NCERT XI (Ancient & Medieval) 4. NCERT XII (Modern Indian History) 5. A Brief History of Modern India – Spectrum |
| Geography | 1. Certificate Physical Geography – G C Leong 2. NCERT VI – X (Old Syllabus) 3. NCERT XI, XII (New Syllabus) 4. World Atlas |
| Indian Polity | 1. Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth 2. NCERT IX-XII |
| Economics | 1. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh 2. Economic Development & Policies in India – Jain & Ohri 3. NCERT XI |
| International Relations | 1. NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics) 2. Current Affairs |
| CSAT | 1. Tata McGraw Hill CSAT Manual 2. CSAT II – Arihant 3. Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R S Aggarwal |
Given below are the General studies books for the UPSC Mains:
| Subject | UPSC Books |
|---|---|
| History, Indian Heritage & Culture [GS Paper 1] | 1. An Introduction to Indian Art Part 1: Textbook in Fine Arts for Class XI 2. India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra 3. India after Independence by Bipan Chandra 4. History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra 5. Ancient India by R.S Sharma 6. A Brief History of Modern India – Spectrum |
| Geography [GS Paper 1] | 1. Geography of India by Majid Husain 2. World Geography by Majid Husain 3. World Atlas 4. Certificate Physical and Human Geography – G C Leong 5. Fundamentals of Physical Geography NCERT Class 11 |
| Polity & International Relations [GS Paper 2] | 1. Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth 2. Introduction to the Constitution of India by DD Basu 3. India’s Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri |
| Economy [GS Paper 3] | 1. Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh |
| Ethics [GS Paper 4] | 1. Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary |
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