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UPSC Civil Service Exam Syllabus

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UPSC Syllabus

The UPSC 2025 Exam for Civil Services began with the Preliminary Exam held on May 25, 2025, and the Main Examination is scheduled to start from August 22, 2025.

The UPSC CSE syllabus is structured into three key stages:

  • The Preliminary Examination – an objective-type screening test.
  • The Main Examination – a descriptive written exam assessing in-depth knowledge.
  • The Interview (Personality Test) – the final stage evaluating a candidate’s suitability for civil services.

Each stage is designed to progressively test a candidate’s intellectual depth, decision-making ability, and administrative aptitude.

Preliminary Exam consists of two papers of an objective type carrying a maximum of 400 marks.

No. of Papers 2 compulsory papers
Type of Questions Objective (MCQ) type
Total Maximum Marks 400 (200 each paper)
Duration of Exam 2 hrs. each (20 minutes per hour extra time for blind candidates & candidates with Locomotor Disability & Cerebral Palsy [minimum 40% impairment])
Negative Marking 1/3rd of the marks assigned to a question
Medium of Exam Bilingual (Hindi & English)

General Studies Paper-I Syllabus

It comprises 100 questions, broadly covering the following topics, and carries a maximum of 200 marks to be completed within 2 hours.

  • Current events of National & International importance.
  • History of India & Indian National Movement.
  • Indian & World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India & the World.
  • Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • Economic & Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
  • General issues on Environmental ecology, biodiversity & climate change – that do not require subject specialization.
  • General Science.

UPSC Syllabus for General Studies Paper-II

It comprises 80 questions from the following topics, carrying a maximum of 200 marks to be solved in 2 hours.

  • Comprehension.
  • Interpersonal skills, including communication skills.
  • Logical reasoning & analytical ability.
  • Decision making & problem solving.
  • General mental ability.
  • Basic numeracy (numbers & their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)

CSAT is a qualifying paper, with a minimum qualifying mark fixed at 33%. A candidate must appear in both the Papers of the IAS Prelim Exam for evaluation.

UPSC Preparation Books – Best Books For IAS Prelims

There are 2 papers in the Prelims for General Studies Paper – I and CSAT & both are of objective type with negative marking. Here are the best IAS Prelims Best Books given below:

Subject UPSC Books List
History
  • NCERT 11th Ancient and Medieval
  • NCERT 12th Modern Indian History
  • Indian Art & Culture by Nitin Singhania
  • India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra
Geography
  • NCERT VI-X Old Syllabus
  • NCERT XI, XII New Syllabus
  • World Atlas (Orient Black Swan)
  • Certificate Physical Geography – G C Leong
Indian Polity
  • NCERT IX-XII
  • Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth
  • NCERT XI
  • Economic Development & Policies in India – Jain & Ohri
Economics Indian Economy by Nitin Singhania
International Relations
  • Current Affairs
  • NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics)
CSAT
  • Tata McGraw-Hill CSAT Manual
  • Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal
Solved Papers IAS General Studies Prelims Solved Papers by Vishal Publications

UPSC Preparation Book List – Best Books For IAS Mains

List of UPSC Exam Books

The candidates can follow the given book details for the UPSC Preparation 2025. Here, we have mentioned the best general studies books for the UPSC CSE

Mains

Subject UPSC Books
History, Indian Heritage & Culture[GS Paper 1]
  • Ancient India by RS Sharma
  • India after Independence by Bipan Chandra
  • History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra
  • Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
  • India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
Geography[GS Paper 1
  • Geography of India by Majid Husain
  • World Atlas (Orient Black Swan)
  • Certificate in Physical and Human Geography by G.C. Leong
  • World Geography by Majid Husain
  • Fundamentals of Physical Geography NCERT Class 11
Polity & International Relations[GS Paper 2]
  • Introduction to the Constitution of India by DD Basu
  • Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
  • International Relations: Pushpesh Pant
Economy[GS Paper 3]
  • Environment and Disaster Management by Tata McGraw-Hill
  • Indian Economy – Nitin Singhania
  • Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar
Ethics[GS Paper 4]
  • Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudhary
Solved Papers IAS General Studies Prelims Solved Papers – Vishal Publications

UPSC Book List For Optional Subjects

Subject UPSC Books
Agriculture
  • Agronomy By Yellamananda Reddy
  • Soil Science – D.K. Das Or Brady
  • Genetics By B.D.Singh
  • Entomology – Vasantha Raj & David
  • Special Issue of Agriculture by The Hindu
Anthropology
  • N. Hasnain: Tribal India
  • Herskovits: Cultural Anthropology
  • Surender Nath: Forensic Anthropology
  • Herskovits: Cultural Anthropology
  • Stein & Rowe: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology
Botany
  • Taxonomy: Nair, along with Datta
  • Embryology: Bhojwani and Bhatnagar
  • Physiology and Biochemistry: Salisbury and Ross or Fritz and Noggle
  • Economic Botany: Kochar or Verma
Chemistry
  • Theoretical principles of inorganic chemistry – G.S. Manku,
  • Extraction of metals, Principle of inorganic chemistry – Puri, Sharma, Jauhar.
  • Advance physical chemistry – Gurdeep Raj
  • A guide to mechanisms in organic chemistry – Peter Sykes
Economics
  • International Economics – Bo Soderston
  • National Income Accounting – Bakerman
  • Banking – S.B. Gupta
  • International Trade – Bo Soderston
History
  • History of Modern India – Shekhar Bandopadhyaya/Bipan Chandra
  • India’s Ancient Past – R.S. Sharma
  • The Wonder That Was India – A.L. Basham
  • Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas – Romila Thapar
  • India’s Struggle For Independence – Bipan Chandra and Others
Management
  • Financial: Pandey/Chandra/Khan & Jain/Bearley
  • Economics: Any good economics book
  • Operations: Adams/Taha
  • Organisational Design: Khandwala; Madhukar Shukla
Mathematicst
  • Ordinary Differential EQs:- MD Raising Lumina, Golden series-NP Bali
  • Real Analysis – Shantinarayan, Royden
  • Linear Programming – SD Sharma
  • Solid Mechanism – Kazmioo
Electrical Engineering
  • Modern Central Engineering – Ogata
  • Electromagnetic Waves and Fields – R.N. Singh
  • Surveying and Levelling – T P Kanetakar
  • Heat Conversion – Arora & Kundwar
Urdu
  • Urdu Shairi ka Tauqidi Mutala – Suenbul Nigar
  • Urdu Nasr ka Tauqidi Mutala – Suenbul Nigar
  • Urdu Adab Ki Tarikh – Noorul Hasan Naqvi
Psychology
  • Psychology, Robert A Baron
  • Social Psychology: Baron & Byrne
  • The Psychology of Small Groups: Shaw

FAQs

The UPSC Civil Services Examination is divided into three parts
  • The Preliminary Examination
  • The Main Examination
  • The Interview
The final round is the interview round only the candidates who qualify for prelims and mains will be able to attend the final round.
The candidates can find the complete syllabus on the official website of UPSC.

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