General Studies Syllabus for Civil Services Exam:
Prelims and Mains are the stages which have General Studies papers. In Prelims, the papers are General Studies Paper I and General Studies paper II. We will discuss the General Studies syllabus covered in Prelims and Mains successively in the following paragraphs:
UPSC Prelims Syllabus:
Syllabus for UPSC CSE Prelims General Studies Paper I:
- Current events of national and international importance
- History of India and Indian National Movement
- Indian and World Geography
- Indian Polity and Governance
- Economic and Social Development
- General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change ( Covers only general awareness of the issues, no subject specialization required)
- General Science
Syllabus for UPSC CSE Prelims General Studies Paper II:
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision making and problem-solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy (Class X level)
- Numbers and their relations,
- Orders of magnitude, etc.
- Data interpretation (Class X level)
The Exam Pattern of Prelims is as follows:
| Paper | Type | No. of questions | Marks | Duration | Negative marks |
| General Studies I | Objective | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | Yes |
| General Studies II (CSAT) | Objective | 80 | 200 | 2 hours | Yes |
The detailed exam pattern is provided in the IAS Notification, along with other information related to the syllabus and eligibility.
Some Important points to remember about the Prelims Exam:
- The questions in both prelims papers are of objective type with multiple choice answers.
- For each incorrect answer, there is negative marking. One by third or 33% marks are deducted for each wrong answer in IAS Prelims. Any questions with multiple answers marked is treated as a wrong answer even if one of the options is marked correctly, so candidates should never mark multiple answers for one question.
- A question which is not attempted carries no negative marking.
- General Studies II of prelims is a qualifying paper and candidates need to secure at least 33% to clear it.
- Candidates who do not appear in any one of the papers are considered disqualified, hence it is mandatory to appear in both the papers.
- Aspirants should refer to important General Studies books for IAS Prelims exam.
Complement your IAS Prelims preparation with the help of following links:
- UPSC Books
- NCERT Notes PDF
- CSAT
- Current Affairs
- List of Important Government Schemes
UPSC Mains Syllabus for General Studies:
General Studies is covered more extensively in the IAS Mains exam. Out of a total of 9 papers, 4 are termed General Studies while the Essay paper is loosely related to General studies as topics are selected from random subjects in this paper.
The following is the paper wise syllabus for General Studies in UPSC CSE Mains:
Syllabus for UPSC CSE Mains General Studies I (Mains Paper II):
- Indian Heritage
- Indian Culture,
- History of the World and Society
- Geography of the World and Society.
Syllabus for UPSC CSE Mains General Studies II (Mains Paper III):
- Governance
- Constitution
- Polity
- Social Justice
- International relations
Syllabus for UPSC CSE Mains General Studies III (Mains Paper IV):
- Technology
- Economic Development
- Bio-diversity
- Environment
- Security and Disaster Management
Syllabus for UPSC CSE Mains General Studies IV (Mains Paper V):
- Ethics
- Integrity
- Aptitude
The exam pattern for mains is as follows:
| Paper | Subject | Duration | Total marks |
| Paper A | Compulsory Indian language | 3 hours | 300 |
| Paper B | English | 3 hours | 300 |
| Paper I | Essay | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper II | General Studies I | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper III | General Studies II | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper IV | General Studies III | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper V | General Studies IV | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper VI | Optional I | 3 hours | 250 |
| Paper VII | Optional II | 3 hours | 250 |
