UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus

The UPSC CSE 2026 Prelims exam is scheduled for 24th May 2026. Therefore, candidates can prepare for the UPSC CSE Prelims Exam accordingly. Candidates are advised to go through the Syllabus for the Preliminary Examination from the Official Website @upsc.gov.in as well as from this article. Interested Candidates can also Download the UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus from the link given below.

UPSC CSE Prelims Exam Pattern & Syllabus

The first stage of the UPSC CSE Exam, i.e., the Civil Services Preliminary Examination is only a screening test and is conducted to shortlist candidates for the Mains Examination. Marks secured in the Preliminary Exam are not taken into account while preparing the Final Merit.

The UPSC CSE Prelims Exam consists of two papers of Objective (MCQ) Type carrying a maximum of 400 marks.

Exam Date	24th May 2026
Number of Papers	2 Compulsory Papers : • Paper-I (GS) • Paper-II (CSAT)
Type of Questions	Multiple Choice Questions (Objective Type)
Total Maximum Marks	200 marks for each paper (Total 400 Marks)
Duration of Exam	2 Hours for each paper [20 minutes per hour extra time for blind candidates and candidates with Locomotor Disability and Cerebral Palsy (minimum 40% impairment)]
Negative Marking	1/3rd mark for every wrong answer
Medium of Exam	Bilingual (English & Hindi)
Marks counted in Merit	No

Paper I (General Studies) Syllabus

Paper I – (200 Marks) & Duration : 2 Hours

• 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, Biodiversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
• General Science.

Paper II (CSAT: Civil Services Aptitude Test) Syllabus

Paper II – (200 Marks) & Duration : 2 Hours

• 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).

Note 1 : Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

Note 2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.

Note 3 : It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of the Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.

FAQ – UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus

Q. What is the Official Website to check the UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus? Ans. The Official Website to check the UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus is https://upsc.gov.in. Q. How to check the UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus? Ans. To check the UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus, you must visit the official website at https://upsc.gov.in. Alternatively, you can also find the relevant information through direct links provided on this page.  Q. What is the structure of the Civil Services Examination? Ans. The Civil Services Examination (CSE) comprises of two successive stages: the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (CSP) and the Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview).  Q. What is the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination? Ans. UPSC conducts Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other Central Services and posts in accordance with the Rules published by the Government (Department of Personnel & Training) in the Gazette of India Extraordinary. This Examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates, who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination, are not counted for determining their final order of merit. Only those candidates, who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year, will be eligible to appear at the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.  Q. Is an attempt at the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination counted as an attempt at the Civil Services Examination? Ans. (i) An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be taken as an attempt at the Civil Services Examination.  (ii) If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, it shall be taken as an attempt at the Examination.  (iii) Notwithstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the Examination will count as an attempt.  Q. If a candidate has applied for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination but has not appeared at any paper in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will it be counted as an attempt? Ans. No, an attempt is counted only if a candidate has appeared in at least one paper in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.  Q. What is the scheme of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination? Ans. The Examination is comprised of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.  (i) Both the question papers are of objective type (multiple choice questions).  (ii) The question papers are set in Hindi and English.  (iii) Details of the syllabi are provided in the Examination Notice and Gazette Notification published by the Government. (iv) Each paper is of two hours duration.   Q. Is the General Studies Paper-II of qualifying nature? What are the Cut-off Marks for this Paper? Ans. Yes, the General Studies Paper-II is of qualifying nature. The minimum qualifying standards in this Paper is indicated in the Examination Rules and at present, it is 33%.  Q. Is there any negative marking at the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination? Ans. Candidates should note that there is penalty (negative marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination. There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. (i) For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (1/3rd) of the marks assigned to that question is deducted as penalty.  (ii) If a candidate gives more than one answer, it is treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.  (iii) If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate; there will be no penalty for that question.  Q. How could any aspirant or anyone get more information about UPSC CSE Prelims Examination? Ans. Any aspirant or anyone could get more information About UPSC CSE Prelims Examination from FAQs given on the official website of UPSC or from the link given here https://upsc.gov.in/faqs.    Note:- For any other information or query about UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus, Please visit the Official Website https://upsc.gov.in.