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UPSC IAS Syllabus 2026, Exam Pattern

Complete preparation hub for UPSC Cse (ias) 2026 recruitment examination

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📅 Updated On 2026-05-30✨ Update By Sandeep Pandey🌐 Hindi & English

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UPSC Cse (ias) 2026 Free Mock Test Practice

1
IAS Prelims Exam Paper 1 (General Studies) - English100 questions • 120 mins • 200 marks
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2
IAS Prelims Exam Paper 2 (CSAT) - English80 questions • 120 mins • 200 marks
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Free Important Questions

UPSC Cse (ias) 2026 Exam Free Online Question Bank

1
IAS Prelims Exam Paper 1 (General Studies) - English100 questions
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2
IAS Prelims Exam Paper 2 (CSAT) - English80 questions
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UPSC IAS Syllabus 2026, Exam Pattern

IAS Syllabus 2026, Exam Pattern, Exam Date 2026

Detail Information about UPSC has published notification 2026 for the recruitment of IAS vacancies. Those Candidates who are Interested to the following vacancy and completed all Eligibility Criteria can read the Notification & Apply Online. In this page we provide the Complete Syllabus of this Recruitment with Latest Update Exam Pattern and the Exam Date also.

IAS Syllabus 2026 - Highlights
 
Organisation Name Union Public Service Commission
Exam Civil Services Examination
Post Indian Administrative Service & Indian Forest Service
Vacancy 933
Prelims Exam Date 24th May 2026
Mains Exam Date 21st August 2026
Job Location Across India
Category Syllabus and Exam Pattern
Official Website www.upsconline.nic.in
 
IAS Syllabus 2026

General Studies Paper (Prelims Paper I) :

1. Current events of national and international importance.
2. History of India and Indian National Movement.
3. Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
4. Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
5. Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
6. General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation General Science

CSAT Paper (Prelims Paper II) :

1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision-making and problem solving
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)

 
IAS Mains Syllabus :
 
Language and Essay Papers :
 
Essay 
Reading comprehension
Precis Writing

Translation:
English to compulsory language (e.g. Hindi)
Compulsory language to English
Grammar and basic language usage
 
General Studies‐I :
 
1. Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
2. Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present – significant events, personalities, issues.
3. The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
4. Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
5. History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
6. Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
7. Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
8. Effects of globalization on Indian society.
9. Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
10. Salient features of world’s physical geography.
11. Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
12. Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone. etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes. 
 
General Studies‐II :
 
1. Constitution of India —historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
2. Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
3. Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.
4. Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
5. Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
6. Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
7. Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
8. Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
9. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
10. Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
11. Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
12. Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
13. Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
14. Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
15. Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures. 
16. Role of civil services in a democracy.
17. India and its neighbourhood- relations.
18. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting  India’s interests.
19. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
20. Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate. 
 
General Studies‐III : 
 
1. Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
2. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
3. Government Budgeting.
4. Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
5. Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
6. Food processing and related industries in India- scope’ and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
7. Land reforms in India.
8. Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth. 
9. Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
10. Investment models.
11. Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
12. Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
13. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
14. Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
15. Disaster and disaster management.
16. Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
17. Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.
18. Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention. 
19. Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
20. Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate. 
 
General Studies‐IV :
 
1. Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics – in private and public relationships. Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
2. Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
3. Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
4. Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
5. Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.
6. Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
7. Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.
8. Case Studies on the above issues. 
 
Optional Subjects :
 
1. Agriculture
2. Zoology – UPSC Syllabus
3. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
4. Assamese (Literature)
5. Anthropology
6. Bengali (Literature)
7. Botany
8.  Bodo (Literature)
9. Chemistry –  UPSC Syllabus
10. Dogri (Literature)
11. Civil Engineering
12. Gujarati (Literature)
13. Commerce & Accountancy
14. Hindi (Literature)
15. Economics
16. Kannada (Literature)
17. Electrical Engineering
18. Kashmiri (Literature)
19. Geography
20. Konkani (Literature)
21. Geology
22. Maithili (Literature)
23. History
24. Malayalam (Literature)
25. Law
26. Manipuri (Literature)
27. Management
28. Marathi (Literature)
29. Mathematics
30. Nepali (Literature)
31. Mechanical Engineering
32. Odia (Literature)
33. Medical Science
34. Punjabi (Literature)
35. Philosophy
36. Sanskrit (Literature)
37. Physics
38. Santhali (Literature)
39. Political Science & International Relations
40. Sindhi (Literature)
41. Psychology
42. Tamil (Literature)
43. Public Administration
44. Telugu (Literature)
45. Sociology
46. English (Literature)
47. Statistics
48. Urdu (Literature)

IAS Exam Pattern 2026

1. For the blank answers, no marks will be deducted.
2. In General Studies (Paper I), each question is of 2 marks and there is a negative marking of 0.66 marks
3. In CSAT (Paper-II), each question is of 2.5 marks and a negative marking of 0.83 marks for each wrong answer marked.
4. The prelims marks will not be included in the final result (merit list).
5. Paper II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.


Prelims Exam (Objective)
 
S.No. Subject No.of Question Marks Duration Negative Marking
1 General Studies 100 200 2 Hour 0.66
2 CSAT 80 200 2 Hour 0.83
  Total 180 400 4 Hour  

Mains Syllabus : (Descriptive Type)

Duration - 3 Hours

Negative Marks - 0.33 only for objective type questions
 
IAS Mains has 7 papers out of which 5 Papers are compulsory and 2 Papers are Optional Language Papers (A & B)
 
S.No. Subject No.of Question Marks
1 Essay Paper 250 250
2 General Studies I 250 250
3 General Studies II 250 250
4 General Studies III 250 250
5 General Studies IV 250 250
6 Optional Subject Paper I 250 250
7 Optional Subject Paper I 250 250
  Total 1750 1750
A One of the Indian language to be selected by the candidate from the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the constitution(Qualifying only) 300 300
B English (Qualifying Only) 300 300

UPSC IAS Prelims Exam Date 2026 : 24th May 2026

UPSC IAS Mains Exam Date 2026 : 21st August 2026

Starting Date of Application Form : 04th February 2026

Last Date of Application Form : 27th February 2026

Total Post : 933
FAQs

UPSC Cse (ias) 2026 Exam Syllabus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

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