UPSC: IFoS Exam - Syllabus

EXAM SYLLABUS

Part A-Preliminary Examination

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two 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, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.
• General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two 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 Xlevel), 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 Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.

MAIN EXAMINATION :

The standard of papers in General English and General Knowledge will be such as may be expected of a Science or Engineering graduate of an Indian University.

THE SCOPE OF THE SYLLABUS FOR OPTIONAL SUBJECT PAPERS FOR THE EXAMINATION IS BROADLY OF THE HONOURS DEGREE LEVEL I.E. A LEVEL HIGHER THAN THE BACHELORS DEGREE AND LOWER THAN THE MASTERS DEGREE. IN THE CASE OF ENGINEERING SUBJECTS, THE LEVEL CORRESPONDS TO THE BACHELORS DEGREE. 

There will be no practical examination in any of the subjects.  

GENERAL ENGLISH

Candidates will be required to write an essay in English. Other questions will be designed to test their understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. Passages will usually be set for summary or precis.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

General Knowledge including knowledge of current events and of such matters of every day observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific subject. The paper will also include questions on Indian Polity including the political system and the Constitution of India, History of India and Geography of a nature which the candidate should be able to answer without special study.  

OPTIONAL SUBJECTS

Total number of questions in the question papers of optional subjects will be eight. All questions will carry equal marks. Each paper will be divided into two parts, viz. Part A and Part B, each part containing four questions. Out of eight questions, five questions are to be attempted. One question in each part will be compulsory. Candidates will be required to answer three more questions out of the remaining six questions, taking at least one question from each Part. In this way, at least two questions will be attempted from each Part i.e. one compulsory question plus one more.  

Optional Subjects Detailed Syllabus:

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