How Many Optional Subjects are in UPSC Mains Examination
The candidates who have started their preparation for UPSC exam have various questions about the exam preparation and all optional subjects in UPSC mains. We provide you complete details about the UPSC civil service exam, all optional subjects in UPSC and guidance to choose optional subjects in the IAS mains exam. The list of optional subjects in UPSC are on our website. The Civil Service exam is the prestigious exam of the country. It has three stage prelims examination, Mains examination and personality test. We will guide you to choose the best optional subject for UPSC
The main examination consists of 9 papers. This exam has two qualifying papers and the rest of all are calculated for the merit list. Check the list of optional subjects in UPSC before deciding yours.
How many optional subjects are in UPSC Civil Services Examination ?
The number of optional subjects in the IAS exam to be selected by the students for the mains exam has decreased to one according to the new exam pattern. General Studies papers for the civil service mains exam carry 1000 marks. 2 optional papers in IAS comprise 250 marks each.
So understand all pros and cons while choosing UPSC optional for the main exam. UPSC notification lists down the number of all optional subjects in UPSC with their detailed syllabus. Aspirants will have to choose one optional from the best optional subject for UPSC for the mains exam the optional subject has two papers carrying 250 marks each. Time duration for each optional paper in IAS is 3 hours and the nature of this exam is descriptive. Some papers will be set in Hindi and English only except the literature of language papers.
Check the List of optional subject in UPSC
These are all optional subjects in UPSC
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce & Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law Syllabus
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science & International Relation
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
Literature Optional Subjects
These are the list of literature UPSC optional paper
- Assamese
- Bengali
- Bodo
- Dogri
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Kannada
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Maithili
- Malayalam
- Manipuri
- Marathi
- Nepali
- Oriya
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Santhali
- Sindhi
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Urdu
- English
Success ratio of optional subjects in IAS Exam
Some few literature papers have the highest success rate in recent years. When the syllabus of subjects overlap with general studies paper these subjects are considered the good optional subjects in IAS. Check the list of optional subjects in UPSC first. Apart from this individual interest, preference, nature of syllabus and availability of study material are also considered important factors while choosing UPSC optional paper.
Can I choose Geography as an optional paper?
Geography is considered one of the best optional subjects for UPSC aspirants. The syllabus of Geography overlaps with GS first and in the Prelims exam that is why it is the most popular optional subject in IAS mains exam.
Is agriculture a good optional subject?
Agriculture has gained popularity as a scoring subject for UPSC optional paper in UPSC mains exam syllabus of agriculture paper overlap with GS mains in the syllabus and agriculture are also related to botany. Now you can easily choose the best optional subject for UPSC