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.

Youth Destination Test Series 2022 National Emblem of India

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

  1. Agriculture
  2. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
  3. Anthropology
  4. Botany
  5. Chemistry
  6. Civil Engineering
  7. Commerce & Accountancy
  8. Economics
  9. Electrical Engineering
  10. Geography
  11. Geology
  12. History
  13. Law Syllabus
  14. Management
  15. Mathematics
  16. Mechanical Engineering
  17. Medical Science
  18. Philosophy
  19. Physics
  20. Political Science & International Relation
  21. Psychology
  22. Public Administration
  23. Sociology
  24. Statistics    
  25. Zoology

Literature Optional Subjects

These are the list of literature UPSC optional paper

  1. Assamese
  2. Bengali
  3. Bodo
  4. Dogri
  5. Gujarati
  6. Hindi
  7. Kannada
  8. Kashmiri
  9. Konkani
  10. Maithili
  11. Malayalam
  12. Manipuri
  13. Marathi
  14. Nepali
  15. Oriya
  16. Punjabi
  17. Sanskrit
  18. Santhali
  19. Sindhi
  20. Tamil
  21. Telugu
  22. Urdu
  23. 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

Register now

Download App

Youth Destination Facilities

Enroll Now For UPSC Course