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UPSC Prelims Exam 2022: Exam Pattern, Syllabus and Prep Tips

The Union Public Service Commission Exam (UPSC) is said to be one of the toughest examinations across the country. UPSC prelims exam is the initial step for the examination. Lakhs of aspirants apply for this examination but only a few are able to crack it. After clearing the UPSC Prelims Exams, the candidate is eligible for the mains exam. The  UPSC civil services exam unlocked the door for all the civil services posts offered by the Government of India. The posts that come under All India Civil Services are said to be the most esteemed and reputed jobs in the country.

    • The UPSC Exam is divided into three phases viz. prelims, mains and interview.
    • In order to crack the examination, the candidates have to clear all three stages.
    • There are different eligibility criteria for the UPSC IAS exams.
    • The candidates also get to choose an optional subject for their UPSC Exam.

However, the UPSC exam offers many prestigious jobs, which depends upon the merit of the candidates.

In this article, a piece of detailed information about the UPSC IAS Prelims- Notes, Reference Books, Syllabus, Strategy, Exam dates, etc. would be staged.

UPSC Exam Overview 2022
Name of Organization UPSC
UPSC Full Form Union Public Service Commission
Official Website UPSC Website
Exam Cycle 2021 2022
Total Vacancy 712 1011
IAS Exam Notification Released on 4th March 2021 2nd February 2022
Last Date to Apply 24th March 2021 22nd February 2022
Prelims Admit Card Release Date 16th September 2021 To be announced
Prelims Exam Date 10th October 2021 5th June 2022
Prelims Result Date 29th October 2021 To be announced
Mains Admit Card Release Date 15th December 2021 To be announced
Mains Exam Date 7th to 9th and 15th to 16th January 2022 To be announced
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Details on UPSC Prelims 2022

The Union Public Service Commission released its official notification in which the date for the examination was 5th June 2022.

    • The UPSC will be releasing  admit card 3 weeks prior to the examination.
    • The UPSC Calendar contains all the dates for various types of examinations.
    • The IAS prelims Exam for the last year was conducted on 10th October 2021.

Candidates who fail to pay the examination fees would not be eligible to appear for the examination. Their admit card would be terminated and they might have to apply again for the examination.

Download UPSC Prelims Exam Exam Pattern, Syllabus and Prep Tips in PDF here

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UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern:

The UPSC Prelim is the first phase of the examination and it’s mandatory to score well in this phase in order to clear all three phases and the examination. Admit cards for the civil services prelim exam are also released 2-3 weeks prior to the date of the examination. Candidates are required to keep their admit cards with themselves at the time of the examination.

    • The UPSC Prelim Exam is conducted in an offline mode.
    • The IAS Prelims exams comprise General Studies I & General Studies II or CSAT.
    • All the papers that come under the UPSC Prelim Exams are held on the same day.

The prelim examination is of 400 marks and the exam pattern is listed below:

Paper Type No. of questions Marks Duration
General Studies I Objective 100 200 2 hours
General Studies II (CSAT) Objective 80 200 2 hours

The cut off for the UPSC prelim examination is in the range of 95-100. It is requisite to score within the range or higher than the expected cut-off. Prelims examination is equally important as mains and the interview. The aspirants must go through previous years’ question papers and must thoroughly prepare for the prelims exam.

The syllabus is distinct for the UPSC prelims, mains and the interview. However, the only common thing in all three of them is that the candidate must be aware of national and international affairs. Listed below is the UPSC Prelims exam pattern:

UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern General Studies I General Studies II or CSAT
Number of questions 100 80
Negative Marking Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question)

-0.66 marks for every incorrect answer

Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question)

-0.83 marks for every incorrect answer

Duration of exam 2 hours 2 hours
UPSC Prelims 2022 Date of exam 5th October 2022 5th October 2022
Language of exam English/Hindi English/Hindi
Maximum marks 200 200
Cut Off marks Counted for Merit. Cutoff varies every year. 33% qualifying criteria (66 marks)

The prelim examination is of 400 marks and the above-mentioned topics are crucial for the exam.

UPSC Prelims Syllabus

Mentioned below is the UPSC Prelim Syllabus:

Topic Sub-Topic
General Studies Paper-1 Syllabus
  • 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.
General Studies Paper-2 (CSAT) Syllabus
  • 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).
  • English language comprehension skills – Class X level.

The above mentioned was the syllabus for the UPSC Prelims examination.

Get some Current Affairs for UPSC here.

How to Prepare for the UPSC Prelim Exam?

The prelim exam encompasses General Studies I & General Studies II. To crack the examination, the candidates must be done and dusted with each and every topic of the syllabus.

It’s a prerequisite to jot down the syllabus and make a strategic and result-driven timetable.

The candidates must cling to the timetable and should focus on the topic with more weightage first.

    • The aspirants should make it a ritual to solve immense previous years’ question papers.
    • As the syllabus for this examination is vast, revision is the key.
    • Another crucial aspect is to be aware of national and international affairs.

The candidates must refer to a few but the best reference books, which are easy to understand. They should make it a compulsion to read newspapers regularly.

Check the detailed UPSC Prelims Exam Strategy here.

In this article, a detailed description of the UPSC Prelims exam, UPSC prelims syllabus and paper pattern. For more such informative articles, do check out Testbook App.

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