UPSC Civil Services Examination Civil Services (Prelims & Mains) General Studies (Prelims Paper I) syllabus

Previous year question papers

Free, official past papers for UPSC Civil Services Examination.

Important topics

Topics worth extra focus, based on real exam history, not a guess.

• G20(Current Events)

  PW's compilation of UPSC Prelims PYQs shows this topic asked in 2020, 2022 and 2023, real recurrence across three named years.

• Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy(Polity and Governance)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2020 and 2021.

• Jainism and Buddhism(History and Indian National Movement)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2020 and 2022 (the 2020 question specifically on "Perfections whose attainment led to the Bodhisattva path").

• Bhakti Movement(History and Indian National Movement)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2019 and 2021.

• Indus Valley Civilization (Dholavira/Harappan sites)(History and Indian National Movement)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2019 and 2021.

• Inflation and Monetary Policy(Economic and Social Development)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2020 and 2022.

• Species and Biodiversity(Environment and General Science)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2021 and 2022.

• Oceanography(Geography)

  PW's PYQ compilation shows this topic asked in 2020 and 2021.