UPSC IAS Prelims Syllabus 2025 Explained in Detail

Manager-Editorial

Updated on May 23, 2025 18:26 IST

UPSC Prelims 2025 is on May 25, 2025. It is the filtering exam because it limits the number of candidates for the main exam. Most candidates fail in the UPSC prelims exam. It is mandatory to know the scope of UPSC prelims syllabus. The deep understanding of UPSC Prelims syllabus can provide new perspectives to the candidates.

The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the UPSC Prelims exam 2025 on May 25. To qualify in the UPSC prelims exam, a deep understanding of the UPSC prelims syllabus is a pre-requisite. A clear understanding of the UPSC syllabus can help candidates to classify the perspective of the questions and sometimes the possible answers. The candidates can see here the tentative UPSC IAS prelims syllabus so that they can prepare better for the exam.

Understanding UPSC Prelims Syllabus 2025: The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the Civil Service (IAS) prelims 2025 exam on May 25 at the designated exam centres. The Commission released the UPSC IAS admit card 2025 on May 13. The Commission will conduct the UPSC 2025 exam in offline mode based on the syllabus mentioned in the official UPSC IAS notification 2025.

Also Read: UPSC 2025 Prelims Exam Analysis

Q: What are the five fundamental subjects of IAS syllabus?

The candidates must prepare the five fundamental subjects as notified for the IAS prelims exam. These are History, Geography, Economy, Polity, Current Affairs, General Science. The candidates should also prepare the Environmental issues too.

Q: How can I download the IAS syllabus PDF?

The candidates should note that the IAS syllabus is not released separately on the official website. The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS syllabus as a section in the IAS notification. The candidates can download the IAS syllabus pdf as given here for all their preparation references.

The candidates can check the subject-wise IAS main syllabus in the official pdf.

Q: What is the Ethics syllabus in the IAS Main exam?

The Union Public Service Commission mention the Ethics syllabus in the IAS notification. The candidates can see below the IAS main Ethics syllabus as mentioned in the official notification:

Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics - in private and public relationships. Human Values - lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; the role of family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
Attitude: Content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections.
Emotional intelligence: Concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.
Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of
Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, and challenges of corruption.
Case Studies on the above issues.

The above syllabus is taken from the official notification of UPSC CSE.

The candidates are required to carry one photo identity proof(issued by any competent Government authority or the educational institute) with the UPSC IAS admit card so that they can establish their identity when asked for at the UPSC exam centre.

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UPSC only mention the names of the subjects in its official prelims syllabus. The candidates are expected to interpret the syllabus as per the previous year's question papers. The candidates are advised to interpret the UPSC syllabus topics to their fullest expansion and the latest happenings related to the topics mentioned in the UPSC IAS syllabus.

Every year, seven to nine lakh candidates fill out the IAS application form, and only fifty per cent appear in the UPSC Civil Service Prelim exam. Most of the candidates don’t appear in the IAS prelims exam because of the limited number of attempts permitted in the UPSC IAS exam.

Q: Why Ethics syllabus is important for IAS main exam?

The Union Public Service Commission introduced the Ethics paper in 2013. The ethics paper is an essential component of the IAS Main Examination. The Ethics syllabus is important because the right strategy can fetch good marks in the paper. The Ethics papers is designed to check the Integrity and Moral principles in the candidates.

Q: Does the UPSC releases the IAS syllabus in a separate PDF?

The Union Public Service Commission releases the IAS syllabus as a part of the Civil Service Exam notification PDF. The candidates are required to download the Notification PDF to get the IAS syllabus PDF. The candidates can download the IAS syllabus PDF available here.

The candidates can download here the IAS Syllabus PDF

UPSC preparation starts with a clear interpretation of the IAS prelims syllabus. Most of the candidates do not have a separate strategy for the prelims exam. They only do hardwood instead of smart work. UPSC prelims syllabus is not very well defined in the official notification. The Commission only mention the topic names for the prelims exam and no explanation is provided in the notification. This makes it very difficult to interpret the horizontal and vertical expansion of the topic. The candidates need to understand and explore all the topics provided in the IAS syllabus.

IAS prelims syllabus is the abridged version of the UPSC main syllabus. To know the depth of the prelims syllabus, the candidates need to prepare the main syllabus first. The topics given in the prelims syllabus are the tip of the giant iceberg. The candidates who start the IAS preparation take over one year to understand the complexity and enormity of the IAS syllabus.

IAS question papers of previous years are the torchbearer for IAS preparation. The candidates must analyse the previous year's IAS question papers and the IAS toppers of previous years also suggest doing so. The candidates can explore the topics of IAS Prelims syllabus once they understand the expansion of the IAS prelims syllabus. First, we will see the official IAS prelims syllabus and then analyse the exploration of the IAS prelims syllabus.

See here: UPSC Essay preparation

IAS Prelims Syllabus (Official)

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.

UPSC IAS Prelims Syllabus explained

The candidates must understand the IAS syllabus in light of the previous year's question papers. In the guiding light of IAS question papers, we can explain the IAS prelims syllabus as follows.

Current Events of National and International Importance.

Current Affairs has the largest share of questions in the IAS prelims exam. The candidates must filter all the topics from the lens of current affairs to conclude the important topics.

National Issues

Indian Economy News
Indian Polity
Judiciary
Environment
Science and Technology
States
Social Schemes
Sports News
Reports
Committee and Commission
Awards and Honours
Accident and calamities
First in India

See Here: Current Affairs Topics for IAS exam

International

Important Summits & Events
International Awards
First in the world
International leadership
International Reports
International committees and recommendations
The geographical event around the world

History of India and Indian National Movement

“Today’s current affairs is tomorrow's History”.

The History of India includes the following components.

Ancient History
Medieval History
Modern History and Indian National Movement
Art and Culture
Post-Independence

Every year, the number of questions asked from this section varies from 15 to 20. Out of all the above, the largest share of questions comes from the Indian National Movement and the Modern History section but in 2019 the pattern was shifted and four questions were asked from the Medieval History and Art and Culture part.

See Here: Questions for UPSC IAS 2025

Indian and World Geography

Geography is one of the most important parts of the IAS prelims syllabus because of the high number of questions are always there from geography. The India and world geography section have approximately 20 questions in the IAS prelims question paper. The geography syllabus includes the following.

Principles of Physical Geography
Physical Geography of India and the world
Human Geography
Economic Geography
Detail regarding Indian Physical and Political Map

See in Detail: IAS Syllabus for Geography

Indian Polity and Governance

This is the most confusing section in the IAS prelims question papers because of the language of the questions. It is very important to read the question slowly and thoroughly. Every word in the Indian Polity questions have a deep meaning and the candidates need to understand the question fully before answering the questions. Every year around 15 to 20 questions appear in the IAS prelims paper from the Indian Polity and Governance section. The Indian Polity and Governance section include the following topics.

Constitution of India
Principle of Federalism in India
Meaning of Secularism in Indian Parlance
Working of the Parliament of India
The Union and State Relations
Various Important Acts passed by the Parliament of India
Indian Judiciary
Principles of Good Governance
Use of ICT in Governance
Panchayati Raj Institutions in India
Local Government Issues
Right to Information

See here: How to prepare Indian Polity?

Economic and Social Development

Economic and Social Development is one of the most dynamic sections in the IAS syllabus. Indian Economy and its data are ever-changing and following global trends. Social Development is the prime concern of every democratic government and to pursue this goal, every government announce new social schemes. These schemes are very important for the IAS prelims exam. IAS prelims question papers contain 10-15 questions from this section. The Economic and Social Development section will include the following sections.

Indian Economy Fundamentals
Macro Economy of India
Microeconomic components
Reserve Bank of India and it's Functioning
Banking System in India
Industrial Development in India (Pre- Independence and Post-Independence)
Capital Market in India
Social Schemes by the Government of India

Read here: Most Important Topics for IAS 2022

General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and Climate Change

General issues related to environment and ecology is a comparatively new topic and the candidates are always finding it difficult to prepare this section because of the paucity of standard textbooks related to this section. The number of questions varies each year and always remain less than ten. The topics in this section can include the following.

Environment and Ecological Principles
Types of Pollutions
Impact of Pollution
Flora and Fauna
Food Web
Use of Plastic and its impact
Environment Protection Act

General Science

General Science questions are not directly asked in the IAS prelims question paper. The fundamental principles are very important for the IAS exam. Latest technological developments and their utilities are the favourites of UPSC. IAS questions ask on the emerging technological developments such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Crypto-currency, Genetical Engineering, Nuclear Science and the likes.

The number of questions from this section is always remaining less and only a maximum of 5 questions can be asked in the IAS prelims question paper.

New Technologies
Human Body parts and it's various systems
Commercial Chemistry
Virus and Bacteria.

Read here: 100 days plan for IAS prelims 2022

UPSC IAS 2023 Prelims Syllabus FAQs

Q: What are the subjects in IAS preliminary exam?

A: There are six subjects in the IAS prelims exam. These are as folows:

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.

In addition to above all the relevant topics which can be important in the perspective of a common man can be asked.

Q: Is IAS prelims difficult?

A: IAS prelims is one of the toughest exam in India. But the candidates should follow a proper strategy to crack it. Through a planned strategy, the candidates can qualify it easily.

Q: What is Paper 1 and 2 in UPSC Prelims?

A: There are two papers in the UPSC Prelims exam. These are

General Studies-1
General Studies - 2 (Aptitude paper)

The General Studies paper 1 is more oriented towards the General Knowledge and Current events of national and international importance while the paper 2 is more oriented towards the aptitude and English.

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