UPSC Prelims 2021 has been postponed: The Commission on 13th May released a notification asserting the postponement of the UPSC 2021 Preliminary Examination. It was scheduled to take place on 27th June 2021.
UPSC Prelims 2021 Revised Date Out: The Commission has also released the IAS Prelims 2021 revised date. Now, the Civil Services Preliminary Examination will take place on 10th October 2021.
The UPSC Calendar 2021 contains the exam dates of all recruitment examinations including CSE 2021. The UPSC Prelims 2020 was successfully conducted on 4th October 2020; the results of which were announced on 23rd October.
The Commission will release UPSC Prelims 2021 Admit Card three weeks prior to the exam date.
UPSC Prelims 2021 – Exam Pattern
The UPSC Prelims comprises two objective type papers (General Studies I and General Studies II or CSAT) for a total of 400 marks. Both papers are usually held on the same day in two sessions via offline mode (pen-paper).
The Prelims Admit Card would be released on the official website of UPSC 2-3 weeks before the date of the exam.
| 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 2021 Date of exam | 10th October 2021 | 10th October 2021 |
| 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) |
UPSC Prelims 2021 – Syllabus
The detailed UPSC Prelims syllabus for 2021 Exam is given below:
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.
