IAS Mains Optional
Selecting the most relevant IAS Mains Optional goes a long way in helping a student score well in Civil Services Mains Exam.
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Choosing IAS Mains Optional
The Civil Services Main examination is designed to test the intellectual prowess of an aspirant. It is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates. This is why the most appropriate IAS Mains Optional needs to be selected before beginning preparation.
| Date of Preliminary Exam | June 18th, 2017 |
| Date of Mains Exam | October 28th, 2017 onwards |
| Number of Vacancies | 980 |
Complete IAS Mains Optional List
The complete list of Civil Services optional subjects are being given below.
| Agriculture |
| Management |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science |
| Mathematics |
| Anthropology |
| Mechanical Engineering |
| Botany |
| Medical Science |
| Chemistry |
| Philosophy |
| Civil Engineering |
| Physics |
| Commerce and Accountancy |
| Political Science and International Relations |
| Economics |
| Psychology |
| Electrical Engineering |
| Public Administration |
| Geography |
| Sociology |
| Geology |
| Statistics |
| Indian History |
| Zoology |
| Law |
IAS Mains Optional: Various Literatures
| Arabic | Gujarati | Manipuri | Sanskrit |
| Assamese | Hindi | Nepali | Sindhi |
| Bengali | Kannada | Oriya | Tamil |
| Chinese | Kashmiri | Pali | Telugu |
| English | Konkani | Persian | Urdu |
| French | Marathi | Punjabi | |
| German | Malayalam | Russian |
For viewing the detailed syllabus of each IAS Mains Optional, please visit www.upsc.gov.in
IAS Mains Optional: Basis of Selection
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IAS Mains Optional: 10 Key Points to Consider
| 1. | First go through the list of all the IAS Mains optional subjects thoroughly. Invest a lot of time in reading and understanding the syllabus. |
| 2. | In case you do not want to opt for a subject you studied during graduation or if that optional is not a part of the official list, then go back to your school and college days. Think about your favorite subjects. Think about the subjects you excelled in, in which subject you showed more interest and in the subject in which you scored the most. |
| 3. | Now contemplate on your current situation. See which areas of news you are more interested in. Think which topics of General Studies you like more. Some people like history, some like polity, some sociology, so on and so forth. Think of shortlisting them as your IAS Mains Optional subject. |
| 4. | Based on above criteria, make a list of 4-5 subjects which captivate your interest and which will keep you hooked till the very end of your preparation. |
| 5. | Now go through the previous year question papers (at least 3 years) of the shortlisted Subjects. Read all the questions. Again gauge yourself the level of interest you have or residual knowledge you possess to answer each question. It’s just to know yourself how comfortable you are with a subject. Don’t worry if you don’t know answer to any question. |
| 6. | Analyse the syllabus and ponder over the fact that whether it will keep you interested throughout your preparation. This is really important. |
| 7. | Finally, the availability of materials and guidance in the form of coaching matters a lot. For some subjects it is difficult to get standard books, for some coaching may not be available. |
| 8. | Non technical subjects can be prepared by doing self study provided you regularly practice writing. |
| 9. | By now you will have a clear picture about choosing the subject best suited to you. |
| 10. | Your task is done. |
Popularity of Some IAS Mains Optional Subjects
Certain IAS Mains Optional subjects are most scoring than compared to others.
Though the number of candidates selecting each Civil services mains optional can vary year to year, the below table gives an average estimation for the coming years based on past year trends of optional subjects (as per latest syllabus).
| Optional | Approximate Number of Aspirants Opting for it |
| History | 3000 +/- 50 |
| Geography | 3000 +/- 50 |
| Public Administration | 3000 +/- 50 |
| Sociology | 3000 +/- 50 |
| Philosophy + Psychology + Political Science + Economics | 2000-3000 |
| All other science/art subjects (in total) | 1000-1500 |
| All Other Literature Subjects | Less than 1000 |
| TOTAL | Around 15000 |
IAS Mains Optional: Should Toppers Choice Matter ?
| The never ending questions and queries like best IAS Mains Optional, most scoring IAS Mains optional, highest success ratio of a IAS Mains Optional etc queues up every year, but these questions are relative. So never ever base your decision on what others are doing – NOT EVEN THE TOPPERS. Choose the optional that suits you. Period. If you examine the background of toppers in the exam, you will be amazed to see wide representation from almost all optional papers listed by UPSC, and that itself tells half of the story. |
Civil Services Mains Pattern & Marking Scheme
The old pattern of Civil Services Examination has been done with. The latest pattern along with the marking scheme is as follows –
| No. | Paper | Subject | Marks |
| 1 | Paper A | Indian Language (Qualifying) | 300 |
| 2 | Paper B | English (Qualifying) | 300 |
| 3 | Paper I | Essay | 250 |
| 4 | Paper II | General Studies – I | 250 |
| 5 | Paper III | General Studies – II | 250 |
| 6 | Paper IV | General Studies – III | 250 |
| 7 | Paper V | General Studies – IV | 250 |
| 8 | Paper VI | Optional Subject Paper 1 | 250 |
| 9 | Paper VII | Optional Subject Paper 2 | 250 |
| Total | 1750 | ||
| Interview (Personality Test) | 275 | ||
| Grand Total | 2025 |
Thus, the Main examination has 9 papers. All of them are subjective in nature.
Civil Services Mains Pattern in Detail
| There are 2 qualifying papers – One is English and the other is a paper on any of the enlisted Indian languages. Both carry 300 marks each. However, their marks will are NOT taken into account in the main examination. According to the new pattern there are 4 General Studies paper each comprising of 250 marks with a total of 1000 Marks. According to the new pattern there are 4 General Studies paper each comprising of 250 marks with a total of 1000 Marks. The syllabus of General Studies for Mains is of degree level. |
The Four Papers of General Studies are divided as mentioned below –
| Paper-I General Studies-I 250 Marks (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) | Paper-III General Studies-III 250 Marks (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) |
| Paper-II General Studies-II 250 Marks (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) | Paper-IV General Studies-IV 250 Marks (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) Marks carried by General Studies was 4 X 250=1000
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IAS Mains Optional : What Should Engineers Choose ?
There are only 3 engineering subjects in the list of optionals by UPSC
If you don’t belong to any of these branches then the best thing would be to choose another IAS Mains Optional subject of your interest. Please keep in mind that all IAS Mains optional subjects are high scoring if you have knowledge in the subject and if you can answer the questions in an analytical frame of mind in line with the latest requirements of UPSC. |
IAS Mains Optional: 4 Things to Avoid
| Do not choose an optional because a friend or a family member suggested it. |
| 2. Most students opt for it.” | Do Not opt for an optional just because it is what most of the aspirants have chosen. Believe it or not many serious candidates fall prey to this and waste attempts before they even realize it and still many realize it after exhausting their attempts. |
| 3. “Its a high scoring IAS Mains optional” | Candidates have cleared this exam with almost every optional and not just with the so called high scoring optional. In UPSC there is no high scoring-low scoring optional but only a paper, an innocent examinee and a ruthless examiner. High scoring-Low scoring optional is a myth. |
| 4.”The topper chose this subject last year” | Don’t let your judgment be guided by the optional chosen by the previous year toppers. Probably they topped the examination because they did not base their choice of options on the subjects chosen by still past toppers. |
Beneficial Articles for Civil Services Aspirants
| Article on Civil Services Preparation | Link to Visit |
| How to Read the Hindu for CSE Preparation | VIEW HERE |
| How to Prepare General Studies ? | VIEW HERE |
| Civil Services Mains Preparation | VIEW HERE |
| 3 popular IAS Mains Optional | VIEW HERE |
| IAS Exam Analysis 2016 | VIEW HERE |
Civil Services Exam: Mock Tests
