IAS Exam Pattern – Mains Exam Pattern – For IAS Examination.

IAS Exam Pattern for Mains
  • IAS Mains is also an offline exam. Each paper will carry 250 marks.Continue Reading  IAS Exam Pattern – Mains Exam Pattern – For IAS Examination.
  • Each paper is of 3 hours. 30 minutes are given extra to blind students.
  • The exam will contain 9 papers. A candidate will be tested on the basis of their knowledge and understanding of the subject
  • Questions will be subjective in nature. They will be given in both Hindi and English language.
  • IAS Mains is further divided into two types – Qualifying Exam and Merit Exam. It is compulsory to appear in both.

The UPSC exam pattern for the Mains stage consists of 9 papers conducted over 5-7 days. Only those candidates who secure at least the declared cut off in General Studies I and 33% in General Studies II in Prelims will be allowed to appear for the Mains Examination. As per the exam pattern of UPSC Mains, all of the papers consist of descriptive answer type questions. The details of UPSC Mains Exam are given below:

Paper Subject Duration Total marks
Paper A Compulsory Indian language 3 hours 300
Paper B English 3 hours 300
Paper I Essay 3 hours 250
Paper II General Studies I 3 hours 250
Paper III General Studies II 3 hours 250
Paper IV General Studies III 3 hours 250
Paper V General Studies IV 3 hours 250
Paper VI Optional I 3 hours 250
Paper VII Optional II 3 hours 250

All of the mains papers except for the language papers A and B are of a merit ranking nature. Paper A and B are of qualifying nature and candidates must score at least 25% in each for the marks from their Paper I – Paper VII to be given weightage. Paper A is not compulsory for candidates from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim as well as candidates with hearing impairment, provided they can prove that they have been exempted from such 2nd or 3rd language courses by their concerned board or university. The Indian Language paper covers any of the languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

The subjects which are covered by the General Studies Papers in Mains Exam are:

General Studies I General Studies II General Studies III General Studies IV
Indian Heritage and Culture Governance Technology Ethics
History and Geography of the World Constitution Economic Development Integrity
Society Polity Bio-diversity Aptitude
  Social Justice Environment  
  International relations Security and Disaster Management
IAS Marking Scheme for Mains
  • The total marks of the Mains Examination are 1750 marks.
  • Candidates will be graded on the basis of opinion, Content flow, understanding the problems/ situation, offering feasible solutions/strategies, presentation, and language
  • Candidates can choose two optional papers on which they will be questioned.

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