UPSC Prelims Syllabus 2027: GS Paper I Topic-Wise, with the CSAT Syllabus

The syllabus for the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination is printed in Section III, Part A ("Preliminary Examination") of UPSC's examination notice, inside its Appendix I. The official text is short: one line per head for General Studies Paper I and one list for Paper II (CSAT). This post quotes those lines from the notice for the Civil Services Examination 2026 and then explains, head by head, what each one tends to cover in practice. The explanations are our guidance, not UPSC's wording.

The syllabus for 2027 will be in the notice for that year. Compare the 2027 notice with this post when it comes out on upsc.gov.in.

UPSC Prelims syllabus at a glance

Prelims has two compulsory objective papers. GS Paper I decides who goes on to Mains. CSAT is qualifying: you need 33% in it, but its marks are not added to your Paper I score. For marks, timing and negative marking, see the UPSC Prelims exam pattern post.

GS Paper I: the seven heads in UPSC's words

The notice lists the Paper I syllabus as follows (UPSC's wording):

1. Current events of national and international importance.
2. History of India and Indian National Movement.
3. Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
4. Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
5. Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
6. General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.
7. General Science.

That is the whole official syllabus for Paper I. There is no sub-topic list and no weightage. Everything below is our reading of what each head usually covers. It is guidance for planning, not part of the official syllabus.

GS Paper I topic-wise: what each head covers in practice

1. Current events of national and international importance

This head has no fixed boundary. In practice it means events, schemes, reports, places in the news, international bodies and agreements, and developments in science and the economy over roughly the year before the exam. Current affairs also feed every other head: a question on a new species, a constitutional amendment or a river in the news is still a current events question in spirit. The practical rule is to read the news through the other six heads, asking which static topic each story connects to.

2. History of India and Indian National Movement

Students usually split this head into three parts:

• Ancient and medieval India: with a strong lean towards art and culture, such as architecture, sculpture, painting, religious movements, literature and dynasties linked to monuments.
• Modern India: from the coming of European companies through British rule, including land revenue systems, reform movements and administrative changes.
• The Indian National Movement: the freedom struggle, its organisations, sessions, leaders, newspapers and the major movements up to 1947.

Facts here are stable, which makes the head suitable for early, steady revision.

3. Indian and World Geography

The notice names physical, social and economic geography of both India and the world. In practice:

• Physical: landforms, climate, monsoon, rivers, soils, oceans and the earth's interior.
• Social: population, tribes, settlement and migration.
• Economic: agriculture, minerals, industries, energy and transport.
• Map knowledge: locating rivers, passes, straits, national parks and places in the news, both in India and abroad.

Keeping an atlas open while reading is the simplest way to cover the map side of this head.

4. Indian Polity and Governance

The notice spells out Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, public policy and rights issues. In practice this covers the making and features of the Constitution, fundamental rights and duties, directive principles, the Union and state governments, Parliament, the judiciary, constitutional and statutory bodies, local government, elections and important laws on rights. Questions often test exact constitutional provisions, so reading the text of key articles helps more than memorising summaries.

5. Economic and Social Development

The examples in the notice are sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics and social sector initiatives. Students usually extend this to basic macroeconomics: national income, inflation, money and banking, the budget and taxation, external trade and the balance of payments, along with government schemes in health, education and welfare. The head rewards understanding concepts, because questions on schemes and data often turn on what a term actually means.

6. Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change

The notice limits this head to "general issues" that "do not require subject specialization". In practice it covers ecosystems and food chains, biodiversity and its conservation, protected areas, threatened species, pollution, climate change and the international conventions and Indian laws and institutions on the environment. Much of this head is driven by the news, so it overlaps closely with current events.

7. General Science

This head is two words long in the notice. In practice it covers everyday physics, chemistry and biology (roughly school level), the human body and diseases, and science and technology in the news, such as space missions, defence technology, biotechnology and information technology. The aim is understanding applications rather than solving numericals.

How the heads connect

The seven heads overlap more than the list suggests. A single question can mix a place in the news (current events) with its location (geography) and its protected status (environment). This is why the table below is a planning aid, not a rule.

CSAT (Paper II) syllabus

The notice lists the Paper II syllabus as (UPSC's wording):

• 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);

The "Class X level" note applies to the numeracy and data interpretation items. Since you need 33% to qualify, take a timed CSAT paper early and decide from your score how much time it needs. Our CSAT syllabus page goes through each item.

How to use the syllabus

1. Keep the official lines in front of you. Print the seven heads and tick each sub-area as you cover it. Our UPSC Prelims syllabus page has the full list in one place.
2. Read the syllabus with past papers. The official text is brief, so the clearest guide to depth is UPSC's own question papers. Solve a few years on our previous year papers page and tag each question with its head.
3. Link news to static topics. For each news item, note which head it belongs to and what background fact a question could test.
4. Test under exam conditions. A syllabus covered but never tested under time and negative marking is hard to judge. You can take full GS Paper I and CSAT tests in our live UPSC tests.