Civil service Examination (Also referred to as IAS exam) which is performed by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission), is usually considered to be incredibly tough and also the most Competitive exam as well as the students commonly locate it really difficult to Crack.

A significant Situation Each Student faces in this Reputed Exam is decision of optional Subjects. As we know that in line with current Modifications created by government within the Pattern of IAS exam, the preliminary Test in this exam has now been replaced by Civil service aptitude test, which comprises of two objective papers for all students carrying Equal marks. So the students never need to decide around the optional subjects for the preliminary exam.


In addition to five compulsory papers for the mains exam (two for common research, a single for essay, one particular for qualifying English and one to get a language from 18 optional languages), candidate has to select two subjects from a list of 25 optional subjects. Following are the not allowed combinations in the UPSC syllabus-

-> Political Science & International relations and Public Administration,
-> Commerce & Accountancy and Management,
-> Anthropology and Sociology,
-> Mathematics and Statistics,
-> Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science,
-> Management and Public Administration,
-> Any TWO branches of Engineering,
-> Medical Science and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science,
-> Mixture of TWO Literature

Within the previous pattern, candidates used to take their mainstream topic as first optional and most of the stuff was covered within the prelims exam and then all they had to do was to choose around the second optional subject. But in the new pattern, all the candidates are at equilibrium inside the prelims and must decide two optional subjects for mains exam with more agility and criterion in mind as this is the really factor that determines candidate's chances for getting through within this exam.

Following are a few criterions to be taken care of while choosing optional subjects in new pattern for IAS exam-

First as well as the foremost, Candidate must be comfortable in grasping the subject. The decision should not be made around the basis of length of the subject but around the one's comfort with concepts within the topic. For example, History and geography are known for lengthy syllabus and answers, while public administration and anthropology have limited syllabus and short answers. The edge is not in selecting the subjects that have short or lengthy answers but in comfort with the subject.

Availability of IAS study material is also a vital factor in determining the optional topic. There should be enough resources available for preparing the subject, consulting to an experienced senior in case of a completely new topic in your perspective is quite sensible.

Candidate should not opt for a topic just because it's scoring or his friends are choosing it. More students choosing for an optional subject (say history) means more students with history will be chosen for next round and thus a greater competition, it doesn't ensure a greater score. Remember, the easier the subject the tougher the competition in it.

For commerce students, a good combination is assumed to become Commerce+ Public administration, as Public administration Covers lots of topics in commerce like role of CAG etc. Commerce + geography is also a good combination if you are familiar with semi-technical topics and can look around in the maps. This mixture is highly scoring and can score you 300-350 marks in the mains exam.

For biology students, Agriculture + botany is good combination since many topics of agriculture are covered in botany.

Once and for all, it's about candidate's own comfort in understanding the subject and choosing the optional subjects should be done carefully since it is the extremely deciding factor for the candidate's selection within this prestigious examination.

All the Best for your Success!