UPSC PYQ: Previous Year Question Papers 2016–2026

This page lists UPSC CSE previous year question papers for 11 years, 2016 to 2026, with 93 official PDFs (question papers and answer keys). UPSC CSE (UPSC Civil Services Examination) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and covers Prelims (General Studies and CSAT), Mains (Essay, General Studies and an Optional subject) and an interview. Pick a year below for the paper, answer key and a timed practice plan; confirm dates and pattern on upsc.gov.in.

Explore: Question papers by year · Syllabus & pattern · Pattern changes · FAQ

Year-wise question papers

Prefer to practise one topic at a time? UPSC Prelims topic-wise PYQs lists all 1100 questions from 11 official UPSC Prelims papers by topic, with the official answers.

About UPSC CSE

The Civil Services Examination is how India recruits officers for the IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS and a long list of other Group A and Group B central services. The Union Public Service Commission conducts it once a year. Around ten lakh people apply, roughly half of them actually sit Prelims, and about a thousand are finally recommended for appointment. You need a graduate degree to apply, and the age limit and number of attempts depend on your category.

The exam has three stages. Prelims, held around May or June, is a screening test of two objective papers. Mains, a few months later, is nine written papers over several days. The interview (UPSC calls it the personality test) follows for those who clear Mains, and the final merit list is based on Mains and interview marks only.

Old papers matter more for UPSC than for almost any other exam, because the syllabus is short on paper and huge in practice. “Indian polity” or “environment” could mean anything. The papers show you what UPSC actually asks under each heading, how deep it goes, and how it links current affairs to static topics. That is why so many successful candidates tell beginners to read the last ten years of papers before opening a single book. The full syllabus and eligibility details are on the UPSC CSE syllabus and pattern page.

How the exam is structured and what has changed

The basic structure has stayed the same through all ten years on this hub. The two bigger changes came just before that, and you should know about them when you read discussions of older papers.

The written Mains total is 1,750 marks and the interview 275, so the final list is out of 2,025. In both Prelims papers, a wrong answer costs one-third of the marks for that question.

Here is how the pattern got to this point, and what has happened in the years since.

So every paper from 2016 to 2025 was set under the same rules. That is good news. You can solve all ten years of Prelims papers under the same timing and marking you will face.

What the papers show, paper by paper

Prelims GS Paper I

GS Paper I covers polity, economy, environment and ecology, history (ancient, medieval, modern and art and culture), geography, science and technology, and current affairs. Polity and environment have been steady sources of questions across the decade. Economy questions often start from a recent scheme or news item and test the concept underneath.

The format has changed more than the topics. Since 2023, many questions list three or four statements and ask how many are correct. With that format you can’t eliminate options by spotting one wrong statement, so you need to be sure of every statement. Old tricks built on 2016 to 2019 papers work less well now. When you review a paper, mark each question as “knew it”, “eliminated to it” or “guessed”, and check how your guesses performed. That record tells you how aggressive to be on the day.

CSAT (GS Paper II)

CSAT has reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and basic numeracy at roughly Class 10 level. It is qualifying, so you only need 66 out of 200, and many candidates ignore it until the last month. That is a mistake. The 2023 paper in particular was hard enough that some candidates who did well in GS still failed CSAT.

Sit at least three or four CSAT papers under full timing before Prelims. If you are from a non-maths background, give the numeracy questions extra time early in your preparation. If comprehension is your weak area, practise reading the passage once, carefully, rather than going back to it for every question.

Mains GS papers and Essay

GS I covers history, society and geography. GS II covers polity, governance, social justice and international relations. GS III covers the economy, agriculture, environment, science and technology, internal security and disaster management. GS IV is ethics, with a theory section and case studies. In recent years each GS paper has had 20 questions, half with a 150-word limit and half with 250 words.

Mains past questions are best used as writing prompts. Pick five questions from a past paper, give yourself the actual time (about seven minutes for a 10-mark answer, eleven for a 15-mark one), and write. Then compare your answer with what the question asked. The most common gap is answering the topic in general instead of the specific directive word (critically examine, discuss, comment). Many Mains questions repeat a theme from earlier years in different words, so a list of past questions sorted by GS paper and topic is useful revision material on its own.

For the essay, old topics show you the range: philosophical one-liners in one section and themes such as education, technology or society in the other. Practise writing a full essay in about 90 minutes, since you have to write two in three hours.

Optional subject

Your optional is 500 marks, as much as two GS papers. Past optional papers are the best guide to how deep you need to go, since the syllabus for most optionals is wide. Solve at least the last five years of your optional’s papers and look for questions that repeat in substance.

Notes on recent years

2026 is the newest cycle on this hub, with both Prelims papers and the five compulsory Mains papers. Use it the same way as 2025.

2025 came just before it. Prelims was held on 25 May. Use the GS paper as your last full mock before your own Prelims, and the Mains papers to check that your notes cover current themes.

2024 Prelims was pushed to 16 June because of the Lok Sabha elections. The GS paper continued the statement-heavy style of 2023, so it is good practice for that format.

2023 is the year the statement-counting format took over GS Paper I. CSAT was also seen as unusually difficult. If you only have time for one recent year, this is a good one to study closely.

2020 and 2021 Prelims were both held in October because of the pandemic. The papers followed the normal pattern and are as useful as any other year.

2016 to 2019 are pre-pandemic papers with more single-statement questions. They are good for building topic knowledge, especially in polity, history and geography, but practise the 2023 to 2025 papers to get used to today’s question style.

UPSC puts question papers on its website soon after each exam. For the papers on this hub (2016 to 2025), the official Prelims answer key came out only after that cycle’s final result. From 2026, UPSC also publishes a provisional key a few days after Prelims and takes objections before finalising it. Coaching keys come out on exam day and sometimes disagree with each other, so check doubtful answers against UPSC’s own key.

Using old papers at different stages of preparation

When you start (a year or more before Prelims)

Before you read any book, go through the last five to ten years of Prelims GS and Mains GS questions without trying to answer them. You will get a sense of what each part of the syllabus means to UPSC. Then, as you finish each subject, solve all its past Prelims questions and read its past Mains questions. Write short notes only on what those questions point to.

Six months before Prelims

Start full Prelims papers, one GS paper and one CSAT paper each week, timed. Begin with 2016 to 2019 and keep 2023 to 2025 for later. After each GS paper, spend more time on the review than on the attempt: go through every question, including the ones you got right by elimination. Start writing two or three Mains answers a day from past questions.

The last two months before Prelims

Solve the 2023, 2024 and 2025 papers under exam conditions, at the same time of day as the exam. Sit CSAT straight after GS, as you will on the day, because tiredness affects CSAT scores. Revise from your notes on wrong answers, not from new material.

Between Prelims and Mains

Switch fully to writing. Work through past Mains papers topic by topic, then sit full GS papers in 3 hours. Practise at least a few complete essays and your optional papers under time.

Mistakes students make with past papers

The commonest mistake is reading huge amounts of current affairs without checking it against past questions. UPSC asks about news, but it asks about the concept behind the news. Past papers show you which kind of news turns into questions.

The second is treating CSAT as a formality. It is only qualifying, but a fail in CSAT ends your attempt no matter what you scored in GS.

Many candidates also read Mains questions but never write answers to them. Mains is a test of writing under time pressure, and reading model answers does not build that. Finally, don’t trust shortcuts that worked on older papers. “Extreme words like ‘only’ or ‘all’ are usually wrong” was a popular rule, and the statement-counting questions since 2023 have made it far less reliable.

FAQ

Where can I get UPSC CSE previous year question papers?

UPSC publishes Prelims and Mains question papers on upsc.gov.in under its previous question papers section, usually soon after each exam. Each year page on this hub links to the official files.

How many years of UPSC Prelims papers should I solve?

Solve at least the last ten years of GS Paper I, and read the questions topic-wise as well as year-wise. For CSAT, five or six recent years are enough if you are scoring well above 66. The pattern has been the same since 2015, so all ten years on this hub are fair practice.

Is CSAT still qualifying?

Yes. Since 2015, CSAT (GS Paper II) has been qualifying: you need 33%, which is 66 out of 200. Your Prelims rank depends only on GS Paper I. Some recent CSAT papers, 2023 in particular, were hard enough to fail strong candidates, so practise it seriously.

What is the UPSC CSE exam pattern?

Prelims has two 2-hour objective papers, GS Paper I (100 questions) and CSAT (80 questions), each out of 200 with a one-third negative mark. Mains has two qualifying language papers and seven papers that count: Essay, GS I to IV and two optional papers, 1,750 marks in all. The interview carries 275 marks.

When does UPSC release the official answer key?

Up to the 2025 exam, UPSC released the official Prelims answer key only after that year’s final result. From 2026, it publishes a provisional key a few days after Prelims, invites objections, and finalises the key later. For older years, check disputed questions against the final official key rather than coaching keys.

Should I solve Prelims papers year-wise or topic-wise?

Both. Topic-wise practice works best while you are studying a subject, because it shows you what UPSC asks from that part of the syllabus. Full year-wise papers matter in the last few months, when you need to practise timing, guessing and elimination over two hours.

How should I use previous Mains questions?

Use them as writing prompts. Answer them in the real word limit and time, then check whether you addressed the directive word and every part of the question. Sorting past Mains questions by GS paper and topic also gives you a good list of themes to revise.

Are the 2016 to 2019 papers still useful?

Yes. The pattern has not changed since 2015, and the topics they test are still in the syllabus. The main difference is style: newer GS papers use more “how many statements are correct” questions, so add the 2023 to 2025 papers before your exam.

Where to get the official papers

UPSC publishes question papers, answer keys, notices and results on upsc.gov.in. Use the files there when an answer is in doubt. We link to the official papers and add notes on each year, but the current exam notice is the final word on dates, eligibility and pattern.