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Prelims PYQs

Every Prelims question tagged by topic, with the Commission's answer and an explanation. Read a year at a time, or a topic across every year.

1400 questions · 14 years · 11 topics

By year

2013–2026

By topic

Across every year

Where the cutoff has gone

2015–2026

The qualifying mark for each category, year by year. The five move together, so each has a panel of its own on one shared scale rather than five lines on one grid, where only colour would tell them apart.

General

OBC

SC

ST

EWS

201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Marks out of 200 in General Studies Paper I. All five panels share one scale, 45 to 120, so their heights can be compared.EWS begins in 2019; the category did not exist before that.UPSC has not released the official cutoff for 2026. The dashed range at the end, 75 to 76, is our own estimate of the General cutoff and nothing more.
Show the figures
YearGeneralOBCSCSTEWS
2015107.34106.0094.0091.34—
2016116.00110.6699.3496.00—
2017105.34102.6688.6688.66—
201898.0096.6684.0083.34—
201998.0095.3482.0077.3490.00
202092.5189.1274.8468.7177.55
202187.5484.8575.4170.7180.14
202288.2287.5474.0869.3582.83
202375.4174.7559.2547.8268.02
202487.9887.2879.0374.2385.92
202592.6692.0084.0082.6689.34
202675–76 est————

How the mix moves

Topics by year

What the paper asked about, year by year. The counts are of questions as tagged, so a topic that changes name between years shows as two topics rather than one.

Ecology and Environment253 total
  • 201320 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2013
  • 201424 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2014
  • 201521 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2015
  • 201623 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2016
  • 201715 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2017
  • 201813 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2018
  • 201921 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2019
  • 202018 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2020
  • 202124 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2021
  • 202217 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2022
  • 202316 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2023
  • 202416 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2024
  • 202515 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2025
  • 202610 questions on Ecology and Environment in 2026
Economy223 total
  • 201318 questions on Economy in 2013
  • 201411 questions on Economy in 2014
  • 201519 questions on Economy in 2015
  • 201615 questions on Economy in 2016
  • 201715 questions on Economy in 2017
  • 201817 questions on Economy in 2018
  • 201921 questions on Economy in 2019
  • 202022 questions on Economy in 2020
  • 202115 questions on Economy in 2021
  • 202217 questions on Economy in 2022
  • 202314 questions on Economy in 2023
  • 202413 questions on Economy in 2024
  • 202512 questions on Economy in 2025
  • 202614 questions on Economy in 2026
Polity and Governance204 total
  • 201317 questions on Polity and Governance in 2013
  • 201410 questions on Polity and Governance in 2014
  • 201512 questions on Polity and Governance in 2015
  • 20166 questions on Polity and Governance in 2016
  • 201722 questions on Polity and Governance in 2017
  • 201815 questions on Polity and Governance in 2018
  • 201915 questions on Polity and Governance in 2019
  • 202016 questions on Polity and Governance in 2020
  • 202119 questions on Polity and Governance in 2021
  • 202210 questions on Polity and Governance in 2022
  • 202316 questions on Polity and Governance in 2023
  • 202417 questions on Polity and Governance in 2024
  • 202517 questions on Polity and Governance in 2025
  • 202612 questions on Polity and Governance in 2026
Science and Technology181 total
  • 201314 questions on Science and Technology in 2013
  • 201415 questions on Science and Technology in 2014
  • 20159 questions on Science and Technology in 2015
  • 201611 questions on Science and Technology in 2016
  • 201711 questions on Science and Technology in 2017
  • 201815 questions on Science and Technology in 2018
  • 201913 questions on Science and Technology in 2019
  • 202014 questions on Science and Technology in 2020
  • 202110 questions on Science and Technology in 2021
  • 202214 questions on Science and Technology in 2022
  • 202312 questions on Science and Technology in 2023
  • 202411 questions on Science and Technology in 2024
  • 202515 questions on Science and Technology in 2025
  • 202617 questions on Science and Technology in 2026
Geography152 total
  • 201315 questions on Geography in 2013
  • 201412 questions on Geography in 2014
  • 201510 questions on Geography in 2015
  • 20164 questions on Geography in 2016
  • 20177 questions on Geography in 2017
  • 20188 questions on Geography in 2018
  • 20198 questions on Geography in 2019
  • 20207 questions on Geography in 2020
  • 20218 questions on Geography in 2021
  • 202212 questions on Geography in 2022
  • 202315 questions on Geography in 2023
  • 202420 questions on Geography in 2024
  • 202515 questions on Geography in 2025
  • 202611 questions on Geography in 2026
Global Affairs95 total
  • 20130 questions on Global Affairs in 2013
  • 20145 questions on Global Affairs in 2014
  • 20158 questions on Global Affairs in 2015
  • 201615 questions on Global Affairs in 2016
  • 20179 questions on Global Affairs in 2017
  • 20186 questions on Global Affairs in 2018
  • 20196 questions on Global Affairs in 2019
  • 20202 questions on Global Affairs in 2020
  • 20211 questions on Global Affairs in 2021
  • 202211 questions on Global Affairs in 2022
  • 202310 questions on Global Affairs in 2023
  • 20245 questions on Global Affairs in 2024
  • 20256 questions on Global Affairs in 2025
  • 202611 questions on Global Affairs in 2026
Modern Indian History89 total
  • 20136 questions on Modern Indian History in 2013
  • 20145 questions on Modern Indian History in 2014
  • 20158 questions on Modern Indian History in 2015
  • 20166 questions on Modern Indian History in 2016
  • 20177 questions on Modern Indian History in 2017
  • 201814 questions on Modern Indian History in 2018
  • 20195 questions on Modern Indian History in 2019
  • 20209 questions on Modern Indian History in 2020
  • 20218 questions on Modern Indian History in 2021
  • 20224 questions on Modern Indian History in 2022
  • 20232 questions on Modern Indian History in 2023
  • 20242 questions on Modern Indian History in 2024
  • 20258 questions on Modern Indian History in 2025
  • 20265 questions on Modern Indian History in 2026
Art and Culture79 total
  • 20138 questions on Art and Culture in 2013
  • 201413 questions on Art and Culture in 2014
  • 20154 questions on Art and Culture in 2015
  • 20164 questions on Art and Culture in 2016
  • 20175 questions on Art and Culture in 2017
  • 20187 questions on Art and Culture in 2018
  • 20195 questions on Art and Culture in 2019
  • 20204 questions on Art and Culture in 2020
  • 20214 questions on Art and Culture in 2021
  • 20225 questions on Art and Culture in 2022
  • 20234 questions on Art and Culture in 2023
  • 20246 questions on Art and Culture in 2024
  • 20252 questions on Art and Culture in 2025
  • 20268 questions on Art and Culture in 2026
Ancient and Medieval History68 total
  • 20132 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2013
  • 20144 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2014
  • 20155 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2015
  • 20166 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2016
  • 20172 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2017
  • 20181 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2018
  • 20195 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2019
  • 20206 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2020
  • 20218 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2021
  • 20227 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2022
  • 20237 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2023
  • 20242 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2024
  • 20256 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2025
  • 20267 questions on Ancient and Medieval History in 2026
National Affairs and Government Schemes39 total
  • 20130 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2013
  • 20141 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2014
  • 20152 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2015
  • 20167 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2016
  • 20177 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2017
  • 20184 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2018
  • 20191 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2019
  • 20202 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2020
  • 20210 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2021
  • 20223 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2022
  • 20232 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2023
  • 20247 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2024
  • 20251 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2025
  • 20262 questions on National Affairs and Government Schemes in 2026
Miscellaneous17 total
  • 20130 questions on Miscellaneous in 2013
  • 20140 questions on Miscellaneous in 2014
  • 20152 questions on Miscellaneous in 2015
  • 20163 questions on Miscellaneous in 2016
  • 20170 questions on Miscellaneous in 2017
  • 20180 questions on Miscellaneous in 2018
  • 20190 questions on Miscellaneous in 2019
  • 20200 questions on Miscellaneous in 2020
  • 20213 questions on Miscellaneous in 2021
  • 20220 questions on Miscellaneous in 2022
  • 20232 questions on Miscellaneous in 2023
  • 20241 questions on Miscellaneous in 2024
  • 20253 questions on Miscellaneous in 2025
  • 20263 questions on Miscellaneous in 2026
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