Every year, thousands of aspirants attempt to pass UPSC CSE in order to gain prestigious positions in the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and other central services. Among the numerous resources available for CSE preparation, UPSC previous year question papers are particularly valuable. On this page, you can download the PDFs of the last ten years' UPSC question papers and learn how they can help aspirants achieve success.

UPSC CSE Previous Year Paper PDFs

Candidates preparing for the Civil Services Examination, also known as the IAS exam, should start by solving previous years papers. These papers help candidates understand the exam format and level of difficulty. Candidates can use previous year papers to evaluate their weak areas. Candidates can download UPSC CSE previous year paper PDFs from the tables below.

UPSC Civil Services Prelims Previous Year Papers

Download the UPSC Civil Services Prelims previous year question papers PDF:

PDF Download Links
Year	Paper - 1	Paper - 2
2023	General Studies	CSAT
2022	General Studies	CSAT
2021	General Studies	CSAT
2020	General Studies	CSAT
2019	General Studies	CSAT
2018	General Studies	CSAT
2017	General Studies	CSAT
2016	General Studies	CSAT

UPSC CSE Mains Previous Year Papers

Candidates who pass the preliminary exam will be shortlisted to appear for the main exam. The Written Exam consists of nine subjective papers, beginning with a qualifying paper in any Indian language and English, followed by seven papers on various subjects. The final selection is based on the marks obtained in both the Mains and the Interview.

Candidates should download and practice the UPSC CSE Mains previous year question papers.

PDF Download Links
Year	Essay Paper	General Studies
2023	Essay	General Studies 1
		General Studies 2
		General Studies 3
		General Studies 4
2022	Essay	General Studies 1
		General Studies 2
		General Studies 3
		General Studies 4
2021	Essay	General Studies 1
		General Studies 2
		General Studies 3
		General Studies 4
2020	Essay	General Studies 1
		General Studies 2
		General Studies 3
		General Studies 4
2019	Essay	General Studies 1
		General Studies 2
		General Studies 3
		General Studies 4

UPSC CSE Previous Year Questions

UPSC previous year questions are very useful in the preparation process for the Civil Services Examination. They provide valuable information about the exam format, question types, priority areas, and time management strategies. Furthermore, they enable aspirants to track their progress and gain confidence.

Aspirants should incorporate the practice of solving UPSC previous year papers into their study schedule, making it an essential component of their preparation strategy. By doing so, they increase their chances of passing this difficult exam and realizing their dream of serving the country in prestigious administrative positions.

UPSC questions are intended to assess candidates' analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. Multiple-choice questions, essay-type questions, and those requiring subjective responses are examples of these. By reviewing previous papers, aspirants can identify common question structures and practice answering them effectively.

Benefits of Practising with UPSC CSE Previous Year Paper

Solving UPSC previous year question papers is one of the most important steps you can take to prepare for the UPSC exam. Here are some of the advantages of answering previous year question papers:

Learn about the exam structure and the types of questions asked: The UPSC exam is extremely competitive, and the question paper is designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of a wide range of topics. By solving UPSC previous year question papers, you will gain a good understanding of the types of questions asked, the level of difficulty, and the time required to answer them.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses: As you solve UPSC previous year papers, you will begin to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses in various subjects. This will allow you to focus your studies on the areas that require the most improvement.
Develop time management skills: The UPSC CSE is a three-hour exam, so you'll need to use your time wisely in order to answer every question. Solving previous year question papers will help you understand how much time you should spend on each question.
Gain confidence: The more you practise, the more confident you will feel about your ability to answer exam questions. Solving UPSC's previous years question papers is an excellent way to boost your confidence and prepare for the actual exam.

Techniques of Solving UPSC CSE PYP

Solve UPSC Previous Year Papers in the following ways to improve your performance and increase your chances of passing the exam.

Basic Techniques

Candidates must attempt the paper in the allotted time to simulate an exam setting. Sitting in a place that is free from distractions and setting a countdown timer will help.
Carefully review the exam questions from the previous year's UPSC IAS paper.
Always keep in mind that wrong answers will result in a negative marking, so avoid speculating or just marking the answer without carefully reading the full question.
Once the timers go off, don't attempt any more questions. Compare the answers you have marked with the answer key to evaluate your overall performance and pinpoint any errors that need to be corrected.

Paper Solving Technique

One of the most important approaches is the 3-2-1-0 Elimination Technique. This technique is also known as the 100-50-33-25% method of MCQ solving.
The main idea of this technique is to solve the CSE Pre question paper in four rounds, based on how many answer choices you can eliminate in each stage. Instead of starting with questions ranging from 1 to 100, use multiple rounds to solve them.
The stages of the 3-2-1-0 Elimination technique are known as Three Elimination, Two Elimination Round, One Elimination, and Zero Elimination. Hence, the 3 2 1 0 Technique, in which you have to select and solve the questions in the following way:
- Three Elimination = 100% Sure Questions
- Two Elimination = 50% Sure Questions
- One Elimination = 33% Sure Questions
- Zero Elimination = 25% Sure Questions, which means questions you don't know the answers to.

Before using this strategy in the actual UPSC Prelims, you should review and master it in the previous year papers. Only then will you be able to execute perfectly this method for the actual exam. Following this approach, create a chart similar to the one shown above shortly after each mock examination.

UPSC CSE Exam Overview

The UPSC conducts an annual Civil Service Examination, which includes a preliminary exam, a main exam, and a personality test (interview). Candidates taking the UPSC Prelims Examination in 2024 must be aware of important exam details.

UPSC CSE Exam - Important Updates
Exam Conducting Organization	Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
Exam Name	Civil Services Examination 2024
Frequency of Examination	Annually
Selection Process	Preliminary Examination Mains Examination Interview (Personality Test)
Official Website	upsc.gov.in

UPSC CSE Exam Pattern

Candidates must be aware of the exam before beginning to prepare for it. The commission has not changed the CSE syllabus or exam pattern since 2013. The IAS exam pattern consists of three stages: preliminary, main, and interview. Candidates must fully understand the exam pattern for each stage of the exam.

The Union Public Service Commission conducts the Civil Services Exam 2024, which also serves as a preliminary examination for the Indian Forest Service, in the most transparent way possible. The exam patterns for the preliminary and mains examinations are detailed in the tables below.

UPSC CSE - Prelims Exam Pattern
Mode of Examination	Offline (Pen and Paper OMR Based)
Maximum Marks	Paper 1 - 200 marks Paper 2 (Qualifying) - 200 marks
Exam Duration	02 hours for each paper
Subjects	Paper 1 - General studies Paper 2 - CSAT
Negative Marking	One third (0.33) marks
Language of questions	Bilingual (English & Hindi)

Those who pass the preliminary exam with the required minimum score will be shortlisted for the mains exam, the second round of selection. The main exam follows the following pattern of questions.

UPSC CSE - Mains Exam Pattern
Mode of Examination	Offline (Pen and Paper - Descriptive)
Maximum Marks	Paper A - Compulsory Indian Language - 300 marks Paper B - English - 300 marks Paper I - Essay - 250 marks Paper II - General Studies (Paper I)- 250 marks Paper III - General Studies (Paper II) - 250 marks Paper IV - General Studies (Paper III) - 250 marks Paper V - General Studies (Paper IV) - 250 marks Paper VI - Optional Subject (Paper 1) - 250 marks Paper VII - Optional Subject (Paper 2) - 250 marks
Exam Duration	For all papers 3 hours each

Note: In the UPSC Mains examination, a candidate's score could be reduced by the commission if their handwriting is hard to read.