Civil services · Updated Oct 2026
UPSC CSE syllabus and study plan: Prelims + Mains in one schedule
The Civil Services Examination has three stages: Prelims, Mains and the Interview. This page shows how the subjects and study hours stack up across Prelims and Mains, so integrated preparation can start from one plan.
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Exam pattern at a glance
- Stage 1: Prelims
- GS Paper 1 (100 Q, 200 marks) + CSAT (80 Q, 200 marks, qualifying); objective, negative marking
- Stage 2: Mains
- 9 descriptive papers: Essay, GS 1–4, two Optional papers (250 marks each), two qualifying language papers
- Stage 3: Interview
- 275 marks; final merit = Mains written (1,750) + Interview (275)
- Conducted by
- Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
Check the latest notification before the exam. Official syllabus ↗
Chapter-wise weightage and study hours
Weightage is the chapter's share of past-paper questions, normalised within its subject; hours are a first pass without revision.
Prelims rows: share of GS Paper 1 study priority (CSAT kept small as it is qualifying). Mains rows: share across merit papers; the optional subject is planned separately.
Prelims: subjects and papers 580 h first pass · 577 h
| # | Chapter / topic | Share of study priority | Study hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Environment & Ecology High | 14% | 62 |
| 2 | Indian Economy High | 14% | 72 |
| 3 | Indian Polity | 12% | 72 |
| 4 | Science & Technology | 11% | 47 |
| 5 | History | 9.5% | 85 |
| 6 | Geography | 8.4% | 65 |
| 7 | International Relations | 6.1% | 15 |
| 8 | Art & Culture | 4.7% | 24 |
| 9 | Indian Society | 3.4% | 8 |
| 10 | Current Affairs | 8.2% | 60 |
| 11 | CSAT (Paper 2, qualifying) | 10% | 67 |
| Total | 577 |
Mains: subjects and papers 560 h first pass · 563 h
| # | Chapter / topic | Share of study priority | Study hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GS Paper 1 (History, Geography, Society, Culture) High | 22% | 183 |
| 2 | GS Paper 2 (Polity, Governance, Social Justice, IR) High | 22% | 115 |
| 3 | GS Paper 3 (Economy, Agriculture, S&T, Environment, Security, Disaster) High | 22% | 115 |
| 4 | GS Paper 4 (Ethics, Integrity, Aptitude) High | 22% | 79 |
| 5 | Essay | 11% | 55 |
| 6 | Qualifying Language Papers | 0.9% | 16 |
| Total | 563 |
A sample first week
A first week at 6 hours a day, built from the weightage above: each subject gets sessions in proportion to its marks, starting with its heaviest chapters, mixed so no day is one subject only. Your real plan in the app fits your own hours and exam date.
| Day | Session 1 (2 h) | Session 2 (2 h) | Session 3 (2 h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Environment & EcologyBiodiversity, Protected Areas, Species | Indian EconomyMoney, Banking, RBI and Monetary Policy | Indian PolityFederalism, Local Government, Constitutional and Statutory Bodies |
| Tue | Science & TechnologyBiology, Health and Biotechnology | HistoryModern India and Freedom Struggle | GeographyIndian Geography |
| Wed | International RelationsIndia and Neighbours, Groupings, Organisations | Art & CultureMusic, Dance, Literature, Religion and Philosophy | Indian SocietyIndian Society and Social Issues |
| Thu | Current AffairsMonthly current affairs (rolling, last 12-18 months) | CSATReading Comprehension | GS Paper 1Indian Society: Diversity, Women, Population, Globalisation, Communalism, Regionalism, Secularism |
| Fri | GS Paper 2International Relations | GS Paper 3Internal Security | GS Paper 4Case Studies (practice) |
| Sat | EssayEssay structure, examples, quotes bank | Environment & EcologyBiodiversity, Protected Areas, Species (contd.) | Indian EconomyMoney, Banking, RBI and Monetary Policy (contd.) |
| Sun | Revise this week's chapters, take one timed mock or sectional test, and log the score. | ||
How Daily Tayyari plans your day
Pick your exam and date
Choose the exam (and GATE paper or UPSC optional) and your exam date. The full official syllabus loads with every chapter listed above.
Tell it your daily hours
Say how many hours you can study on weekdays and weekends. The plan only ever fills that time.
Get today's tasks
Each morning you see a short list of tasks: new chapters weighted by marks, plus practice and revision, sized to fit your day.
Spaced revision, automatically
Finished chapters come back after 1, 3, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days, and sooner if a chapter felt hard.
Green, yellow, red status
See whether you are on track, slightly behind or behind, and when the syllabus will be finished at your real pace.
Mock test tracking
Log scores from any test series. Chapters that went badly are marked weak and revised sooner.
Frequently asked questions
Is this UPSC CSE weightage official?
No. UPSC publishes the syllabus, not chapter weightage. These numbers come from analyses of previous years' papers, so treat them as a guide to priority, not a promise of what will be asked.
How many hours does the UPSC CSE syllabus take?
Our first-pass estimate adds up to about 1140 hours of study, before revision and mock tests. At 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, that is roughly 7.3 months. Daily Tayyari replaces these defaults with your actual pace after the first week or two.
Do Prelims marks count in the final UPSC rank?
No. Prelims only decides who writes Mains. The final merit list uses Mains written marks plus the Interview.
Should Prelims and Mains be prepared together?
Most of the syllabus is shared, so an integrated plan saves time: build the static subjects with answer writing first, then shift to Prelims-style MCQ practice in the last few months before Prelims.
Is Daily Tayyari free, and does it work in Hindi?
Yes. It is free with no ads and no payment; you sign in with Google only so your plan is saved. You can switch between Hindi and English at any time, and chapter names are shown in both.