UPSC Optional Question Paper 2024, Download Question Paper PDF

UPSC will be conducting the optional paper on 29 September 2024 and in this article we will be curating question papers of all subjects for all aspirants once they are released, stay connected for latest updates on UPSC Optional Question Paper 2024.

Table of Contents

As per the schedule of the UPSC Mains Examination 2024, the commission will be conducting both Optional papers on 29 September 2024, the optional subject is important in the exam as a single subject weighs for 500 marks which is the highest among all subjects in the UPSC exam and the subject selected by the student can be a major part of discussion in the interview. In this article, we have attached UPSC Mains Optional question papers for all the optional subjects in the UPSC Mains Exam.

UPSC Optional Question Paper 2024

The UPSC holds optional exams for 48 subjects mentioned in their official announcement. In 2024, these exams took place on September 28. In this article, we will share the UPSC Mains Optional question papers for all subjects in PDF format to help candidates.

UPSC Optional Question Paper 2024- Subject Wise

Below we have mentioned subjects and corresponding to that we are updating the question papers for UPSC Mains Optional Paper 2024. It should be noted that choosing the optional subject for UPSC Mains Exam is very important and these optional question papers of UPSC Mains 2024 can help candidate understand the difficulty potential of each optional subject, in order to choose the right optional subject for UPSC Mains examination.

S.No.	Optional Subjects	Question Papers
1	Agriculture	Agriculture Paper 1 and Agriculture Paper II
2	Botany	Botany Paper I and Botany Paper II
3	Chemistry	Chemistry Paper I and Chemistry Paper II
4	Economics	Economics Paper I and Economics Paper II
5	Medical Science	Medical Science Paper I and Medical Science Paper II
6	Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science	Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Paper I
7	Anthropology	Anthropology Paper I and Anthropology Paper II
8	Civil Engineering	Civil Engineering Paper I and Civil Engineer Paper II
9	Zoology	Zoology Paper I and Zoology Paper II
10	Public Administration	Pub. Adm. Paper I and Pub. Adm. Paper II
11	Commerce and Accountancy	Commerce and Accountancy Paper I and Commerce and Accountancy Paper II
12	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering Paper I and Electrical Engineering Paper II
13	Geography	Geography Paper I and Geography Paper II
14	Mathematics	Mathematics Paper I and Mathematics Paper II
15	Philosophy	Philosophy Paper I and Philosophy Paper II
16	Geology	Geology Paper I and Geology Paper II
17	History	History Paper I and History Paper II
18	Law	Law Paper I and Law Paper II
19	Political Science and International Relations	PSIR Paper I and PSIR Paper II
20	Statistics	Statistics Paper I and Statistics Paper II
21	Mechanical Engineering	Mechanical Engineering Paper I and Mechanical Engineering Paper II
22	Psychology	Psychology Paper I and Psychology Paper II
23	Sociology	Sociology Paper 1 and Sociology Paper II
24	Management	Management Paper I and Management Paper II
25	Physics	Physics Paper I and Physics Paper II
26	English	English Paper I and English Paper II
27	Hindi	Hindi Paper I and Hindi Paper II

How to Download UPSC Mains 2024 Optional Question Paper?

Through the below step, the candidate can download the UPSC Mains Optional Question Paper 2024.

Step 1: Visit the official UPSC website, upsc.gov.in.
Step 2: Navigate to the Home page and click on examination for UPSC Mains Optional Question Paper
Step 3: Click on the previous year’s questions
Step 4: Select Civil Services Exam from the dropdown
Step 5: Click on download
Step 6: Save the PDF for your reference.

List of Scoring UPSC Optional Subjects

With the results from previous years, it is clear that the choice of UPSC optional subjects should involve not only the candidate’s interest but also the marking scheme and previous performance in the subject. There are a few optional subjects where even the highest marks are not competitive. For example, the highest mark in Economics was 325, compared to 362 in Anthropology and 375 in Mathematics. Below, we have listed the most scoring UPSC optional subjects.

Anthropology
Hindi
English
History
PSIR
Geography
Public Administration
Sociology
Philosophy
Psychology

UPSC Optional Question Paper 2024 Difficulty Level

We will be evaluating all the UPSC mains optional papers, a detailed summary over the difficulty level will be updated after the question papers are released.

UPSC Mains Optional Paper 2024 Syllabus

The UPSC Mains Optional Paper subject list encompasses 48 subjects, and candidates are required to choose one subject for both Optional Paper I and Optional Paper II, it is important to go through the syllabus of UPSC optional subjects and for the same we have below attached syllabus for each UPSC optional subject in the table.

UPSC Optional Syllabus 2024
Agriculture- UPSC Syllabus 2024	Anthropology- UPSC Syllabus 2024
Civil Engineering– UPSC Syllabus 2024	Chemistry- UPSC Syllabus 2024
Management– UPSC Syllabus 2024	Commerce & Accountancy– UPSC Syllabus 2024
History- UPSC Syllabus 2024	Law – UPSC Syllabus 2024
Botony – UPSC Syllabus 2023	Electrical Eng Upsc Syllabus 2024
Economics – UPSC Syllabus	Geography – UPSC Syllabus
Agriculture – UPSC Syllabus	Management – UPSC Syllabus
Mathematics – UPSC Syllabus	History- UPSC Syllabus
Law – UPSC Syllabus	Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science – UPSC Syllabus

Also Read
UPSC Exam Pattern	UPSC Syllabus
UPSC Mains Exam Date	Best Books for UPSC
UPSC Eligibility Criteria	UPSC Previous Year Question Paper
How to Prepare for UPSC	UPSC Mains Essay Paper 2024
UPSC Mains GS 1 paper 2024	UPSC Mains GS 2 paper 2024
UPSC Mains GS 3 paper 2024	UPSC Mains GS 4 paper 2024
UPSC Mains Language Question Paper 2024

FAQs

Which optional subject is best for UPSC?

Some popular optional subjects for UPSC include History, Geography, Public Administration, Sociology, and Literature, such as English, Hindi, or regional languages. It’s essential to choose an optional subject that matches your interests and strengths for effective preparation.

Which optional is high scoring?

Anthropology is considered one of the highest-scoring optional subjects because of its clear syllabus, scoring potential, and overlap with General Studies.

Which is the hardest optional subject for UPSC?

Here are the top 10 toughest UPSC optional subjects:

Medical Science
Physics
Chemistry
Law
Economics
Geology
Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical)
Philosophy
Mathematics
Commerce and Accountancy

Which is the easiest optional subject in UPSC?

Philosophy is often seen as one of the easiest optional subjects for the UPSC exam because it has a shorter syllabus. Other subjects like Anthropology, Sociology, and Public Administration are also considered easier due to their concise syllabi, making them more manageable for many students.