10 Repeatedly Asked Question Areas in UPSC Prelims

Will UPSC repeat questions? Are there favourite areas for UPSC from which the Commission repeatedly asks questions year after year?

Yes, UPSC gives high priority to certain question areas. As IAS aspirants, prioritization is the key to your success too.

The decision of ‘what to learn’ and ‘how to learn’ plays a crucial role in the success of candidates in the UPSC Civil Services Examination.

10 Repeatedly Asked UPSC Prelims Question Topics

Mentors who keenly observed trends of UPSC questions over the past several years can help you identify the priority areas in the Civil Services Examination (CSE).

If you are time-crunched before the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam, you should definitely prioritize. Don’t go behind everything. Focus on what is more significant from the exam perspective.

In this post, ClearIAS shares insights about 10 repeatedly asked question areas in UPSC Prelims along with sources to learn these topics fast. These are only indicative in nature. You should go deep into each of these topics.

(1) Important Acts Enacted by the Indian Parliament

Analysing previous year trends, one can easily see that ‘Important Acts‘ is the most important area in UPSC Prelims. 22 Marks worth of questions were asked in UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2019 on the topic ‘important Acts’. There is no surprise in this because UPSC expects future Civil Servants to be knowledgeable about the important Acts/Bills/Rules etc. Questions were asked not just about recent Acts but also about Acts enacted many years before.

How to prepare this area quickly: Buy the book “Important Acts that Transformed India” published by McGraw Hill. This book is prepared to considerably save your time and effort in mastering the topic. This book covers 100 must-know acts along with necessary bills, rules, and notifications aspirants should know from the UPSC exam perspective.

(2) Organisations

Organisations are very important from the perspective of  UPSC. This topic includes Indian Organisations as well as International Organisations.

Be thorough with the Constitutional Bodies and Non-Constitutional Bodies in India.

You should also learn about Indices and Reports published by various organisations. 1-2 questions are framed from this area almost every year.

Consider the UPSC CSE Prelims question: Which of the following gives the ‘Global Gender Gap Index’ ranking to the countries of the world?
(a) World Economic Forum
(b) UN Human Rights Council
(c) UN Women
(d) World Health Organization

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below links:

• Indices and Organisations: Memorize Faster
• Names of Reports published by Organisations: Memorize Faster

(3) Agriculture

Agriculture is another repeated theme in UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains.

Go through the below articles:

• Indian Agriculture: Farming Types, Features and Challenges
• Major Crops and Cropping Patterns in Various Parts of the Country
• Mechanization of Indian Agriculture
• Organic Farming
• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices

(4) Biodiversity

Aspirants should be aware of important Bio-Diversity Hot-spots, Biosphere Reserves, National Parks, Wild Life Sanctuaries etc. It may not be impossible to memorize all. However, take an atlas and understand the locations of the most important ones.

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below link:

• Biodiversity of India
• Biodiversity Protection: Steps Taken By Indian Government
• Biodiversity and Environment: Conservation
• Biodiversity Heritage Site
• Biodiversity Hotspots in India
• Biosphere Reserves – National Parks – Sanctuaries – Tiger Reserves

In India, there are 70+ critically endangered animals and 60+ critically endangered plants, as per the IUCN classification. In previous years, UPSC had prepared questions from this area to test the awareness of candidates about India’s biodiversity.

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below link:

• Critically Endangered Animal Species of India

(5) Indian Budget and Trends in the Indian Economy

Questions based on Union Budget are common in UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam. Questions may be direct from Budget or conceptual in nature (Eg: Questions on Primary Deficit, Fiscal Deficit or Subsidies)

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below links:

• 100 MCQs from Economic Survey and Budget (ClearIAS eBook – PDF)

Every year, 1-2 questions come from the recent trends associated with the Indian Economy.

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below links:

• 100 MCQs from Economic Survey and Budget (ClearIAS eBook – PDF)
• Trends in Indian Economy (ClearIAS eBook – PDF)

(6) Jainism and Buddhism

Jainism and Buddhism is an ever-green topic as far as UPSC CSE Prelims is concerned. 1-2 questions are framed from this area almost every year.

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below links:

• Ancient India: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism (NCERT)
• Buddhist Councils: Everything you need to know!

(7) Bhakti Movement and Sufi Movement

Just like Jainism and Buddhism (Ancient India), Bhaktism and Sufism (Medieval India) are also high-priority areas.

How to prepare this area quickly: Check the below links for easy-to-read notes of ClearIAS.

• Medieval India: Bhaktism, Sufism and Sikhism (NCERT)

(8) Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization was the first major civilization in South Asia,  which spread across a vast area of land in present-day India and Pakistan (around 12 lakh sq.km). One of the first topic you learn in Indian History, this area is highly significant as far as UPSC Preliminary Exam is concerned.

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below links.

• Indus Valley Civilization
• Arts of Indus Valley Civilization
• Important Indus Valley Sites and Archaeological Discoveries

(9) Inflation, Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate

With respect to Indian Economy, be thorough with the three topics and sub-topics under it:

• Inflation
• Monetary Policy
• Exchange Rate.

(10) GI Tags and Places in News

A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. Example: Aranmula Kannadi (Kerala). Questions are framed by UPSC related to GI tags or places in the news.

How to prepare this area quickly: Go through the below links:

• Geographical Indications (ClearIAS Post)
• ClearIAS Video Series on GI Tags (5 Videos)

Other Priority Question Areas of UPSC

Apart from the 10 question topics mentioned above, also go through the below links.

• Recent Technologies (Innovations)
• Types of Majorities Used in the Indian Parliament
• Major Tribes in India: State-wise compilation
• Ramsar sites (Wetlands) in India
• UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites: Names from India
• Hindu Philosophy – Orthodox and Heterodox Schools
• Historical Background of the Indian Constitution
• Important Judgments and Constitutional Amendment Acts
• Important Government Schemes
• India Year Book
• Maps

Conclusion

Before you do anything, always think about the Return on Investment (ROI).

We have already written about the 80-20 strategy to maximize your marks if you are time-crunched before UPSC Prelims.

Careful selection of topics (and sources) plays a crucial role in success.

If you are lucky, a quick overview of the above topics may help you get at 15-20 questions in the next UPSC Prelims. Considering 2 marks for each question, learning these topics may boost your Prelims score by 30-40 marks. All the best!

PS: Let me know in the comment section if this post helped.