The well-esteemed Civil Services/IAS exam is conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). The test includes three phases (Prelims, Mains, Interview) and consistently lakhs of cheerful IAS aspirants show up for it. By and large, the test procedure for each competitor is the equivalent. Be that as it may, in the IAS mains test, up-and-comers need to pick an optional subject (2 papers, 250 marks each) and choosing the best optional subject can be the game changer.
Peruse on to know which optional subjects have the most elevated achievement rate in UPSC and whether an applicant should choose her/his optional subject dependent on exam patterns and syllabus.
What are the Optional Subjects for IAS 2020 exam?
A list of optional subjects for UPSC exam as under:
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce & Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics Political Science & International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
Literature of Languages
- Assamese
- Bengali
- Bodo
- Dogri
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Kannada
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Maithili
- Malayalam
- Manipuri
- Marathi
- Nepali
- Odia
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Santhali
- Sindhi
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Urdu
- English
Now, as you know the optional subject list for UPSC IAS 2020, let’s quickly move on the success rate of these subjects:
UPSC Optional Subjects |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
| Management | 14.4 | 13.8 | 11.4 | 12.1 |
| Anthropology | 6.6 | 11.8 | 11 | 14.8 |
| Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | 23.1 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 10.6 |
| Medical Science | 23.4 | 16.4 | 19.9 | 20.2 |
| Sociology | 9.2 | 9.1 | 10.6 | 11.7 |
| Physics | 6.4 | 8.8 | 9.3 | 15.6 |
| Geography | 7.2 | 5.6 | 7.3 | 3.4 |
| Public Administration | 5.1 | 6.2 | 5.3 | 8.4 |
| Psychology | 7.9 | 9.8 | 15.8 | 11.8 |
| Political Science and IR | 10.9 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.9 |
| Economics | 19 | 20.2 | 12.1 | 10.3 |
| Geology | 14.3 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 5.9 |
| Commerce and Accountancy | 14.9 | 7.5 | 10.3 | 13.8 |
| Law | 17.1 | 24.3 | 17 | 16.7 |
| Botany | 11.5 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 9.6 |
| Electrical Engineering | 5.6 | 8.3 | 5.5 | 2.3 |
| Mathematics | 5.2 | 4.9 | 6.4 | 7.9 |
| Statistics | 11.5 | 12.6 | 15.4 | 14.3 |
| Zoology | 12.2 | 15 | 11.6 | 10.5 |
| Chemistry | 5.9 | 7.8 | 4.1 | 5.3 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 8.6 | 5.4 | 7.5 | 11.2 |
| History | 8.6 | 7.6 | 5.7 | 10.5 |
| Agriculture | 9.4 | 12.6 | 4.8 | 15.4 |
| Civil Engineering | 3.5 | 8 | 4.9 | 5.3 |
| Philosophy | 14 | 12.5 | 7.9 | 10.8 |
How to Choose the Best Optional Subject for UPSC Exam?
- To begin with, experience the schedule of the optional subjects you are thinking about.
- At that point, break down your very own qualities and shortcomings regarding scholastics.
- Think about your scholastic foundation.
- Experience the advantages and disadvantages of the optional subjects.
- Experience the earlier years question papers of the optional subjects in thought.
- You can examine the achievement rates or exhibitions of the optional subjects in the past UPSC tests.
Subsequent to gauging every one of the advantages and disadvantages and your own qualities in the subjects, you should go to a choice.
