After experiencing a moderately tough Prelims GS paper last year, UPSC prelims returned back to tougher levels to a great extent. 2025 Prelims GS was more conventional yet unpredictable compared to last couple of years. The toughness level was reasonably high, especially in the high pressure exam hall scenario. The results are also out and most of the aspirants have already moved on to next step of preparation. But it is important to analyse this Prelims paper for three reasons:
- To understand the exact nature of questions and the source.
- To get a guessing about how UPSC is changing the pattern of questions in view of coming Mains and next Prelims.
- To demystify Prelims to the extent possible and to understand that except a few, all questions come for a reason.
It is right time to analyze what went wrong for candidates getting low scores, and to understand where UPSC is moving with its questions for candidates getting the opportunity to write Mains. So here is my attempt to dissect the pattern of Prelims 2025 Question paper. Friends keep in mind THIS IS NOT AN ANSWER KEY. Also the categorization of the questions is a subjective matter and can vary person to person.
Question paper Set A
No. Keyword/ Subject/ Topic/ Type
Comment.
- Alternative Investment Funds/Econ/Financial Market/Conceptual
Conceptual question about investments.
2. RBI income/Econ/Banking/Current
RBI’s earnings from foreign currency assets rose significantly in 23-24, thus bringing RBI’s income in news. Very interestingly, just around the Prelims date, RBI transferred record ₹2.69 lakh crore surplus to government, sparking debate on buffer funds and independence.
3. Organizations/Pol/Governance/Factual
Central Government organizations are very important in Polity and Governance.
4. BRSR/Econ/Institutions/Current
Current based question. BRSR was in news due to changes introduced by SEBI.
5. Tax on Agriculture/Econ/Public Finance/Factual
Factual bit about the ambit of Income Tax.
6. Minerals/Geog/Natural Resources/Current
This question tests multiple domains and can be classified as Economics, IR or Polity question as well. India joined MSP in 2023 and MSPFN in 2024.
7. Bandholders and Stakeholders/ Econ/Financial Market/Conceptual
Another conceptual question about investments.
8. Trading boom/Econ/Financial Market/Current
India’s equity options trading boom has been a major topic in recent news.
9. Circular economy/Econ/Macro/Conceptual
Basic concept tested. May be classified as Environment question as well.
10. Capital receipts/Econ/Public Finance/Conceptual
Conceptual question from Fiscal policy.
11. Raja Ram Mohan Roy/His/Modern/Factual
Social reforms is an important and scoring topic.
12. Non-cooperation movement/ His/Modern/Factual
Typical factual bit from major events in the freedom struggle.
13. Araghatta/His/Ancient/Factual
Another important area which has 1 or 2 questions each year- ancient Indian technology. Pin point factual question which you cannot guess.
14. Ruler titles/His/Ancient/Factual
Factual question about rulers and dynasties from ancient India.
15. Fa-hien visit/His/Ancient/Factual
Another one about rulers and dynasties from ancient India.
16. Srivijaya campaign/His/Ancient/Factual
Third question from same sector- a bit easy one though.
17. Kingdom- rivers/His/Ancient/Factual
Fourth question on a trot. Based on maps of ancient India. You may expect 1 or 2 such questions every year.
18. Gandharva Mahavidyala/Culture Sports/Art/Factual
Pin point factual question from Culture.
19. Pradeshika Rajuka Yukta/His/Ancient/Factual
Administrative machinery from Ancient or Medieval era is one important topic.
20. Non-cooperation movement/ His/Modern/Factual
Second question from NCM.
21. NATO/IR/ Institutions/Current
NATO has been in news currently, mainly due to Russia.
22. Andes mountains/Geog/Maps/Factual
Basic fact based question from World Atlas.
23. Water bodies- Equator/Geog/Maps/Factual
Another World Atlas question.
24. Turmeric/Geog/Agriculture/Current
Agriculture is an important sector from Human Geography.
25. Continental drift/Geog/Physical/Factual
Geomorphology based question.
26. Winds/Geog/Physical/Factual
Basic textbook question from Climatology.
27. January climatic changes/Geog/Physical/Factual
Another interesting question from Climatology. Climate patterns is an important topic from Prelims and Mains.
28. Chalk clay/Geog/Physical/Factual
Yet another textbook question from Geomorphology- but not fully from NCERT. You need to go beyond NCERT for Basic Geography.
29. Atmospheric temperature/Geog/Physical/Factual
Again a question from Climatic patterns- specifically important sector in context of climate change.
30. Rashtriya Gokul Mission/Pol/Schemes/Current
Revised Rashtriya Gokul Mission was launched recently.
31. Cement emissions/Env/Pollution/Current
Cement and concrete carbon emissions were in news due to its adverse impact and plan to mitigate. Carbon capture and utilisation testbeds are in news very recently.
32. COP 28/Env/Climate Change/Current
COP 28 was held in 2023 end. All climate conferences are extremely important.
33. Rotation shift/Env/Climate change/Current
Rotation and axis shift are suggested by some studies to be linked with groundwater exploitation and soil moisture loss. This was in news.
34. Paris agreement/Env/Climate change/Current
Paris agreement was in news as US withdrew from it in Jan 2025. Classic example of how background details of a news are asked in Prelims.
35. Nature Solutions Finance Hub/Env/Climate change/Current
Nature Solutions Finance Hub was launched in COP 28.
36. Direct Air Capture/Env/Climate change/Current
Another concept from Climate change mitigation in news, though not very prominently.
37. Peacock tarantula/Env/Biodiversity/Current
Might seem far-fetched to call it a current based question but it appeared in news (World’s most beautiful Spider)
38. CO2 emissions/Env/Climate change/Current
Important sector from Climate change.
39. Plant description/Env/Biodiversity/Factual
Very tricky question combining common sense and scientific terminology.
40. Oxygen generation/Env/Biodiversity/Factual
Textbook kind of question but tricky.
41. Alternative powertrain vehicles/Env/Pollution/Current
Alternative powertrain vehicles were in news in context of dependency on conventional fuels, pricing and emissions.
42. UAVs/SciTech/Applied Science/Current
UAVs are making news across the globe- Israel, Ukraine, India-Pakistan and many more examples.
43. Batteries/SciTech/Applied Science/Current
EVs are going to be important from Prelims and Mains point of view in coming times.
44. Plastic/Env/Pollution/Factual
Textbook type question about pollutants.
45. Coal gasification/SciTech/Energy/Current
Basic question about a concept in news as Ministry of Coal is pushing and incentivizing Coal gasification.
46. CL-20, HMX and LLM-105/SciTech/Defence/Current
New age high energy explosives were in news due to CSIR project.
47. Majorana 1/SciTech/ICT/Current
Question about Microsoft’s new quantum computing chip.
48. Monoclonal antibodies/SciTech/Medicine/Conceptual
Important concept from advanced Immunology.
49. Virus/SciTech/Medicine/Factual
Basic question about Virology.
50. Activated carbon/Env/Pollution/Current
This was in news in context of the US Tariff issue.
51. Ordinance/Pol/Constitution/Conceptual
Textbook question from Constitution.
52. States/Pol/Governance/Factual
Factual bit about the evolution of the Indian Union.
53. Councils/Pol/Constitution/Factual
Another Constitution based textbook question.
54. Powers of Governor and President/Polity/Constitution/Current
A question on this area was expected after the TN case in Supreme Court.
55. Constitutional provisions/Pol/Constitution/Factual
Straight from the textbook!
56. Scheduled Area/Pol/Constitution/Factual
Basic question from Schedules of the Constitution. At least one question can be expected from the schedules.
57. Organizations/Pol/Governance/Factual
Factual Year book type question.
58. Ratification/Pol/Constitution/Factual
Question from the Lists- another important sector in Constitution.
59. Legal immunity/Pol/Constitution/Current
Two of the statements were in news. The TN case connection again!
60. PNGRB/Pol/Governance/Current
PNGRB earlier this year had initiated reforms in order to attract investments and enhance consumption.
61. Deficit/Econ/ Public Finance/Conceptual
Concept of Budget deficit checked using example.
62. INSTC/IR/Trade/Current
INSTC was in news regarding Chabahar port. It was also mentioned in Economic Survey. All the concepts, organizations or programmes mentioned in Economic Survey are potential Prelim questions.
63. Ethanol/SciTech/Energy/Factual
Factual question covering alternate fuels.
64. Wet-bulb temperature/Env/Climate change/Current
This extremely alarming finding was published recently by World Bank in Climate Risk Country Profile. Go through the report for Mains.
65. Gross primary deficit/Econ/ Public Finance/Conceptual
Another Budget deficit concept checked using example.
66. Finance Commission/Econ/ Public Finance/Current
Fiscal federalism and Centre- State fiscal relations are important sectors from Economics.
67. IBRD/Econ/Institutions/Factual
Global trade related institutions are important for such factual bits.
68. RTGS NEFT/Econ/Banking/Conceptual
Conceptual question about instruments of liquidity and payment efficiency.
69. UPI//Econ/Banking/Current
Another question from Banking sector.
70. PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana/Pol/Schemes/Current
Year book type question from an important and ambitious scheme.
71. Sedition has become my religion/His/Modern/Factual
Very specific and direct fact based question from Freedom Struggle.
72. Dancing Girl/His/Ancient/Factual
Ancient civilization is an important sector from History.
73. Chauri chaura/His/Modern/Factual
Another very specific ‘You can’t guess it’ type bit from History.
74. Eradication of untouchability/His/Modern/Factual
Factual bit from an important topic- Social reforms in British rule.
75. Fruits/Env/Biodiversity/Factual
Direct question- can also be classified under History or Geography.
76. Time zones/Geog/Maps/Factual
Straightforward question from Atlas. This indicates UPSC expects application of mind in map reading.
77. Anadyr Nome/Geog/Maps/Factual
Interesting but tricky question- again demanding application of mind in studying Atlas.
78. Self-Respect Movement/His/Modern/Factual
Another one about social reforms. Interestingly this movement completes 100 years in 2025. Keep an eye on events happened exactly 100/200 years back.
79. Country Ores/Geog/Natural Resources/Factual
Factual question from Human Geography.
80. Region Country/Geog/Maps/Factual
Another interesting question form Atlas.
81. Rare earth elements/SciTech/Applied Science/Current
Rare earth elements are in news in context of tariff war.
82. NRP Kavach/SciTech/Applied Science/Current
Railway modernization and Kavach was in news for long time after Railway accidents.
83. Space missions/SciTech/Space/Current
Question about recent space missions and their focus areas.
84. Aircrafts/SciTech/Defence/Factual
Direct question about Defence resources.
85. Artificial rain/SciTech/Applied Science/Factual
Simple factual question from Applied Science.
86. Pardoning power/Pol/Constitution/Factual
Direct question from the powers of President.
87. Speaker/Pol/Parliament/Factual
Parliament and its conduct of business is a vital area from Polity.
88. Disqualification/Pol/Parliament/Current
Question based on the Maharashtra party split cases.
89. Minor minerals/Pol/Governance/Current
Decentralization of mineral governance has been a hot topic, leading to several court cases.
90. Nature Restoration Law/Env/Climate change/Current
Recent initiative by EU.
91. Panchayats/Pol/Governance/Factual
Question from 3 tier Local Self Government system. Panchayati Raj is an important area.
92. BIMSTEC/IR/Institutions/Current
Sixth BIMSTEC summit was held early in 2025, reigniting the regional group dynamics.
93. Gandhi Peace Prize/Culture Sports/Awards/Current
Gita Press was awarded with this esteemed prize recently, causing the prize to be in news.
94. GAGAN/SciTech/Space/Current
GAGAN is India’s SBAS which was installed in aircrafts in 2024.
95. AI Action Summit/SciTech/ICT/Current
AI is the emerging favourite area of UPSC. Expect questions about AI in Mains (Science Technology or Ethics).
96. International years/IR/Institutions/Current
These years are declared by various global institutions. This was like pre CSAT era Prelim question.
97. BRICS summit/IR/Institutions/Current
G7, G20, BRICS, BIMSTEC and all such institutions and groups are arguably the most important parts of IR.
98. Lokpal/Pol/Governance/Factual
Question about an important organization in Indian Governance system.
99. Kho Kho/Culture Sports/Sports events/Current
Direct question about the event held recently. Rare to have a direct Sports related question.
100. Chess/Culture Sports/Sports events/Current
And even rare to have two Sports related direct questions. Keep an eye on Sports page hereafter!
Analysis
The distribution of questions shows that Polity (as generally is the trend) had the highest share of 19 questions. Environment is increasingly becoming an important sector which had 16 questions. History had relatively more questions than usual. International Relations and surprisingly Culture had fewer questions than expected.
Polity: Polity had 19 question mainly from Constitution (8) and Governance (7) vis-à-vis 25 from last year. Parliament and Schemes had only two questions each. There was a flurry of factual questions- a whopping 11 of them! But overall the Polity part was moderate in toughness, yet tricky due to factual questions.
Environment: There were two questions less than last year’s 18. Climate Change was having 8 questions-all from the current affairs. The specific, tricky Biodiversity part and technical Pollution part had 4 questions each. Overall I consider Environment was on a tougher side.
Science Technology: SciTech was tough this year with confusing questions demanding specific knowledge. It had 5 questions from Applied Science. ICT, normally UPSC’s favourite topic had only two questions; same as Defence, Space, Medicine and Energy. For SciTech UPSC definitely expects aspirants to go beyond traditional sources and go in details of news related to Science.
Economy: Like last year, Economy had a heavy dose of conceptual questions (7/14). Public Finance had 5 questions testing multiple concepts and information. Financial Markets and Banking had a fair representation with 3 questions each. Institutions (2) and Macroeconomics (1) had lesser questions than expected making it tougher as this is the more static part of Economy. Overall Economy was on the tougher side.
History: History had 14 factual questions- 10 more than 2024! Interestingly there was no question from Medieval India or World History. Ancient India had 7 questions which were moderately tough. But the 7 questions from Freedom Struggle were a mixed bag ranging from easy to very specific, un-guessable types. Overall History was tough mainly because most of us didn’t expect so many questions and hence don’t study History thoroughly.
Geography: 11 factual questions demanding specific information out of which 5 were from the technical Physical Geography part and 5 mapping based questions which asked for application of mind rather than memory: It was a tough time answering Geography questions. This part was tough and frustrating because many times you know half the part needed but cannot answer correctly. Especially Map reading needs to be more meaningful as direct map based questions are now not being asked.
International Relations: IR had 5 questions- as expected all current affairs based- of which 4 were based on Institutions and Organizations and there was one from International Trade. IR was on the easier side.
Culture-Sports: It was a surprise to see only 2 Culture related questions (from Art and Awards), that too outside the conventional areas like Religion and Heritage. Even more surprising was seeing 2 Sports related questions about Sports events, reminding of the pre 2011 era. It was moderately tough.
In summary the Prelims 2025 General Studies paper was tough and confusing. Many questions tested multiple bits of information and a lot of questions were very specific. Less representation to conventional areas like Macroeconomics, Religion, Agriculture, Medieval dynasties, ICT meant some sure shot marks were not available. However Constitution, Climate Change, Public Finance were some traditionally favourite topics which had good representation.
Questions from current affairs aimed to test one’s conceptual understanding. This highlights the fact that current affairs part is not merely about reading the newspapers/magazines/digests but it should include clearing all the concepts appearing in the news.
Many aspirants struggled to cover the paper entirely as it demanded lot of careful reading and thinking. One has to definitely work on reading and comprehension for GS too. I such papers it becomes important to back yourself and not to keep lingering on tough questions.
Looking ahead, it is clear that this year cut-off will go down. My guess would be 88-90. Anyways the results are out and one needs to plan according to the results now. While preparing for the UPSC Mains examination, it’s essential to build a strong foundation by thoroughly understanding the basic concepts of each subject. Equally important is keeping yourself updated with trending and current issues, especially those frequently highlighted in the news. Don’t just skim through news articles—analyze them deeply, understand the context, and explore the broader implications of each topic. Don’t underestimate India Year Book and Economic Survey.
Make answer writing a daily habit. The more you write, the better you get at structuring your thoughts, managing time, and presenting arguments effectively. Regular practice helps in refining your articulation and boosts your confidence. Most importantly, prepare with the mindset that anything can appear in the paper. The UPSC often throws curveballs, testing not just knowledge but also adaptability and presence of mind. Equip yourself to face these challenges boldly and respond like a true champion—calm, prepared, and confident.
All the best!!
Expressions and Impressions 
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