Syllabus
UPSC ESE Syllabus 2026
The exam pattern and the official topic lists for UPSC ESE, read from the recruiting body’s own notice — with the notice’s own caveats kept, not trimmed.
Stage-I: Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination (objective type, 500 marks)
Syllabus, section by section
Paper-I: General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (200 marks, 2 hrs, common to all candidates)
Standard expected of an Engineering/Science Graduate, without special study. Questions from all ten topics shall be set; marks for each topic may range from 5% to 15% of the total marks in the paper.
- Current issues of national and international importance relating to social, economic and industrial development
- Engineering Aptitude covering Logical reasoning and Analytical ability
- Engineering Mathematics and Numerical Analysis
- General Principles of Design, Drawing, Importance of Safety
- Standards and Quality practices in production, construction, maintenance and services
- Basics of Energy and Environment: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, Climate Change, Environmental impact assessment
- Basics of Project Management
- Basics of Material Science and Engineering
- Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based tools and their applications in Engineering such as networking, e-governance and technology based education
- Ethics and values in engineering profession
Paper-II: Engineering Discipline (300 marks, 3 hrs)
The candidate's own category — Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. Section-III of the notice carries each discipline's full syllabus (the contents of the Main examination's Paper-I and Paper-II together), to approximately the standard of an Engineering Degree Examination of an Indian University.
Stage-II: Engineering Services (Main) Examination (conventional type, 600 marks)
Syllabus, section by section
Paper-I and Paper-II: Engineering Discipline (300 marks each, 3 hrs each)
Both papers in the candidate's own category — Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. Section-III of the notice sets each discipline's syllabus separately for Paper-I and Paper-II, approximately to the standard of an Engineering Degree Examination of an Indian University; there is no practical examination in any subject.
Stage-III: Personality Test/Interview (200 marks)
Syllabus, section by section
Personality Test/Interview
Candidates who obtain the minimum qualifying marks fixed by the Commission in Stage-I and Stage-II are summoned — about twice the number of vacancies. Carries 200 marks with no minimum qualifying marks. Special attention is paid to the candidate's capacity for leadership, initiative and intellectual curiosity, tact and other social qualities, mental and physical energy, powers of practical application and integrity of character.