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The UPSC Prelims Exam 2024 was conducted on June 16, 2024, and we provide a thorough analysis of the exam, covering the pattern, level of difficulty, subject-wise breakdown, prelims cut-off, and the benefits of this analysis.

Exam Overview

According to the UPSC commission, the 2024 IAS Prelims exam was more challenging than the previous year. The overall difficulty was rated as Moderate to Difficult.

Exam Pattern

The UPSC Prelims 2024 Exam was divided into two parts, each lasting two hours:

1. Paper 1 (Session 1): General Studies topics.
2. Paper 2 (Session 2): CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test).

The overall difficulty level of both papers was estimated to be moderate to difficult, based on last year’s analysis.

Detailed Analysis of GS Papers 1 and 2

• GS Paper 1:

  • Difficulty Level: Moderate
  • Key Topics: Geography and Environment
  • Note: The elimination process was less effective this year, making it harder to exclude incorrect options.

• GS Paper 2 (CSAT):

  • Difficulty Level: Moderate to Difficult
  • Note: Quantitative Aptitude was particularly challenging for some candidates.

Scoring and Penalties

• Paper 1:

  • Total Marks: 200
  • Number of Questions: 100
  • Negative Marking: 0.66 marks per wrong answer

• Paper 2 (CSAT):

  • Total Marks: 200
  • Number of Questions: 80
  • Negative Marking: 0.83 marks per wrong answer

Both papers are mandatory to qualify for the prelims result. CSAT requires a minimum of 33% (66.67 marks) to qualify, while qualification for Paper 1 is based on the cutoff marks (merit list).