Which is the best optional subject for UPSC Civil Services Examination? How to find the right optional subject for you?
The decision of selection of the IAS Mains Optional is an age-old dilemma for Civil Services aspirants. As per the latest syllabus, the number of optional subjects to be selected is reduced to one, but aspirants are still confused if they make the right choice or not.
Though the weightage of the optional paper is only 500 marks out of 2025 marks as per the latest pattern of UPSC Civil Services exam, it is still a deciding factor in the final ranks due to the unpredictability associated with General Studies Papers (1000 marks GS + 250 marks essay) and Interview (275 marks).
How many marks are needed to clear the IAS Exam?
If we analyse the question papers and mark-list of the last 5-10 years of UPSC Civil Services Exams, we can collect a lot of interesting and valuable data.
The UPSC questions have evolved and now the bias is more towards current related aspects of polity, economy, international relations etc than conventional topics. (Please also keep in mind that there is no guarantee by UPSC that the case will remain the same for future exams!)
Due to the high standard of questions and valuation, the marks scored by top candidates is coming down every year. The percentage of top ranks in IAS exam has come down from 60% in the 2010s to around 55% now, while the last rank of a successful candidate in the General category is around 40% marks now .
There is every chance that the same trend of low scoring, tight competition to continue in coming years as well, as the weightage has shifted towards GS in new UPSC syllabus, which is low scoring (as of now!). It is at this juncture, one cannot take a casual approach regarding the selection of an optional subject for mains.
How crucial is the decision of IAS Mains Optional?
If you are so strong in all your GS papers with consistent newspaper reading and note-making habits, the decision of IAS Mains optional should not worry you much. But unfortunately, very few aspirants fall into the “strong GS” category of students and it’s not easy to get into the club without serious long term preparation.
For all others, ClearIAS.com call them “average GS” category, the decision of IAS Mains optional is very crucial. You need to select an optional subject in which you are comfortable to score high in UPSC mains. The level of comfort depends on many factors like the – familiarity of the subject, availability of books and other study materials, availability of faculty, the scope of peer discussion, recent trends of marks, the level of difficulty as per the syllabus and previous question papers etc.
If the subject you took for graduation is available in the list of subjects given, in most cases the same option will turn out as a comfortable option. All others (who don’t have an option for optional subject:-)), look for an optional subject which you can finish in a time-bound manner without encroaching the time for GS preparation.
Should you take an Optional Subject which overlaps with General Studies syllabus?
Selecting an overlapping optional with General Studies is a good strategy, as the time required to study an optional subject not mentioned as per GS syllabus can be saved. However, this case is not universally applicable though.
Take the case of Rachat Raj, UPSC 2013 Rank 3, who scored exceptionally well with Zoology optional. There are also many who made it to the top with optional subjects like Medical Science or Law. None of these overlaps with GS syllabus as subjects like History or Geography do.
Never take an optional just for the sole reason of GS overlap. Also never take an optional just based on advice from coaching institute gurus.
Trust good mentors, but by this age, you are grown up enough to realise the commercial interests behind promoting each optional subject – be it History, Geography, Sociology, Pub Ad, Psychology or anything like that.
Please understand that each and every optional subject is scoring. Due to the scaling effects, some optional might not turn high-scoring in some years, but there is no universal trend or theory. Your requirement is to score maximum marks for the optional subject as well as in GS. Time available, the effort required and the possibility of maximum marks are three crucial factors to consider before you select the option.
Optimisation of Optional Subject Marks and GS Marks
- Don’t take an overlapping optional if you are weak in it, there is every chance that it can turn counterproductive.
- Don’t take an optional subject which requires extensive preparation, if the time left before you is limited (say less than 4 months)
- A scoring overlapping optional subject, though which might require substantial preparation due to the vast nature of the syllabus can be adopted, if you have – background/ previous exposure in the subject, or if there is adequate time left. If you are running short of time, select an optional paper which requires less time for a decent level of preparation.
- If 1-2 years is available before the mains exam, a hardworking candidate might be able to finish standard textbooks of almost any optional subject. But compromising GS marks for Optional preparation can also turn suicidal, and hence not advised as per the latest pattern of the exam.
The most popular optional subject
In IAS exam preparation, certain optional subjects are very popular. The most popular optional subject, in the last 5-6 years, is Geography.
Though the number of candidates selecting each optional for IAS mains can vary year to year, the below table gives an average estimate for the coming years based on past year trends of optional subjects (As per latest syllabus).
| Optional Subject | The approximate number of candidates selecting each Optional Subject in IAS Mains |
| Geography | Around 3000 |
| History | Around 1500 |
| Public Administration | Around 1500 |
| Sociology | Around 1500 |
| Philosophy + Psychology + Political Science + Economics+ Anthropology | <3000 |
| All other science/art subjects (in total) | <1000 |
| All literature subjects (in total) | <1000 |
| Total | Around 12,000-15000 |
PS: The above chart is just indicative in nature as the trend varies every year.
The optional subject with the highest success rate
Analysing the records of candidates recommended, we found that medical science has consistently provided a high success ratio for candidates opted for it. Amongst the subjects opted by 100 or more candidates, the highest percentage of success is observed with candidates who had opted for Medical Science.
Optional subjects of the first rank holders
The never-ending questions and queries like best optional for IAS, scoring optional, highest success ratio etc queues up every year, but these questions are relative.
If you examine the background of toppers in the exam, you will be amazed to see wide representation from almost all optional papers listed by UPSC, and that itself tells half of the story.
Analysing previous year records, it can be seen that the optional subject chosen by UPSC toppers was all different. For example,
- In 2013, All India Rank 1, Gaurav Agrawal opted for Economics.
- In 2014, the topper Ira Singhal chose Geography as her optional subject.
- In 2015, Political Science was the optional subject of Tina Dabi, the topper then.
- In 2016, Nandini KR secured top rank with Kannada Literature as her optional subject.
- In 2017, Anthropology was the optional subject of Anudeep Durishetty.
- In 2018, Kanishak Kataria secured the top position opting for Mathematics as his optional subject.
Please keep in mind that all optional subjects are high scoring if you have knowledge in the subject and if you can answer the questions in an analytical frame of mind in line with the latest requirements of UPSC.
Conclusion
The decision of selecting the optional is a personal choice of each aspirant according to his/her strengths and weakness.
We get many queries from aspirants to select the right optional for them, but normally we don’t give personal advice regarding optional subject selection. Though we try to reply to most emails we get, it’s practically impossible for us to know each aspirant personally.
We know these queries are quite normal at the early stage of the preparation and we can understand the anxiety of every aspirant. But only you know your strength, weakness, taste and availability of study materials. We can give broad guidelines, but let the decision be yours.
Let this selection of optional subject be part of the decision-making process you will be starting soon in your career!
