UPSC Civil Services · Essay

The UPSC Essay Paper

Time: Three hours
Marks: 250

The Essay paper is Paper I of Mains. It carries 250 marks, the same as each General Studies paper.

The paper


Time	3 hours
Marks	250
Sections	A and B, four topics in each
You write	One essay from each section
Length	1000 to 1200 words per essay
Marks per essay	125

What UPSC asks for

This is the instruction printed for the Essay paper:

Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.

What each part means when you write:

UPSC says	What to do
Keep closely to the subject	Answer the topic as written. Do not drift into a related subject you know better
Arrange ideas in orderly fashion	Plan before you write. Each paragraph should follow from the one before
Write concisely	Make each point once. Cut sentences that repeat or only decorate
Effective and exact expression	Use plain words and short sentences. Be specific: a named example beats a general claim

What the topics look like

Each topic is one sentence: a claim, a saying or a metaphor. Most do not name a syllabus area. In 2020 to 2026 they ran from 4 to 18 words.

We sorted all 56 topics from those years by form. The form tells you how to start.

Form	Share	Example (ours, not a past topic)	How to start
A plain claim	68%	Good intentions are not a policy.	Decide how far you agree, and where the claim stops being true
Two ideas together	14%	Progress is measured in machines, but felt by people.	Deal with both halves. Say how they relate
A metaphor	13%	A river that forgets its source runs dry.	Rewrite it as a plain claim before you plan
An all-or-nothing claim	5%	No reform survives without a crisis.	Find the exception first. Your argument starts there

Section A or Section B

Both sections set all four forms. These are the counts for 2020 to 2026.

Form	Section A	Section B
A plain claim	21	17
Two ideas together	3	5
A metaphor	3	4
An all-or-nothing claim	1	2

Read all eight topics before you choose. Pick the one in each section you have most to say about.

How to spend the three hours

Step	Time
Read all eight topics and choose two	10 minutes
Plan the first essay	20 minutes
Write the first essay	60 minutes
Plan the second essay	20 minutes
Write the second essay	60 minutes
Read both through	10 minutes

Plan on the answer sheet. A plan is a one-line position and five or six points in order, each with the example you will use.

How to write it

Read the topic closely. Put it in your own words. If you cannot, choose another topic.
Take a clear position. Say where you stand in the introduction. Agree in part, and say where the claim stops being true.
Choose a frame for the body. Past, present and future. Or by sector: social, economic, political. Or problem, then remedy. Pick the one that fits the topic.
Make each paragraph do one job. One point, one example that supports it, one sentence linking it back to your position.
Answer the strongest objection. Give one paragraph to the best case against your position, then say why you still hold it.
Open on a person or a scene. Keep the introduction to 120 to 150 words.
End on what should happen next. If you opened on a person, come back to them.

Mistakes that cost marks

Mistake	What to do instead
Writing about the subject instead of the claim	Check that your plan argues the topic's claim, and would not fit a different topic
Opening with a dictionary definition	Open with a person, a place or an event
Examples listed, not explained	One example per point, with a sentence on what it shows
The same few famous examples	Use cases from Indian states, districts and recent reports
Quotes that do not fit the argument	Use a quote only if your paragraph needs it
No position	State it in the introduction and return to it in the conclusion
Not practising against the clock	Write each essay in 80 minutes, by hand: 20 to plan, 60 to write