UPSC GS Paper 3: what it asks
- Time
- Three hours
- Marks
- 250
Economy, agriculture, science and technology, the environment, internal security and disaster management.
The paper
| Questions | 20, all compulsory |
| Time | 3 hours, about 9 minutes a question |
| Marks | 250 |
| Questions 1 to 10 | 150 words, 10 marks each |
| Questions 11 to 20 | 250 words, 15 marks each |
How to approach this paper
Count the parts of the question, then split your words between them.
In 2020 to 2026, two in three GS Paper 3 questions asked for more than one thing, the most of any paper. About one in seven asked for the reasons for a problem and then measures to fix it.
| Question | Words for part one | Words for part two |
|---|---|---|
| 10 marks, 150 words | about 50 | about 50 |
| 15 marks, 250 words | about 85 | about 85 |
An answer that spends 200 of its 250 words on the reasons leaves 50 for the measures.
Example questions, by area
Written by us in the shape the paper sets. For real papers, see the official question papers.
| Area | A 10-mark question | A 15-mark question |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | Why has formal credit not reached small enterprises despite expansion in lending? | Examine why services exports have grown faster than goods exports, and suggest measures to narrow the gap. |
| Agriculture | What does assured procurement do to a farmer's choice of crop? | "Farm income policy has worked on prices and ignored risk." Discuss. |
| Science and technology | What does dependence on imported semiconductors cost beyond price? | Examine the barriers to indigenous defence manufacturing, and suggest measures. |
| Environment | Why do environmental clearances rarely change what gets built? | "Climate commitments are constrained by the energy access we have not yet delivered." Discuss. |
| Internal security | Which capability, rather than which law, is missing in financial crime enforcement? | Examine the obstacles to coordinated cyber security, and suggest measures. |
| Disaster management | What changes between relief and preparedness in how money is spent? | "Disaster management improved after each disaster and not before." Discuss. |
The same answer, written twice
Question. "Post-harvest losses of fruit and vegetables remain high despite growth in cold storage capacity. Examine the reasons and suggest measures." (250 words, 15 marks)
Two parts: reasons, then measures. After a short introduction and conclusion, about 85 words each.
| What an average answer says | What a strong answer says |
|---|---|
| Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. | Most cold storage was built for one crop, potatoes, so capacity grew where losses were already low. |
| Post-harvest losses are a major problem for farmers. | Fruit and vegetables are lost earlier, between the field and the first cold point. Pack-houses and refrigerated trucks are scarce there. |
| They are high due to lack of cold storage, poor roads, middlemen and lack of awareness. | A small farmer cannot fill a refrigerated truck alone, so the produce is sold at the farm gate the same day, at the buyer's price. |
| Government has launched schemes to promote food processing. | Measures: pack-houses at village clusters, run by farmer producer organisations, so small growers can pool a load. |
| A multi-pronged approach is needed involving all stakeholders. | Fund multi-crop storage and refrigerated transport under one scheme, so the chain is built as one piece. |
The average answer lists four reasons without explaining any, then offers measures that do not match them. The strong answer explains each reason and gives a measure for it.
What to do in each area
| Area | Do this | Not this |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | Name the step between the policy and the effect | Describe the policy |
| Agriculture | Follow the incentive the farmer actually faces | Describe the crop |
| Science and technology | Explain how it works in two lines, then what it changes | Explain only how it works |
| Environment | State the trade-off, then take a side | Say both matter |
| Internal security | Link the threat to the missing capability | List agencies |
| Disaster management | Write about the system | Narrate the last disaster |
Mistakes that cost most
| What candidates write | Why it costs | What to write instead |
|---|---|---|
| Two hundred words on the problem, fifty on the remedy | Half the marks are in the second half | Count the parts, then split the words |
| Measures that do not match the reasons given | Reads as two answers stapled together | One measure per reason, in the same order |
| Only how the technology works | Most questions also ask what it changes | The consequence of depending on it |
| A figure you are not sure of | A wrong number makes the examiner doubt the rest | The direction: "has fallen sharply since" |
Where to start
- The shape of a 15-mark answer
- Questions with no directive word, many of which ask for two things
- Today's question, and write one
How to answer it
A General Studies paper sets twenty compulsory questions in three hours.