The UPSC Optional Subject List is a critical aspect of the Civil Services Examination and choosing the Best Optional Subject for UPSC will help the aspirants to score well in the exam. UPSC allows candidates to choose one optional subject from a diverse range of options, enabling them to specialize in an area of their interest or expertise. Selecting the right optional subject for UPSC plays a significant role in shaping an aspirant's strategy and performance in the examination. Here, we provide the complete list of 48 UPSC optional subjects to help candidates make informed decisions regarding their UPSC preparation. Additionally, we'll explore how to determine the best optional subject for the UPSC CSE exam by looking at the previous year trends. So, let's begin!

Complete List of 48 Optional Subjects in UPSC

Below is the list of 48 UPSC Optional Subjects that you can choose from.

1. Agriculture
2. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
3. Anthropology
4. Botany
5. Chemistry
6. Civil Engineering
7. Commerce and Accountancy
8. Economics
9. Electrical Engineering
10. Geography
11. Geology
12. History
13. Law
14. Management
15. Mathematics
16. Mechanical Engineering
17. Medical Science
18. Philosophy
19. Physics
20. Political Science and International Relations
21. Psychology
22. Public Administration
23. Sociology
24. Statistics
25. Zoology
26. Assamese
27. Bengali
28. Bodo
29. Dogri
30. Gujarati
31. Hindi
32. Kannada
33. Kashmiri
34. Konkani
35. Maithili
36. Malayalam
37. Manipuri
38. Marathi
39. Nepali
40. Odia
41. Punjabi
42. Sanskrit
43. Santhali
44. Sindhi
45. Tamil
46. Telugu
47. Urdu
48. English

Choosing the best optional subject for the UPSC CSE exam can greatly impact your performance. We'll now delve into strategies and considerations to help you make this crucial decision.

Which Optional Subject is Best For UPSC Exam? 

Which Optional Subject is best for UPSC? - So, honestly, It is difficult to say which UPSC optional subject is the best! Choosing the right optional subject depends on your subject preference and interest. But as per previous year trends, some of the optional subjects like History, Political Science and International Relations, Sociology, Geography, Economics, and Public Administration are popular among the aspirants as they overlap with the General Studies (GS) Syllabus of both UPSC Prelims and Mains Stages.

Let's see what the Top 10 Optional Subjects for UPSC Exam 2024 in the below section.

Top 10 Optional Subjects For UPSC 2024

The Top 10 Optional Subjects for UPSC mentioned below have consistently shown good performance and are popular among UPSC aspirants. Do remember to choose an optional subject that aligns with your interests and strengths to excel in the exam.

Below is the list of the Top 10 UPSC Optional Subjects.

1. History
2. Public Administration
3. Geography
4. Political Science and International Relations (PSIR)
5. Sociology
6. Economics
7. Anthropology
8. Psychology
9. Philosophy
10. Literature Subjects (e.g., English, Hindi, etc.)

Most Opted Optional Subject For IAS Exam - Geography!

Previous Year trends indicate that around 4,000 UPSC Aspirants opted for Geography as an Optional Subject for UPSC Mains Exam. Every year, more than 10,000 candidates are selected to appear for the UPSC Civil Services Exam, and out of this amount approx. 30% of candidates select Geography as their optional subject choice in UPSC Mains.

Department of Personnel Training releases the official data representing the number of candidates who appeared in the civil services examination. The latest data available is for the year 2019.

The below table shows the number of candidates who have opted for various optional subjects from 2015 to 2019:

Best Optional Subjects For UPSC Based on Success Rates (UPSC 2019 Data)

Based on the analysis carried out on the optional subjects having high success rates in UPSC Mains 2019, it is clear that Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science a list of the Best Optional Subject for the UPSC IAS Mains Exam has been given below.

Most Scoring Optional Subject in UPSC Mains

Some of the optional subjects are the highest-scoring subjects in UPSC than the others. If we take a look at the previous results, UPSC toppers have scored more than 320 in both the technical and non-technical subjects.

• The reason behind perceiving certain subjects as low scoring is that the aspirants are not able to put in the required effort, or they have ended up choosing an optional subject that isn’t right for them.
• Technical subjects like Mathematics can fetch high marks, as the ‘subjectivity quotient’ is minimal.
• However, the non-technical subjects that have some amount of overlap with the GS syllabus benefit the candidates as they get more time for preparation, thereby increasing the score.
• By choosing a non-technical subject, candidates could cover it with self-learning and by working constantly on their writing skills.

Also, read How To Prepare History Optional Subject For UPSC? here.

Highest Scoring Literature Optional Subjects

Candidates with a strong background and interest in the literature may consider opting for these optional subjects to maximize their chances of success in the exam.

Success Rates of Optional Subject in UPSC CSE 2019

The Optional Subject-wise distribution of candidates, who appeared in the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2019 ( from the 71st Annual Report ) published by UPSC on 23 February 2022 and were recommended for an appointment with their success rate, is given in the below table.

How To Choose The Best UPSC Optional Subject For UPSC?

Choosing the best optional subject for UPSC Civil Services proves to be important. The optional subject helps increase the candidate’s confidence in scoring high marks on the exam. There are certain factors that help decide the best optional subject for the UPSC Mains exam. Before choosing a subject, try to answer the following questions.

• How extensive is the syllabus of the optional subject that you wish to choose?
• How much time do you have in hand for the preparation?
• How much knowledge of the subject do you have prior, at the graduate level?
• What portion of the syllabus overlaps with the General Studies part?
• Are the essential learning resources easily accessible?
• Have you gone through the trends of marks, the difficulty level and the previous year papers of the subject?
• Are you really interested and willing to learn the subject?

Once you arrive at the answers to these questions, you can make an individual choice for choosing your preferred optional subject for the UPSC exam.

Points To Remember While Choosing The Best Optional Subject For UPSC

• Draw up a list of 4-5 subjects that you feel you have an interest in.
• Go through the UPSC syllabus for each of the subjects and highlight the topics you think you know something about.
• Have a look at the previous year papers of the subjects in your list. Highlight the questions you are familiar with and measure the knowledge you have to answer them. This shows your compatibility with a particular subject.
• Carry out research on the availability of training material for a particular subject.
• If you are an engineering student and are good at your engineering subjects, choosing that as an optional subject will reduce the burden of preparing a new subject from scratch.
• Literature subjects have performed well in UPSC all these years. So, if you are a person having good command over your native language, it would be wiser to choose that as your optional subject.

Optional Subject With Most Overlap With GS Syllabus In UPSC Mains

The optional subjects that overlap with the General Studies paper might save some preparation time for the aspirant. Based on the previous trends of UPSC, both technical and non-technical subjects that overlap with the GS paper continue to be popular among UPSC aspirants.

Find the List of Optional Subjects in the below table that overlaps with General Studies.

UPSC Topper Optional Subject List

The table below provides the list of Optional Subject Selected by UPSC Toppers over the last 21 years.

Optional Subjects Having Top Success Rates in UPSC Mains

The below tables show the success rates of the optional subjects based on the recommendations of the candidates.

Success Rates of the Optional Subjects in UPSC Mains 2017

Success Rates of Literature as an Optional Subject in UPSC CSE 2017

Optional Subjects Success Rates In UPSC Mains 2016

Given below is the list of the optional subjects selected by aspirants who appeared for the UPSC 2016 Exam and were recommended:

Check out this article on UPSC Anthropology Syllabus and Exam Pattern

Success Rates Of Literature Optional Subjects In UPSC 2016

Given below is the list of the optional literature subjects selected by aspirants who appeared for the UPSC 2016 Exam and were recommended:

Concluding Remarks

• Based on the data, it is quite evident that there are certain subjects which are chosen by a large number of aspirants consistently over the years.
• The popularity of these subjects is primarily owed to the fact that there is a significant amount of syllabus overlap with the GS subjects. We can tell this conclusively because History, Geography, Political Science, International Relations and Sociology are among the optional subjects opted for the IAS Exam by a large number of candidates consistently.
• However, the success rates of these optional subjects are not consistent enough for drawing any inferences on the feasibility of choosing these as the best optional subjects for UPSC.

We hope that all your doubts regarding the Best Optional Subject for UPSC would have been cleared after going through this article. You can download the Testbook App now to check out various other topics relevant to the UPSC Exams.