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The UPSC holds the esteemed Civil Services/IAS examination. (Union Public Service Commission). There are three parts to the exam—Prelims, Mains, and Interview—and thousands of aspiring IAS candidates take part in it each year. The exam procedure is generally the same for each applicant. Choosing the ideal optional subject can mean the difference between success and failure in the IAS mains test, which consists of two 500-mark optional papers.
Discover which optional subjects have the best success rates in the IAS Exam and whether candidates should choose their optional subject based on current trends by reading on.
Optional Subjects for IAS 2024 Exam
Many variables must be considered before selecting the best optional subject for the UPSC mains exam, such as syllabi, time available for preparation, and so on. How Many Optional Subjects in IAS Mains is probably the first question on most aspirants’ minds. To learn how many optional subjects are offered and what they cover, click the link.
Success Rate of Optional Subjects in IAS Mains
1: Which one of the following is not a Harappan site?
UPSC Optional Subjects Success Rate 2017
The following table is based on the results of the 2017 civil services examination:
| Optional Subject | No. of Candidates Appeared | No. of Candidates Recommended | Success Rate Percentage |
| Assamese Lit. | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Nepali Lit. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Commerce & Accountancy | 224 | 28 | 12.5 |
| Bodo Lit. | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| Punjabi Lit. | 39 | 6 | 15.4 |
| Agriculture | 89 | 11 | 12.4 |
| Gujarati Lit. | 101 | 8 | 7.9 |
| Kannada Lit. | 115 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Marathi Lit. | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Medical Sciences | 313 | 32 | 10.2 |
| English Lit. | 21 | 2 | 9.5 |
| Urdu Lit. | 26 | 5 | 19.2 |
| Tamil Lit. | 107 | 5 | 4.7 |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Sciences | 23 | 2 | 8.7 |
| Economics | 233 | 16 | 6.9 |
| Psychology | 193 | 21 | 10.9 |
| Anthropology | 880 | 85 | 9.7 |
| Public Administration | 1165 | 119 | 10.2 |
| Sanskrit Lit. | 70 | 5 | 7.1 |
| Management | 86 | 7 | 8.1 |
| Malayalam Lit. | 111 | 8 | 7.2 |
| Physics | 140 | 14 | 10 |
| Political Science & International Relations | 1246 | 117 | 9.4 |
| Telugu Lit. | 72 | 1 | 1.4 |
| Geography | 2669 | 147 | 5.5 |
| Hindi Lit. | 267 | 19 | 7.1 |
| Sociology | 1421 | 137 | 9.6 |
| Chemistry | 126 | 11 | 8.7 |
| Geology | 37 | 2 | 5.4 |
| History | 1074 | 59 | 5.5 |
| Electrical Engineering | 193 | 19 | 9.8 |
| Law | 304 | 43 | 14.1 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 170 | 19 | 11.2 |
| Botany | 44 | 5 | 11.4 |
| Manipuri Lit. | 13 | 1 | 7.7 |
| Maithili Lit. | 78 | 5 | 6.4 |
| Philosophy | 755 | 53 | 7 |
| Zoology | 55 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Civil Engineering | 124 | 11 | 8.9 |
| Mathematics | 441 | 26 | 5.9 |
| Bengali Lit. | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Oriya Lit. | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sindhi Lit. | 2 | 1 | 50 |
| Statistics | 3 | 0 | 0 |
UPSC Optional Subjects Success Rate 2016
The data from the 2016 civil services examination is shown in the table below:
| Optional Subject | No. of Candidates Appeared | No. of Candidates Recommended | Success Rate Percentage |
| Assamese Lit. | 5 | 2 | 40 |
| Punjabi Lit. | 19 | 5 | 26.3 |
| Agriculture | 220 | 41 | 18.6 |
| Gujarati Lit. | 42 | 7 | 16.7 |
| Kannada Lit. | 84 | 14 | 16.7 |
| Marathi Lit. | 42 | 7 | 16.7 |
| Medical Sciences | 98 | 16 | 16.3 |
| English Lit. | 40 | 6 | 15 |
| Urdu Lit. | 29 | 4 | 13.8 |
| Tamil Lit. | 225 | 29 | 12.9 |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Sciences | 65 | 8 | 12.3 |
| Economics | 326 | 37 | 11.3 |
| Psychology | 1061 | 116 | 10.9 |
| Anthropology | 345 | 37 | 10.7 |
| Public Administration | 3301 | 337 | 10.5 |
| Sanskrit Lit. | 122 | 10 | 8.2 |
| Management | 13 | 1 | 7.7 |
| Malayalam Lit. | 67 | 5 | 7.3 |
| Pali Lit. | 255 | 18 | 7.1 |
| Physics | 239 | 16 | 6.7 |
| Political Science & International Relations | 1320 | 85 | 6.4 |
| Telugu Lit. | 147 | 9 | 6.1 |
| Geography | 4049 | 236 | 5.8 |
| Hindi Lit. | 974 | 56 | 5.7 |
| Sociology | 1555 | 89 | 5.7 |
| Chemistry | 124 | 7 | 5.6 |
| Geology | 36 | 2 | 5.6 |
| History | 3870 | 212 | 5.5 |
| Electrical Engineering | 74 | 4 | 5.4 |
| Law | 365 | 19 | 5.2 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 96 | 5 | 5.2 |
| Botany | 312 | 14 | 4.5 |
| Manipuri Lit. | 22 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Maithili Lit. | 25 | 1 | 4 |
| Philosophy | 2092 | 84 | 4 |
| Zoology | 484 | 18 | 3.7 |
| Civil Engineering | 35 | 1 | 3.9 |
| Mathematics | 277 | 8 | 2.9 |
| Arabic Lit. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bengali Lit. | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Dogri LIt. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Konkani Lit. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oria Lit. | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Persian Lit. | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Sindhi Lit. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Statistics | 14 | 0 | 0 |
The success rate for a select few literature pieces looks to be the highest, according to the data provided above. These success percentages should, however, be interpreted cautiously given the small proportion of candidates who chose those optionals in the IAS mains.
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UPSC Optional Subjects Success Rate 2015
The information from the 2015 civil services test is used in the table below. (This list does not include Literature optionals)
| Optional Subject | No. of Candidates Appeared | No. of Candidates Recommended | Success Rate Percentage |
| Medical Science | 235 | 55 | 23.4 |
| Economics | 269 | 51 | 19 |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science | 52 | 12 | 23.1 |
| Law | 246 | 42 | 17.1 |
| Agriculture | 122 | 20 | 16.4 |
| Commerce & Accountancy | 188 | 28 | 14.9 |
| Management | 167 | 24 | 14.4 |
| Geology | 28 | 4 | 14.4 |
| Botany | 104 | 12 | 11.5 |
| Zoology | 228 | 29 | 12.7 |
| Political Science & International Relations | 1107 | 121 | 10.9 |
| Chemistry | 104 | 11 | 10.6 |
| Civil Engineering | 47 | 5 | 10.6 |
| Sociology | 2490 | 230 | 9.2 |
| Philosophy | 1116 | 99 | 8.9 |
| History | 2090 | 174 | 8.3 |
| Psychology | 1163 | 92 | 7.9 |
| Geography | 4351 | 314 | 7.2 |
| Anthropology | 579 | 38 | 6.3 |
| Mathematics | 325 | 23 | 7.1 |
| Physics | 266 | 17 | 6.4 |
| Electrical Engineering | 126 | 8 | 6.3 |
| Public Administration | 7077 | 359 | 5.1 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 64 | 3 | 4.7 |
| Statistics | 16 | 1 | 6.3 |
UPSC Optional Subjects Success Rate 2014
We have provided the UPSC 2014 Optional Success Rate as provided by the commission-
| Optional Subject | Number of Candidates Appeared Recommended | Number of Candidates Recommended | Success Rate Percentage |
| Literature of Santhali Language | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| Law | 144 | 35 | 24.3 |
| Economics | 188 | 38 | 20.2 |
| Literature of Urdu Language | 28 | 5 | 17.9 |
| Literature of Bengali Language | 6 | 1 | 16.7 |
| Statistics | 6 | 1 | 16.7 |
| Literature of English Language | 30 | 5 | 16.7 |
| Medical Science | 293 | 48 | 16.4 |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science | 32 | 5 | 15.6 |
| Botany | 50 | 7 | 14.0 |
| Management | 16723 | 13.8 | |
| Civil Engineering | 54 | 7 | 13.0 |
| Literature of Gujarati Language | 64 | 8 | 12.5 |
| Literature of Kannada Language | 75 9 | 12.0 | |
| Anthropology | 449 | 53 | 11.8 |
| Electrical Engineering | 11313 | 11.5 | |
| Literature of Punjabi Language | 54 6 | 11.1 | |
| Literature of Maithili Language | 84 9 | 10.7 | |
| Literature of Tamil Language | 758 | 10.7 | |
| Literature of Oriya Language | 10 1 | 10.0 | |
| Zoology | 92 9 | 9.8 | |
| Psychology | 34834 | 9.8 | |
| Sociology | 1647 | 150 | 9.1 |
| Agriculture | 77 | 7 | 9.1 |
| Physics | 147 | 13 | 8.8 |
| Literature of Malayalam Language | 69 | 6 | 8.7 |
| Philosophy | 73658 | 7.9 | |
| History | 1303 | 100 | 7.7 |
| Commerce & Accountancy | 20015 | 7.5 | |
| Chemistry | 85 6 | 7.1 | |
| Geology | 151 | 6.7 | |
| Mechanical Engineering | 60 4 | 6.7 | |
| Public Administration | 2840 | 176 | 6.2 |
| Political Science & International Relations | 65140 | 6.1 | |
| Mathematics | 32920 | 6.1 | |
| Geography | 3158 | 178 | 5.6 |
| Literature of Sanskrit Language | 71 | 4 | 5.6 |
| Literature of Manipuri Language | 20 | 1 | 5.0 |
| Literature of Telugu Language | 93 | 4 | 4.3 |
| Literature of Hindi Language | 284 | 12 | 4.2 |
| Literature of Marathi Language | 26 | 1 | 3.8 |
| Literature of Dogri Language | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Literature of Sindhi (Devanagari) Language | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Literature of Assamese Language | 2 | 0 | 0.0 |
How to select the best optional subject for UPSC
- Begin with the syllabus of a few subjects.
- Check the UPSC 2023 exam success rates.
- Shortlist further based on personal background/interests
- Consider how much time you have available for the optional tasks.
- Check to see if the optional subject overlaps with any other IAS test sections. (Prelims, GS papers in mains, Essay)
- Look at the availability of good study resources and instructors
