UPSC Civil Service Exam (CSE) Pattern:
| Prelims Exam | ||
| Paper | Subject | Syllabus |
| 1 | General Studies I | Current events of national and international importance. History of India and Indian National Movement. Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization. General Science. |
| 2 | General Studies II (CSAT) | Comprehension, Interpersonal skills including communication skills Logical reasoning and analytical ability Decision making and problem-solving General mental ability Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.), (Class X level), data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. Class X level) |
| Mains Exam | ||
| A | Compulsory Indian language | Any one Language out of Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam , Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit |
| B | English | Comprehension of given passages, Precis Writing, Usage and Vocabulary, Short Essays |
| 1 | Essay | Two essays of 1000-1200 words |
| 2 | GS I | Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society |
| 3 | GS II | Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations |
| 4 | GS III | Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management |
| 5 | GS IV | Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude |
| 6 | Optional I | Any one Subject out of: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce and Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology. |
| 7 | Optional II | |
For Indian Forest Service exam (IFoS) any two optional subjects are to be selected out of following:
Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Forestry, Geology, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Statistics, Zoology
Provided that the candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combination of subjects:
(a) Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering (b) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
(c) Agriculture and Forestry. (d) Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (e) Mathematics and Statistics.
(f) Of the Engineering subjects viz. Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering
and Mechanical Engineering—not more than one subject;
ZOOLOGY UPSC 2018 OPTIONAL STRATEGY
Zoology optional pros:
1) No Surprises: Being technical subject almost no surprises in question papers
2) Repeated Questions: Many questions repeated every year. Only previous years questions can help you attempt more than 80% question paper.
3) Scoring: For those having Graduation/Masters in subjects related to Life Science/Biology, the syllabus becomes easy to understand. It is not subjective and can fetch good marks provided the answers are presented correctly and neatly. You can also increase your score through neat and well-labelled diagrams.
4) Well-defined syllabus: Zoology has a well-defined syllabus which is also pretty much static in nature.
5) Help in General Studies:
There are some portions of the zoology syllabus which can help in the General Studies papers.
Ecology (Paper 1) – biosphere, ecosystem, population, biodiversity, wildlife of India, remote sensing for sustainable development, environmental biodegradation, Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation
Economic Zoology (Paper 1) – agriculture, major infectious and communicable diseases, cattle and livestock diseases, pests
Cell Biology: (Paper 2)
Evolution (Paper 2)
Cons:
1) Vast Syllabus
2) Even if notes are available no concise collection
3) Limited guidance
Analysing previous years question pattern is very important as many questions are repeated every year. I have sorted entire Zoology syllabus and previous 22 years questions according to microtopics under every syllabus point. You will get it under next chapter.
There are two papers given in the syllabus. We need to simplify and rearrange the order of chapters given in this syllabus. I am giving a proper sequence of these chapters from both the papers combinely.
Following this order will make it easy to study zoology.
Aspirants who have sufficient knowledge of the syllabus, need not to follow this order because main reason of this rearrangement is to get yourself well acquainted with zoology.
- Cell biology- Paper 2
- Biochemistry- Paper 2
- Genetics- Paper 2
- Development Biology-Paper 2
- Systematics Paper 2
- Evolution Paper 2
- Physiology Paper 2
- Non Chordata And Chordata Paper 1
- Ethology Paper 1
- Ecology Paper 1
- Economic Zoology-Paper 1
- Biostatistics Paper 1
- Instrumentation Methods-Paper 1
This will be an easier approach to study zoology as the concept are adding your biology knowledge step by step.
How much can you score in Zoology?
Do you know 2008 UPSC CSE topper Dr. Kartik Adapa (AIR 1) has scored the maximum marks in UPSC exam in the year 2008. He fetched total marks of 1458 in 2300. He scored 63.3% marks in UPSC IAS Exam. In this exam he scored 406/600 for his Zoology optional subject. That means if you are ready to deal with the vast syllabus of Zoology then no score and rank is out of reach.
Few other Toppers with UPSC CSE Zoology Marks:
| Name | AIR | Year | Score |
| Rachit Raj | 3 | 2013 | 272 |
| Rena Jamil | 380 | 2018 | 303 |
| Kajal Jawla | 28 | 2018 | 303 |
| Pooja Yadav | 174 | 2018 | 325 |
UPSC CSE Topper Marks of Other Optional Subjects:
| Year | Name | Optional Subject | Total Marks |
| 2018 | Kanishak Kataria | Mathematics | 361 |
| 2017 | Anudeep Durishetty | Anthropology | 318 |
| 2016 | Nandini KR | Kannada Lit. | 331 |
| 2015 | Tina Dabi | Political Science | 299 |
| 2014 | Ira Singhal | Geography | 307 |
If you compare the UPSC CSE topper’s marks of last five years it can be said that it come at around 324 marks. And in 2018 you can see in table Pooja Yadav got 325 marks with the topper having 361 marks in optional. So even if there is a difference of 36 marks with topper with more hard work you can be among top 3. Rachit Raj who secured AIR 3 in 2013 is the leading example. Many students have scored well in the range 250-350 with zoology as optional.
So, if you are ready to do hard work with smart work and commitment towards covering max syllabus, no on e can stop you from scoring 300+ in Zoology.