Dear Aspirant,

UPSC provides a list of optional subjects. Candidates have to choose one optional for the mains exam. The optional subject has two papers and each paper accounts for 250 marks. The paper for optional subject is descriptive in nature.

There is vast range of subjects you can choose from as your optional subject such as, Agriculture to Zoology to Geography to regional languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Marathi etc.

Candidates must be very cautious while choosing their optional subject, as it can make or break your ultimate score. While choosing make sure you have a good knowledge in the subject. Look at the syllabus for all the subjects, see which ones you can manage to study and retain and make a choice based on it. If you find a particular subject easier than the other prefer that.