UPSC Prelims 2024 Question Paper & Analysis
Get the UPSC Prelims Previous Year Question (PYQ) Paper with subject-wise trends, difficulty analysis, and detailed model answers — including diagrams, flowcharts, and structured writing for GS.
Subject-wise MCQ Distribution
Difficulty Analysis
Type of questions
Key Insights
- Indian Polity, Environment & Ecology, Economy carried the highest weightage, together accounting for 45% of the paper.
- The paper strongly favoured statement-based questions — multi-statement and assertion-reasoning questions together made up 73% of the paper, making careful reading and elimination especially important.
- The paper was largely easy to moderate in difficulty, with 82% of questions falling in the easy or medium range and only 18% classified as hard.
- Questions were spread across 13 subject areas, making broad syllabus coverage important rather than relying on a few traditionally dominant subjects.
- The question format demanded more than direct recall, with only 27% of questions being direct, while most required evaluating multiple statements or reasoning through assertions.
PYQs with Detailed Answers
- View Answer for: With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets? Nayaputta Shakyamuni TathagataSelect the correct answer using the code given below:
With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets?
- Nayaputta
- Shakyamuni
- Tathagata
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- View Answer for: Consider the following information: Archaeological Site | State | Description ---|---|--- 1. Chandraketugarh | Odisha | Trading Port town 2. Inamgaon | Maharashtra | Chalcolithic site 3. Mangadu | Kerala | Megalithic site 4. Salihundam | Andhra Pradesh | Rock-cut cave shrines In which of the above rows is the given information correctly matched ?
Consider the following information:
Archaeological Site State Description 1. Chandraketugarh Odisha Trading Port town 2. Inamgaon Maharashtra Chalcolithic site 3. Mangadu Kerala Megalithic site 4. Salihundam Andhra Pradesh Rock-cut cave shrines In which of the above rows is the given information correctly matched ?
- View Answer for: Consider the following statements: There are no parables in Upanishads. Upanishads were composed earlier than the Puranas.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements:
- There are no parables in Upanishads.
- Upanishads were composed earlier than the Puranas.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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