UPSC Prelims 2025 Analysis
UPSC Prelims Answer Key
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UPSC Prelims 2025 Analysis
Subject-wise weightage
subject | Number of questions |
---|---|
Ancient History | 6 |
Art & Culture | 2 |
Economy | 18 |
Environment & Ecology | 15 |
Indian Geography | 1 |
Indian Polity | 14 |
International Relations | 8 |
Modern History | 8 |
Physical Geography | 7 |
Science & Technology | 13 |
Social Issues & Schemes | 3 |
World Geography | 5 |
Grand Total | 100 |
Polity: High representation with 14 questions, focusing on constitutional articles, governance, and recent amendments. Analytical abilities were essential to tackle assertion-based and statement-type questions.
Economy: Approximately 18 questions, focusing on conceptual clarity and application based questions and policies. A mix of static concepts from NCERT and dynamic updates was necessary.
Environment & Ecology: 15 questions, with a strong emphasis on climate change, international agreements, international bodies and conservation efforts. Match the following questions played a significant role in this section.
History: 16 questions, balanced between ancient, medieval, and modern. Many questions required a combination of NCERT knowledge and historical maps for better context. Modern history was doable if student is clear with standard resources and timeline.
Geography: 10-13 questions, mostly applied concepts like map-based and environmental geography questions.
Science & Technology: 13 questions, leaning towards application-based knowledge on recent innovations and space technology. Current affairs played vital role.
Current Affairs: 15-18 questions, interwoven with other subjects, often requiring assertion-reasoning skills to connect facts.

Difficulty-wise breakdown
- Easy: ~33% of questions were straightforward and could be attempted with basic NCERT knowledge.
- Moderate: ~35% required analytical abilities, conceptual clarity, and elimination tactics.
- Difficult: ~32% were tricky, involving multi-layered reasoning or obscure facts.

Type of questions
Question type | Number of questions |
---|---|
Direct | 26 |
Assertion | 12 |
Multi-statement | 62 |

Subject-Wise Answer Key
QUESTION 1
Fa-hien (Faxian), the Chinese pilgrim, travelled to India during the reign of
A. Samudragupta
B. Chandragupta II
C. Kumaragupta I
D. Skandagupta
QUESTION 2
With reference to ancient India (600–322 BC), consider the following pairs:
Territorial region – River flowing in the region I. Asmaka : Godavari II. Kamboja : Vipas III. Avanti : Mahanadi IV. Kosala : Sarayu
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
A. Only one
B. Only two
C. Only three
D. All the four
QUESTION 3
Ashokan inscriptions suggest that the 'Pradesika', 'Rajuka' and 'Yukta' were important officers at the
A. village-level administration
B. district-level administration
C. provincial administration
D. level of the central administration
QUESTION 4
Who among the following led a successful military campaign against the kingdom of Srivijaya?
A. Amoghavarsha (Rashtrakuta)
B. Prataparudra (Kakatiya)
C. Rajendra I (Chola)
D. Vishnuvardhana (Hoysala)
QUESTION 5
Who among the following rulers in ancient India had assumed the titles 'Mattavilasa', 'Vichitrachitta' and 'Gunabharata'?
A. Mahendravarman I
B. Simhavishnu
C. Narasimhavarman I
D. Simhavarman
QUESTION 6
The irrigation device called 'Araghatta' was
A. a water bag made of leather pulled over a pulley
B. a large wheel with earthen pots tied to the outer ends of its spokes
C. a larger earthen pot driven by bullocks
D. a large water bucket pulled up by rope directly by hand