UPSC Pre26 had 99 (valid) questions and we need to know where did it come from?
Here’s a brief outlook
The split:
Subject-wise where the pain was:
Important takeaways:
CA = 41% of the paper
S&T and Environment combined had 27 questions. Of these, 19 were from CA. Can not afford to skip newspapers and a strong CA game, if you ask me!
Polity is a life saver:
10/12 Polity can be solved if you have good hold on basics. That means multiple revisions over and over again!
17% unknown is equally misleading for everyone
Yes, we saw Questions that waste time. We may not win it directly but little knowledge can help. HOWEVER, these Qs were where you put your guess games. eg: BIMSTEC, UN Peacekeeping, Kshetr-pani, Colombo Process. Such questions were meant to waste time. To test if you deal with them or just acknowledge:
every question has same 2 marks. fight the knowns, leave the bouncers.
CA Sources which UPSC (seemingly) referred to:
Monthly CA (any regular one): 30/40 CA questions are covered in any basic CA magazine. What you shall focus on is concise CA of your choice like this one
PIB Releases: every Q on scheme such as ONDC, Green Hydrogen, Genome, NQM, RGSA find its relevance in PIB. But it is too bulky to cover it! How to solve for it? CSEWhy Telegram, join here
RBI Publications: Just one look at these before you go for exam, a week prior, will help. You can find this too on csewhy telegram or find me on twitter here
MEA Releases: Questions on bilateral visits, ASEAN, BIMSTEC can be covered easily here or just relying on newspaper. again, I cover them on my Telegram
MoEFCC releases: no one is talking about this but I can confirm direct keywords picked from these resources - Madhav NP, REDD+, LT-LEDS etc. this can be covered same as RBI source stated in point 2
The Hindu/Indian Express: Most of above things find a placement in these two. I cover them both daily without a fail on my Telegram. Free initiative! Join here
Okay CSEWhy, what do you have for me as learnings from 2026 for 2027?
Don’t skip CA! If you do, you’re scoring out of 100 not 200. 50% low, before you even open the paper
If you’re doing JUST CA and skipping static, max you can hit is ~55 marks
Those who clear Pre know how/when to skip these 17% Qs and when to ‘guess’ on them
PYQs are highly relevant. 39% of the paper finds a callback in PYQs. You can cover GS1, CSAT & Mains PYQs from a single source for entire year here
Thanks for the analysis
Every year there is a new dimension introduced which was heavy on its side. Guess we have to play the game and do everything now.