Types of Questions in Prelims Paper 1
Since 2023 paper, UPSC has been asking new type of questions, which as added uncertainty while choosing options. Here’s what our research says on types of questions UPSC asks in Paper-1. For sake of this study, question types are as follows:
Type 1: Simple Questions followed by four options. No sentences 1, 2 3 or pairs.
Type 2: Questions with sentences 1, 2, 3 or pairs 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. and options asking ' WHICH of the above are correct/incorrect' etc. The options are like 1 only, 1 and 3 only etc.
Type 3: These are questions which UPSC briefly introduced in 2022, and then flooded the 2023 paper with. These are similar to Type 2, but instead of asking WHICH , these questions ask ' HOW MANY of the above sentences are correct/incorrect' etc. The options are like one only, two only, three only etc.
Type 4: These questions have two (or at times three) statements i.e. Statement I and Statement II, and then there are four standard options i.e. 1st statements is correct and 2nd is correct explanation... etc.
Any conclusion on basis of above table?
Posted Feb 26, 2026, 7:56 AM UTC