Qualifying English Paper · Subtopic
Short essays
Official syllabus
QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH The aim of the paper is to test the candidates' ability to read and understand serious discursive prose, and to express ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian language concerned. The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows: (i) Comprehension of given passages. (ii) Precis Writing. (iii) Usage and Vocabulary. (iv) Short Essays. Indian Languages:— (i) comprehension of given passages. (ii) Precis Writing. (iii) Usage and Vocabulary. (iv) Short Essays. (v) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice-versa. Note 1:The papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature only. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking. Note 2:The candidates will have to answer the English and Indian Languages papers in English and the respective Indian language (except where translation is involved).
UPSC CSE 2026 notification
What this covers
A short English essay should stay with its prompt and develop a modest, coherent argument. An illustrative example is useful only when it advances a stated point.
Key ideas
- prompt interpretation
- thesis
- cohesion
- revision