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UPSC CSE Prelims 202624 May 2026

Everything the data says
about UPSC Prelims 2026

Four years of tagged GS Paper 1 and CSAT questions, turned into strategy, pattern analysis, and — after 24 May — a full paper breakdown the same evening.

100GS questions per paper
80CSAT questions per paper
negative marking per wrong answer
66GS cut-off General, 2025
2026 paper — first look

GS Paper 1, 2026 — decoded

90 questions tagged, analysed, and cross-referenced with four years of pattern data. Here is what the paper looked like.

GS Paper 1 · 2026 · Preliminary analysisLive

Based on 90 tagged questions · Q91–100 pending

29%
Hard questions
vs 40–45% in 2023–24
36%
Current-affairs-linked
static dominates at 64%
8
Red Bouncers
skip these to protect marks
20
Entity Swap traps
most common trap type

Subject distribution

History
19
Economy
14
Science & Technology
13
Polity
12
Current Affairs
11
Environment
9
Geography
7
International Relations
5
📚

History-heavy paper

19 questions — highest share. Ancient and Medieval India dominated. Environment (9) lower than the 2022–25 average of 12.

⚠️

Entity Swap the top trap

20 questions used name/institution swaps. If you read too fast and missed the specific entity, you likely lost marks here.

🎯

Easier than 2023

Only 29% Hard questions vs 45% in 2023. More Green Bouncers (56%) — a favourable paper for prepared aspirants.

Explore the data yourself

Four years of GS Paper 1, open to explore

The analysis behind every article is drawn from the same tagged dataset that is open on the platform. If you want to verify a claim, run your own counts, or explore a specific sub-topic — the data is right there.

By subject

Subject-level data for last-minute review

Each year page breaks down its paper by subject, type, and difficulty — and lets you read every question with the official answer and explanation.

Post-exam analysis
LiveGS Paper 1

UPSC Prelims 2026 — GS Paper 1 X-Ray

100 questions tagged. Subject distribution, trap anatomy, bouncer ratings, and elimination paths for every question.

Open X-Ray
19qHistory surged to
26×Entity Swap traps
55%Safe to attempt
10Red bouncers
LiveCSAT Paper II

UPSC Prelims 2026 — CSAT Paper II X-Ray

80 questions tagged. Trap anatomy, bouncer ratings by section, and the insight no coaching institute surfaces: Analytical Reasoning had a 62% Red bouncer rate.

Open X-Ray
40%Calculation Traps
0RC Red bouncers
62%Analytical Red rate
62%Safe to attempt
About this data. All analysis on this page is drawn from 400+ GS Paper 1 and CSAT questions tagged across 2022–2025. Every question is tagged by subject, sub-topic, type, difficulty, and nature (Static / Hybrid / Current-affairs-linked). The tagging is done by hand; the methodology is described on the about page. Cut-off data is from UPSC's official notifications.