UPSC Mains Language Paper
The Compulsory language paper in UPSC is one of the most critical but often overlooked papers. There are many myths, like it is easy to pass and it does not require separate preparation. However, such myths cost some candidates their attempt, and the whole year’s preparation went to waste.
UPSC Mains 2025 will start from 22 August 2025. Those candidates who qualified in the UPSC Prelims 2025 result will get the chance to attempt the UPSC Mains exam. Hence, it requires a clear understanding of the importance of a language paper and how to prepare it effectively.
Language Requirement in UPSC Mains
To gauge the language proficiency of the candidate for efficient official work and better public interection, UPSC has a language paper requirement in the UPSC Mains. In this, the candidate has to write two language papers, English and the Indian Language(chosen by the candidate during form filling).
What is language paper in UPSC Mains?
The UPSC Language paper consists of two language exams. Both papers are compulsory to clear. One of the papers is the English language exam. In this, candidates’ understanding and writing skills in the English language are tested. In this exam, questions such as essay writing, precise writing, translation, comprehension, grammar and vocabulary are expected.
Similar to english paper, the candidate has to write a exam in the Indian language from the 8th schedule, except for English.The language is generally chosen by the candidate during the form filling.
Similar to the English language exam, Indian language exam also has the same pattern of questions. But candidates are expected to write them in the Indian language like hindi,Marathi, Telugu , Tamil etc .They are expected to have a good understanding and writing skills in one Indian language apart from English.
Compulsory language Paper UPSC passing marks
These compulsory language papers are qualifying in nature. Meaning by that these papers are necessary to clear to get other mains paper evaluated. Failing to clear this paper can lead to the disqualification of a candidate, regardless of how well they have written the other papers. One important point to note here is that its marks are not counted for ranking in the final result.
Indian Languages in the 8th Schedule for IAS
The Indian language which IAS aspirants can choose is given below. For the Santhali language, the question paper will be in Devanagari script, but candidates will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki. Paper A is not compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
| Language | Script |
| Assamese | Assamese |
| Bengali | Bengali |
| Gujarati | Gujarati |
| Hindi | Devanagari |
| Kannada | Kannada |
| Kashmiri | Persian |
| Konkani | Devanagari |
| Malayalam | Malayalam |
| Manipuri | Bengali |
| Marathi | Devanagari |
| Nepali | Devanagari |
| Odia | Odia |
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi |
| Sanskrit | Devanagari |
| Sindhi | Devanagari or Arabic |
| Tamil | Tamil |
| Telugu | Telugu |
| Urdu | Persian |
| Bodo | Devanagari |
| Dogri | Devanagari |
| Maithili | Devanagari |
| Santhali | Devanagari or Olchiki * |
Reason why many fails in Language paper of UPSC
In recent times, where the English language has gained primacy in higher education, most students have become weak in the Indian language due to a lack of revision. But some lack basic writing skills and have poor grammar knowledge. This led to failure in the language paper. If the candidate fails the qualifying paper, then there will be an evaluation for the GS or the main exam. In a language qualifying exam, if the candidate has to pass 100+, it is a safe score to aspire for with basic preparation.
Step-by-Step Preparation Strategy for Lanuage paper of UPSC
Preparing for a language exam first requires the assessment of the current knowledge level. Hence, it is expected to solve the previous 5-year papers of the language exam to know your current level. It is important to know if you have basic, intermediate or fluent level skills in the language paper.
Note: Those candidate who generally chooses a different language other than the language they studied till matriculation must focus on the preparation for this exam.
In the second step, after getting the correct assessment, the candidate can start to read the NCERT, Reference book and government documents like PIB, Yojana, and Ministry documents in the Indian language so that a good vocabulary is built for the exam. You can also start writing translations for the editorial of a newspaper or a government document, as they are easily available in multiple languages.
Need for practice of Each type of the question for IAS Language paper
In a language exam, each type of question comes with certain restrictions which make answer writing tricky. Fro instance
- Essay Writing: In Essay Writing, there is a limitation on the number of words that need to be adhered to. This word limitation is more than a long answer and less than the actual essay paper requirement. Hence, it becomes difficult to write this in the given word limit due to a lack of practice.
- Comprehension Answering comprehension questions is the easiest part for students, as they have already practised it in MCQ in a different form. Here, they have to write the correct answer instead of marking it right.
- Precis writing is again a tricky question, as most of the candidates do write it in daily practice. It was mostly attempted during the school days. Writing a precis for a large paragraph can make it further complicated by writing each word in a box. In the answer sheet, there will be a limited rectangular boxes in which a candidate has to write. These boxes are limited, hence any cutting can be very dangerous as you will run out of space to write the answer. So this is one of the trickiest question which need to be practised thoroughly
- The translation question is again a difficult part to attempt for two reasons. One is the limitation of vocabulary, and the other is the limitation in the exact expression of a sentence in the translated language. But with sufficient practice, one can master it easily. In this, the student has to translate the given content in English and, in another question, translate English content into the Indian language.
- Grammar: In this question, like fill in the blanks, active/passive voice, Synonyms conversion, etc, are asked. This requires a revision of the basics from a grammar book.
Paper Attempting Strategy for Laugage paper of Mains
Each paper is worth 300 marks. Minimum qualifying marks are 75, which is 25% of the total marks. Before exploring the paper’s attempted strategy, we should look into the weightage of each question.
Question-wise breakup of the Language paper
- Essay 100 Marks
- Comprehension 60 Marks
- Precis Writing 60 Marks
- Translation 40 Marks: One is from an Indian Language to English, and the Other is from English to an Indian language.
- Grammer 40 Marks
On analysing question marks’ weightage, it is very much clear that properly practising essay, Comprehension and Precis writing alone can help you to clear the paper, hence they need to be attempted with priority. However, the role of Translation and Grammar can not be neglected to secure the mark on the safer side.
Language-Specific Tips
Here are some tips specifically for different languages.
- Hindi Language paper: Stick to formal vocabulary and avoid filmi tone in the sentences.
- Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada: In sentences, use basic literary registers.
- Urdu: In Urdu, avoid Persianized words.
- Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, etc: In this, the focus is on script clarity and simple sentence structure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that with consistent practice, this paper can be cleared easily. However, ignoring it can cost you entire years.
FAQ
- Is the language paper compulsory for UPSC?
Ans. Yes, the language paper is compulsory in the UPSC Mains examination. Language paper marks in UPSC are 300 each for English and the Indian Language exam. Qualifying marks for the language paper in UPSC are 75 marks, i.e 25%.
2. If i fail in language paper will by rest of the paper will get evaluated ?
Ans. No , if you fail to gain the minimum marks , then rest of the paper will not be getting evaluated in UPSC Mains.
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