Best Optional Subject for UPSC: How to Choose, With Success Data

UPSC doesn't name a best optional subject, and its own figures don't single one out: the subjects with the highest success rates changed between the two years it reports here. What UPSC does publish, in its Annual Reports, is how many candidates sat the mains with each optional and how many of them were finally recommended for appointment.

This page shows those figures for CSE 2022 and CSE 2021, the latest in UPSC's reports, explains what they can and can't tell you, and then sets out how to choose.

UPSC's figures, subject by subject

The table starts with the subjects most candidates took in CSE 2022. Tap or click a column heading to sort by it.

What the success rate measures

UPSC's success rate for a subject is the number of candidates recommended as a percentage of those who sat the mains with that optional. For Political Science and International Relations in CSE 2022, that was 187 of 2,378, or 7.9%. Across all subjects it was 1,020 of 12,775.

It is a rate of final selection, so it reflects everything those candidates did: their Essay and GS papers, their interview and their optional. It is not a measure of marks in the optional.

Why the numbers can't pick a subject for you

• Who chooses a subject shapes its rate. If well-prepared candidates favour a subject, its rate rises because of who they are, not because of the subject. The table can't separate the two.
• Small numbers swing. In CSE 2021, Manipuri Literature had 2 candidates and 1 was recommended, a rate of 50.0%. With 4 candidates in CSE 2022, its rate was 25.0%. UPSC's reports compare rates only among subjects taken by 100 or more candidates.
• Rates change from year to year. Among subjects with 100 or more candidates, Commerce and Accountancy had the highest rate in CSE 2021, 15.0%, but 9.8% the next year. Electrical Engineering went from 6.0% to 12.0%.
• The optional is two papers out of seven. It carries 500 of the 1,750 written marks, and the interview adds 275 more to the final total.
• UPSC moderates across subjects. The Government told the Rajya Sabha in March 2026 that UPSC applies inter-subject moderation so that no candidate is placed at a disadvantage by the optional chosen.

What the figures do show

• Which subjects are popular. Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) was the most chosen subject in both years: 2,378 candidates in CSE 2022 and 1,571 in CSE 2021. Sociology and Anthropology came next both times.
• The highest rates among the larger subjects. Among subjects taken by 100 or more candidates, UPSC's report for CSE 2022 names Hindi Literature (14.6%), Electrical Engineering (12.0%) and Medical Science (11.6%). For CSE 2021 it names Commerce and Accountancy (15.0%), Economics (13.2%) and Medical Science (12.2%). Only Medical Science is in both lists, with 199 and 196 candidates.
• Many candidates switch streams. In CSE 2022, 53.1% of recommended candidates came from engineering, but 84.1% of the optional subjects they took were humanities subjects, including literature. UPSC's report reads this as most candidates moving from their original stream to the humanities.

How to choose your optional

With no official answer to which subject is best, choose on what you can judge for yourself:

1. Read both papers' syllabus first. Every subject's syllabus is in the notice. Read all of it, not just the headings, before you decide. All 48 optional subjects
2. Look at past papers. UPSC's previous question papers show what each subject's papers actually ask. Try answering a few questions before you commit. Previous year papers
3. Weigh your background honestly. A subject you studied gives you a start, but for most subjects the notice sets the level above a bachelor's degree, so you will still need to go further. A new subject means starting from the beginning.
4. Check the overlap with GS. Some syllabi share ground with the GS papers. The PSIR syllabus covers Indian government and India's foreign policy, which GS II also covers, and the second Sociology paper is on Indian society, which is part of GS I. Read both syllabi to see how far the overlap goes. PSIR syllabus, Sociology syllabus
5. Be sure it will hold your interest. You will study it for months, alongside GS, so pick a subject you can keep reading about.
6. Check what help you can get. Find out what books, teachers and test papers are available to you in the subject, and in your medium if it isn't English.
7. Decide before you apply. You name your optional in the Exam Specific Form, and the notice says it can't be changed once the form is submitted.

A subject's success rate depends on who chose it, and UPSC's table can't separate that from the subject itself. Use the figures to understand the field, not to make the choice for you.