UPSC 2016 Prelims and Mains Question Paper – Download PDF with Solutions
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: September 20th, 2023
UPSC question paper 2016 was released by the Union Public Service Commission on its official website. The UPSC prelims exam 2016 was held on 7th August 2016 while the mains were held from December 3, 2016, to December 9, 2016. As per the exam analysis, the UPSC question paper 2016 for the prelims exam saw a good amount of questions on current affairs and the environment which was a shift from past years.
Candidates must go through the UPSC question paper 2016 properly so that they can get an idea of important topics which always come in the exam and can prepare accordingly. Let’s check out the detailed analysis of the UPSC Question paper 2016 and be prepared for your upcoming exam.
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UPSC Question Paper 2016
As we all know there UPSC conducts Prelims exam to find eligible candidates for the UPSC Mains exam. In the Prelims stage, there are only two papers, and in the Mains exam, there are a total of 9 subjects. Below we will be covering the question papers for both Mains and Prelims exams so candidates can check out the paper pattern and exam pattern of UPSC Question Paper 2016.
UPSC 2016 Prelims Question Paper
In the UPSC 2016 Prelims question paper, there are two papers- General Studies Paper 1 and General Studies Paper-2( CSAT). While CSAT is qualifying in nature, the marks scored in GS-1 is considered for the merit list. Below we will be providing the direct link to download the UPSC question paper 2016 for Prelims of both General Studies-1 and General Studies-2.
UPSC question paper 2016: Prelims Subject wise Analysis
UPSC Paper 2016 usually focused on current affairs and conceptual concepts. Here we have given the Section-wise analysis of the UPSC Question paper in the tabular format.
| Subject-Topic | No of Questions | Difficulty-Level |
| Art and Culture | 6 | Moderate |
| Ancient and medieval History | 3+3 | Easy to moderate |
| Indian National Movement | 5 | Easy |
| India and World Geography | 2 | Easy |
| Indian Polity and Governance | 5 | Easy |
| Economy | 28 | high |
| Environmental & Ecology | 22 | Moderate |
| Science and Technology | 10 | Moderate |
| Current Events of National and International Importance | 16 | Moderate |
UPSC 2016 Mains Question Paper
As we have mentioned above UPSC Mains has a total of 9 papers. Among these 9 papers two are qualifying in nature, four are General Studies, and two are optional subject papers. The qualifying papers are Compulsory Indian Langue (Paper-A) and English Language (Paper-B). Candidates can choose any Indian language from the given list by UPSC. Below we will be covering the UPSC Question Paper 2016 Mains for each paper.
UPSC Question Paper 2016 Mains for Paper-A and B
These compulsory papers are qualifying in nature and one needs to score at least 25% to qualify. Candidates must remember that if they fail to qualify these papers then their other papers won’t be evaluated. Candidates can download the UPSC Question Paper 2016 for both compulsory papers below.
>>UPSC Question Paper 2016 for English Language( Paper-B)
Below we have mentioned the subjects and their question paper in UPSC 2016. Candidates can pick any subject from this given list.
| UPSC Question Paper 2016 for Indian Language | ||
| Assamese | Marathi | Sanskrit |
| Urdu | Bengali | Kannada |
| Nepali | Santhali | Telugu |
| Dogri | Maithili | Bodo |
| Hindi | Gujarati | Malayalam |
| Punjabi | Oriya | Tamil |
| Sindhi DEV | Sindhi Arabic | Konkani |
UPSC Mains Question Paper 2016 for Essay
Essay Paper is one of the toughest papers, and candidates must be well-prepared to fetch good marks in this paper. Practicing with the previous year’s papers would help the candidates to understand the nature of this paper, and they will be able to prepare it accordingly.
>>UPSC Question Paper 2016 for Essay
UPSC Question Paper 2016 for Mains General Studies
There are four General Studies Papers in the UPSC Mains exam and each of them carries 250 marks. These GS papers cover a wide range of topics such as history, geography, polity, ethics, etc. candidates can take a look at all the General Studies papers below and download them directly from the given link.
- UPSC Question Paper 2016 Mains GS–1
UPSC 2016 Mains Question Paper Optional Subjects Paper
There are a total of 48 optional subjects, and candidates get the freedom to choose any subject they like. There will be two optional papers, and each carries 250 marks. That is why candidates must pick the optional subject as it will play a huge role in deciding whether the candidate will qualify for UPSC Mains or not. Below we have provided a link to directly download the optional subject paper of UPSC 2016.
