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Decoding OPSC: Syllabus & Exam Pattern

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Published
20th Apr, 2023

Odisha Public Service Commission has released the New Syllabus and Exam Pattern for OPSC OAS/OCS Examination from 2022-23 onwards for the Odisha Civil Services Mains Exam on its official website - opsc.gov.in. This pattern is in line with that of the UPSC exam. This blog will tell you everything you need to know about the Updated OPSC OAS exam pattern. Knowing the syllabus will help you set realistic goals and therefore, increase your chances of success with the right strategy.

OPSC OCS Exam 2023 Eligibility Criteria:

Essential Qualification:

The Candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from any State or Nationally Recognised University or a Deemed to be a University under UGC Section 3.
Candidates must be able to read, write and speak the Odia language and have:

Passed Middle School Examination with Odia as a language or a subject;
Passed HSC or Equivalent with Odia as a medium of examination in a non-language subject;
Passed Odia as a language subject in the final examination of class 8th in school or educational institute.

Age Eligibility:

The age limit for the candidates is 21 to 38 years as of 1st January 2022.

However, there is a 5-year age relaxation criteria for the candidates belonging to SC/ST/SEBS/Women/Ex-Servicemen, and for the candidates belonging to PwD who have a permanent disability of 40% and more, it is 10 years.

OPSC OCS Exam Pattern:

As per recent updates, the new OPSC OCS exam pattern will be the same as the UPSC exam pattern. The whole OPSC OCS examination process will be offline.

Detailed exam pattern & syllabus information regarding all three stages:

The examination process for OPSC OCS 2023 consists of 3 stages:

Preliminary Term (Objective MCQ Type)
Mains Exam (Descriptive Type)
Personality test
Preliminary Term (Objective MCQ Type)

The preliminary exam consists of two 200-mark papers. There shall be a negative marking of 1/3rd marks. The prelim exam marks will not be added to the final merit list.

Paper	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Maximum Duration	Qualifying Criteria
GS Paper 1	100	200	2 hours	Based on Cut-off
GS Paper 2	80	200	2 hours	Qualifying Marks (33%)

OPSC OAS 2023 Prelims Syllabus

Paper 1	Paper 2
Current Events of National & International Importance	Comprehension
Indian History & Historical Moment	Interpersonal skills including communication skills
Geography-Physical, Social, and Economic Geography of India & the World	Logical reasoning and analytical behaviour
Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Political system, Panchayat Raj, Public Policy, Rights, Issues etc.	Decision-making and problem-solving
Economic and Social Development – Sustainable development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives etc.	General Mental Ability
General Issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-Diversity & climate change that do not require subject specialization	Basic Numeracy, Data Interpretation
General Science	English Language Comprehension skills.

Mains Exam (Descriptive Type)

The OPSC OCS Mains exam comprises Qualifying, Compulsory and Optional Subjects.

NOTE: Papers A and B are of qualifying nature and candidates must score qualifying marks. Their marks shall not be counted in the final marks or merit list. However, other answer copies will only be evaluated after you qualify these two papers. So, the candidates are advised to prepare for these papers as well and not take them lightly.

In the OPSC OCS 2022 Mains Examination, along with compulsory subjects, there are optional subjects to choose from. OPSC has already listed some discipline subjects from which candidates can choose 2 optional subjects. Each optional subject has 2 papers.

Paper	Duration	No. of Marks
Paper A- Odia	3	250
Paper B – English Language	3	250
Paper 1- English Essay	3	250
Paper 2 – General Studies 1	3	250
Paper 3 – General Studies 2	3	250
Paper 4 – General Studies 3	3	250
Paper 5 – General Studies 4	3	250
Paper 6: Optional Paper 1	3	250
Paper 7: Optional Paper 2	3	250

OPSC OAS 2023 Mains Syllabus

OPSC Civil Services Mains Syllabus

The second part of the exams series is the Mains Exam.
It is conventional in nature, i.e. the paper will contain essay questions.
Each paper lasts 3 hours
Papers 1 and 2 of the Mains exam are qualifying and will be 10th-grade level

Mains - Compulsory Exams	Syllabus
Paper 1 - Odia Language	Essay Writing Precis writing Translation from English to Odia Comprehension Grammar Vocabulary Expansion of an idea
Paper 2 - English	Essay Writing Translation from Odia to English Precis writing Comprehension Vocabulary Grammar Expansion of an idea
Paper 3 - English Essay	Just like UPSC, the OPSC mains syllabus does not have any prescribed essay paper syllabus. Hence, to write concisely, candidates must stick closely to the topic of the essay. The effective and precise expressions will be rewarded
Paper 4 - General Studies I	Social issues and Social Welfare problems Indian Geography Indian Polity Indian Constitution Indian History and Culture Environment and Ecology Current National issues Human Resource Development Legal and Environmental issues Role of National Institutions
Paper 5 - General Studies II	International Institutions Foreign Affairs External Security India and the World Space Technology Indian Economy International Affairs Science & Technology Communications Statistical Analysis

OPSC OAS Optional Subjects:

The list of the optional subjects for OPSC OAS:

Agriculture Agriculture Engineering Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Anthropology Botany Chemistry Civil Engineering Commerce & Accountancy Economics Electrical Engineering Education Fisheries Sciences Forestry Geography Geology Home Science History Law Management Mathematics Mechanical Engineering	Medical Science Indian Language & Literature in any one of the mentioned languages: Odia Hindi Sanskrit English Persian Urdu Philosophy Physics Political Science & International Relationships (PS & IR) Public Administration Psychology Sociology Statistics Zoology

Personality test:

The personality test will be 250 marks.

Candidates can move on to the next stage only after completing the previous one.

Paper 1 Odia and Paper 2 English will be of 10th class level and qualify.

Marks of Paper 3 to Paper 9 will be considered for determining the candidates' merit.

Parameters of Personal Interview:

The personal interview round is conducted on the basis of various traits such as mental calibre, mental alertness, intellectual quality, interest in current affairs, variety of interests, depth of knowledge of it, moral integrity and intellectual integrity.

The OPSC syllabus is comprehensive and the questions asked in the OCS require a certain depth of understanding but also the ability to present the answers coherently. OPSC's syllabus comprises both static and dynamic aspects. Hence, OCS aspirants need to track and sort current affairs under appropriate papers/headings as per the OPSC-prescribed syllabus. For the latest exam updates, study material and preparation tips, visit GS SCORE BHUBANESWAR