Questions per subject in each paper. Darker = heavier. The right-hand columns give the 9-year total and the per-paper average — that average is the blueprint our mock tests must match.
| Subject | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 21 | 18 | 26 | 21 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 21 | 16 | 162 | 18.0 |
| Environment & Ecology | 22 | 12 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 155 | 17.2 |
| Polity & Governance | 5 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 13 | 8 | 116 | 12.9 |
| Science & Technology | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 104 | 11.6 |
| Geography | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 94 | 10.4 |
| Ancient & Medieval History | 8 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 68 | 7.6 |
| Modern History | 6 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 58 | 6.4 |
| Social / Schemes | 11 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 52 | 5.8 |
| International Relations | 8 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 51 | 5.7 | |
| Art & Culture | 2 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 30 | 3.3 | |
| Current Affairs | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1.1 | ||||
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 900 | 100 |
How the paper is shaped, not what it is about. This is the mix our generated MCQs are benchmarked against — the drift toward "how many of the above" is the single most important structural change, because it defeats the elimination tricks most aspirants rely on.
| Form | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statement-based | 52 | 52 | 45 | 58 | 58 | 14 | 42 | 49 | 69 | 439 | 48.8 |
| Direct fact | 44 | 41 | 48 | 36 | 40 | 28 | 26 | 17 | 20 | 300 | 33.3 |
| "How many of the above" | 40 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 73 | 8.1 | |||||
| Assertion–Reason / Stmt-I–II | 18 | 13 | 14 | 45 | 5.0 | ||||||
| Match / pairs | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 39 | 4.3 | |
| Chronology | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0.4 |
58 questions across 9 papers (6.4 per paper on average).
| Topic | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| constitutional-development | 10 | 17% |
| socio-religious-reform | 9 | 16% |
| british-economic-policy | 7 | 12% |
| press-education | 5 | 9% |
| swadeshi-movement | 4 | 7% |
| non-cooperation | 4 | 7% |
| tribal-revolts | 2 | 3% |
| peasant-movements | 2 | 3% |
| ina-subhas | 2 | 3% |
| early-congress-moderates | 1 | 2% |
| freedom-fighters-biography | 1 | 2% |
| trade-union-labour-movement | 1 | 2% |
| company-conquests | 1 | 2% |
| home-rule-movement | 1 | 2% |
| post-independence-consolidation | 1 | 2% |
| gandhi-and-national-movement | 1 | 2% |
| national-movement-personalities | 1 | 2% |
| gandhian-philosophy | 1 | 2% |
| civil-disobedience | 1 | 2% |
| national-symbols-and-culture | 1 | 2% |
| quit-india | 1 | 2% |
| freedom-movement-literature | 1 | 2% |
Each of the 58 tagged Modern History PYQs was matched to its best-scoring Spectrum page (Stage-1 coverage search), then rolled up to that page's chapter, against the full 39-chapter spine parsed from the book's own table of contents. Ranked by how often real exam questions land in each chapter — the build order for revision sheets and MCQs. 7 of 39 chapters built so far.
| Chapter | PYQ hits | Covered | Partial | Years | Microtopics touched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ch09 — A General Survey of Socio-Cultural Built — open → | 5 | 5 | 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2025 | national-symbols-and-culture, socio-religious-reform | |
| ch19 — Civil Disobedience Movement and Round Built — open → | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2019, 2020, 2025, 2026 | civil-disobedience, constitutional-development, gandhi-and-national-movement, national-movement-personalities, socio-religious-reform |
| ch06 — People’s Resistance Against British Before 1857 Built — open → | 4 | 4 | 2016, 2018, 2020 | peasant-movements, socio-religious-reform, tribal-revolts | |
| ch12 — Era of Militant Nationalism (1905-1909) Built — open → | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2016, 2018, 2023 | early-congress-moderates, freedom-fighters-biography, swadeshi-movement |
| ch22 — Nationalist Response in the Wake of Built — open → | 4 | 4 | 2016, 2021, 2026 | constitutional-development, ina-subhas, quit-india | |
| ch26 — Constitutional, Administrative and Judicial Built — open → | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024 | constitutional-development, press-education |
| ch04 — India on the Eve of British Conquest | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2018, 2026 | british-economic-policy |
| ch30 — Development of Education | 3 | 3 | 2018 | press-education | |
| ch31 — Peasant Movements 1857-1947 | 3 | 3 | 2019, 2020, 2026 | british-economic-policy, peasant-movements, socio-religious-reform | |
| ch38 — Developments under Nehru’s Leadership (1947-64) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2018, 2020 | post-independence-consolidation, socio-religious-reform, trade-union-labour-movement |
| ch03 — Advent of the Europeans in India | 2 | 2 | 2020, 2024 | british-economic-policy | |
| ch14 — First World War and Nationalist Response | 2 | 2 | 2018, 2025 | home-rule-movement, non-cooperation | |
| ch16 — Non-Cooperation Movement and | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2025 | non-cooperation |
| ch17 — Emergence of Swarajists, Socialist Ideas, | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2020, 2025 | gandhian-philosophy, socio-religious-reform |
| ch35 — Making of the Constitution for India | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2023, 2024 | constitutional-development |
| ch05 — Expansion and Consolidation of British | 1 | 1 | 2018 | company-conquests | |
| ch07 — The Revolt of 1857 Built — open → | 1 | 1 | 2026 | british-economic-policy | |
| ch08 — Socio-Religious Reform Movements: | 1 | 1 | 2021 | press-education | |
| ch15 — Emergence of Gandhi | 1 | 1 | 2021 | constitutional-development | |
| ch24 — Post-War National Scenario | 1 | 1 | 2021 | ina-subhas | |
| ch29 — Development of Indian Press | 1 | 1 | 2021 | freedom-movement-literature |
18 of 39 chapters show no hits in this 58-question sample — that reflects sample size (only 9 papers' worth of Modern History questions), not that those chapters are untested territory. Treat this as "build these with confidence first," not "skip the rest."
| Year | Questions captured | Official key |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 100 | pending |
| 2018 | 100 | 100 ✓ |
| 2019 | 100 | 100 ✓ |
| 2020 | 100 | 98 ✓ |
| 2021 | 100 | 99 ✓ |
| 2023 | 100 | 99 ✓ |
| 2024 | 100 | pending |
| 2025 | 100 | pending |
| 2026 | 100 | pending |
key_source: pending and are excluded from any accuracy scoring until a key exists — they are still usable as pattern and form evidence.Papers and keys downloaded from upsc.gov.in (Series A booklets). 2017 is absent from UPSC's own archive, so the series runs 2016–2026 with that gap. Personal study use only.