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Tip: Solve PYQs daily for faster UPSC CMS retention.
Loading high-yield questions, analytics, and personalized prep signals.
See how the UPSC CMS paper is weighted by subject and turn your weekly study hours into a subject-wise plan. Prioritize your preparation by the marks each subject actually carries.
How the 240 UPSC CMS questions are split by subject, and how many study hours each subject earns if you split your week by weightage.
| Subject | Paper | Questions | Weightage | Hours / week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Medicineincl. Cardiology, Neurology, Dermatology and Psychiatry | Paper I | 96 | 40% | 8.0 |
| Paediatrics | Paper I | 24 | 10% | 2.0 |
| Surgeryincl. ENT, Ophthalmology, Traumatology and Orthopaedics | Paper II | 40 | 16.7% | 3.3 |
| Gynaecology & Obstetrics | Paper II | 40 | 16.7% | 3.3 |
| Preventive & Social Medicine | Paper II | 40 | 16.7% | 3.3 |
* Question split as given in the UPSC CMS notice (marks ≈ 2.08 per question). Topic-level weightage within a subject varies from year to year; check the PYQ bank for recent papers.
General Medicine (96 questions, 40% of the exam) and Paediatrics (24 questions, 10%).
Surgery (including ENT, Ophthalmology, Traumatology and Orthopaedics), Gynaecology & Obstetrics and Preventive & Social Medicine — 40 questions each (16.7% each).
Medicine alone is worth as much as Surgery and PSM together, so it deserves the largest share of your time. Combine this split with our Study Plan Builder for a personalised schedule.
General Medicine: 96 of 240 questions (40%), all in Paper I, including Cardiology, Neurology, Dermatology and Psychiatry. Surgery, Gynaecology & Obstetrics and PSM carry 40 questions each (16.7%) in Paper II, and Paediatrics 24 (10%) in Paper I.
Split your study hours roughly in proportion to each subject's share of questions (the tool above does this for your weekly hours), then adjust for your weak areas using topic-wise PYQ practice.
The subject-wise question split is set in the UPSC CMS notice and has been stable; the topics asked within each subject vary from year to year. Always check the current notification on upsc.gov.in.