UPSC Mains medium options:

Candidates may write all GS papers, Essay, and Optional papers in:

• English
• Hindi
• Any of the 22 Eighth Schedule languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri (Meitei), Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, or Santhali

Key rules:

• The medium is declared in the Detailed Application Form (DAF)
• You must write all papers in the same language — you cannot write GS1 in English and GS2 in Hindi
• Exception: Paper A (Indian Language) must be written in the language you selected for Paper A (not your main medium). Paper B (English) must always be in English.
• If your Optional has a literature paper (e.g., Hindi Literature, Tamil Literature), that paper is written in that language regardless of your main medium

Interview medium: You may choose English, Hindi, or the same Eighth Schedule language as your Mains medium for the interview. Most candidates use English or Hindi in the interview.

Source: UPSC Civil Services Examination Rules (published annually in Gazette of India); UPSC CSE 2025 Notification, upsc.gov.in

Selection data:

According to data from LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration) and analyses published by The Print and PRS Legislative Research:

• CSE 2022: Approximately 13,000 candidates who qualified Mains used English medium vs approximately 500 in Hindi
• The ratio has been roughly 20:1 (English:Hindi) among those who clear Prelims and appear for Mains
• However, this reflects candidate choice, not examiner preference

Key factors in favour of English:

• Vastly more study material, test series, and coaching in English
• Current affairs resources (The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB) are primarily in English
• Technical vocabulary in Economy, International Relations, S&T is English-dominant

Key factors in favour of Hindi:

• Hindi-medium candidates from rural/semi-urban backgrounds may express better in Hindi
• UPSC has no official policy favouring English — examiners are instructed to evaluate content
• Drishti IAS provides comprehensive Hindi-medium materials
• Several Hindi-medium toppers have cleared the exam, including candidates in top 100

Practical recommendation:

• Choose the language in which you think and express best
• Write practice answers in both for 2–3 months; the one where your expression is richer is your medium
• Do not switch mediums between attempts — you lose hard-won fluency

What UPSC explicitly states: 'The medium of answers shall be the candidate's choice... examiners shall be instructed not to penalise on the basis of medium.' — UPSC CSE Rules

Official UPSC position:

The Civil Services Examination Rules explicitly state that medium of answers shall not be used as a criterion for evaluation. UPSC appoints separate evaluators for each language medium, and the marking scheme is content-based.

Empirical observations:

While UPSC does not publish medium-wise average score data, several RTI responses and academic studies (including one published in Economic & Political Weekly, 2019) suggest:

• English-medium candidates have slightly higher average scores in GS papers
• The gap is attributed primarily to: (a) better availability of English-medium coaching and test series, (b) technical terminology ease, (c) more extensive reading material
• Hindi-medium toppers exist at all rank levels, including top 50

The real disadvantage of regional/Hindi medium:

• Test series in Hindi are fewer and often less rigorous
• Model answers and topper copies circulated online are overwhelmingly in English
• Essay paper: English essays get more reviewer attention in media, so benchmarking is harder for Hindi aspirants

What helps non-English medium candidates:

• Use parenthetical technique for technical terms: write the term in English in parentheses after the Hindi equivalent
• Study Drishti IAS and Drishti magazine for Hindi GS coverage
• Join a Hindi-medium test series (Vision IAS and ForumIAS offer Hindi variants)
• Read Hindi-medium topper copies (available on UPSC website post-result)

Approximate regional language Mains candidates (CSE 2022, from LBSNAA/UPSC data published via RTI and media reports):

Source: RTI responses and media analyses; UPSC does not publish official medium-wise breakdowns

Who succeeds in regional languages?

Successful regional language candidates typically:

• Had prior exposure to the language at university level (e.g., studied in Tamil medium until graduation)
• Chose a regional language optional (e.g., Tamil Literature) aligned with their medium
• Created their own notes in the regional language since study materials are almost nonexistent commercially

Challenges:

• No commercially available test series in most regional languages
• Evaluators for obscure languages may be limited, with longer result processing
• Technical terms in Economy, IR, S&T require English parenthetical notation

When regional medium makes sense:

• You have studied and thought in that language throughout education
• You cannot express complex policy analysis in English or Hindi with equal clarity
• You are willing to create your own study infrastructure from scratch

UPSC rule on mixing languages:

The Civil Services Examination Rules state that candidates must answer each paper in the declared medium. Mixing languages within the same answer booklet is not permitted and can result in:

• Answers being ignored or marked zero
• Overall disqualification risk in extreme cases

Parenthetical technique (permitted and advisable):

You MAY write a technical English term in parentheses when writing in Hindi or another medium. For example:

• 'राजकोषीय घाटा (Fiscal Deficit)' in a Hindi-medium answer is acceptable
• This is a documentation aid, not 'mixing mediums'
• Keep it to genuinely technical terms — do not write entire sentences in English within a Hindi answer

Can different GS papers use different mediums?

Technically, the rules specify a single medium for the entire Mains examination (not per paper). Some past UPSC circulars have been interpreted as allowing per-paper choice, but UPSC's standard guidance is: declare one medium for all papers. Changing between GS1, GS2, GS3, GS4, and Essay is not recommended and may be flagged.

Exception — Literature optionals: If you chose Hindi Literature as optional, you write that optional in Hindi even if your main medium is English. Paper A is written in the Indian language you chose for Paper A. These are separate from your 'main medium'.

Source: UPSC CSE Rules (published in Gazette of India annually); UPSC FAQ section on upsc.gov.in

Parenthetical technique (standard practice for Hindi-medium toppers):

On first use of a technical term, write: Hindi term (English term). On subsequent uses in the same answer, the Hindi term alone is sufficient.

Examples:

• 'सकल घरेलू उत्पाद (GDP)' — then use 'सकल घरेलू उत्पाद' or just 'GDP' thereafter
• 'राजकोषीय घाटा (Fiscal Deficit)'
• 'मौद्रिक नीति समिति (Monetary Policy Committee / MPC)'
• 'संसदीय प्रभुसत्ता (Parliamentary Sovereignty)'

When English form alone is acceptable:

• Universally recognized abbreviations: GDP, IMF, WTO, BRICS, ISRO, NATO
• Proper nouns: names of institutions, organizations, treaties
• Terms where the Hindi translation is itself an English loan-word transliterated (e.g., 'इंटरनेट' for Internet)

UPSC evaluator expectation:

• Evaluators for Hindi medium are Hindi-knowing civil servants or academics — they understand technical English terms
• The goal is clarity; overusing obscure Sanskrit-derived terms that the evaluator must decode is counterproductive
• Use simple, clear Hindi for policy analysis; reserve formal Sanskrit-derived terminology for constitutional/legal contexts

Resources for Hindi medium technical vocabulary:

• 'UPSC Hindi Medium Shabd Kosh' compiled by Drishti IAS (free PDF)
• Ministry of Education's Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) publishes official Hindi equivalents

Paper A — Indian Language (Qualifying):

• Marks: 300; Qualifying threshold: 25% = 75 marks (not counted toward merit)
• Languages: Any of the 22 Eighth Schedule languages (same list as Mains medium options)
• Tested: Essay, precis, translation (English→chosen language and reverse), grammar, usage
• Purpose: Tests functional proficiency in one Indian language

Paper B — English (Qualifying):

• Marks: 300; Qualifying threshold: 25% = 75 marks (not counted toward merit)
• Content: Essay, comprehension, precis, usage — same pattern as Paper A but in English
• All candidates must attempt Paper B regardless of their Mains medium

North-East state exemption:

Candidates from the following states are exempt from Paper A (Indian Language paper):

• Arunachal Pradesh
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Sikkim

This exemption was granted because the official state languages of these states (e.g., English in Meghalaya, Nagaland) are not on the Eighth Schedule, making Paper A an undue burden.

Practical note: Candidates from Paper A languages (e.g., Tamil, Bengali) often underestimate Paper A. The 25% qualifying threshold (75/300) is easy but not automatic — candidates have been disqualified for scoring 60–70/300 by not preparing adequately.

UPSC rules on medium switching:

You declare your Mains medium in the DAF each year, independently. There is no rule preventing you from writing in English in Attempt 1 and Hindi in Attempt 2, or vice versa. The UPSC has no institutional memory of your previous medium.

Why switching is risky in practice:

1. Answer-writing fluency: It takes 6–12 months of practice to build confident, high-quality answer writing in a language. Switching resets this investment.

2. Notes and source material: If your notes are in one language, switching requires re-reading in the other — doubling study time.

3. Mental model disruption: Analysis and argument construction in one language does not directly translate — you rebuild cognitive habits, not just vocabulary.

When switching may be justified:

• You attempted in a language where your score was consistently low across 2+ attempts and you have credible evidence your expression was the bottleneck
• You have genuinely shifted your education/work environment to the new language and can write fluently
• You are making the switch with at least 12 months before the next Mains attempt

Recommendation: Analyse your Mains answer sheets (available via RTI from UPSC) to determine if low marks reflect language expression or content quality. Fix content issues first — language switch rarely explains a 30-40 mark deficit.

Interview medium options:

According to UPSC Civil Services Interview (Personality Test) rules:

• You may use English, Hindi, or the same Eighth Schedule language as declared in your Mains medium for the interview
• This is declared in DAF-II (filled after Mains results)
• The interview board is constituted with language capability to match your declared medium

English vs Hindi in interview — practical data:

Based on LBSNAA analyses and coaching institute surveys:

• Approximately 90%+ of interview candidates use English, even those who wrote Mains in Hindi
• Reason: UPSC interview boards typically include senior IAS/IPS officers and domain experts who may have stronger English
• Hindi-medium interview candidates report that the conversation quality depends on the board — some boards are more comfortable with Hindi, others less so

Can you switch mid-interview?

Officially, no — you declare a medium and the board prepares accordingly. In practice, if you stumble in one language, boards may accommodate a phrase or two in another, but this is at the board's discretion and should not be relied upon.

Recommendation:

• Use the language in which you can express nuance, humour, and confidence — not just factual statements
• If you wrote Mains in English, interview in English is strongly advised
• If you wrote Mains in Hindi, practise mock interviews in Hindi with Hindi-comfortable panelists before deciding

Source: UPSC CSE Personality Test Rules; UPSC Notification 2025, upsc.gov.in

Hindi-medium study material availability:

Books (comprehensive):

• M. Laxmikanth's Indian Polity — available in Hindi ('Bhartiya Rajvyavastha', McGraw Hill)
• Ramesh Singh's Indian Economy — available in Hindi
• NCERT textbooks: All available in Hindi via ncert.nic.in (free PDF)
• Spectrum Modern History — available in Hindi
• Shankar IAS Environment — partial Hindi notes available; full book in English only

Current Affairs in Hindi:

• Drishti IAS magazine (monthly, ~₹120–299 print / free PDF)
• Vision IAS Hindi PT365 and mains materials
• ForumIAS EPIC in Hindi (selected topics)
• All India Radio Hindi news (especially Spotlight/Guest interviews)

Test series in Hindi:

• Vision IAS: Hindi-medium Mains and Prelims test series
• Drishti IAS: Full Hindi test series (Prelims + Mains)
• PW OnlyIAS: Hindi-medium materials expanding

Regional language material:

For Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati — almost no commercially produced UPSC-specific study material exists.

Regional language aspirants typically:

• Study from Hindi/English sources and take notes in their regional language
• Use state PSC materials (which exist in most regional languages) as a base
• Form small groups for peer-created notes in regional languages
• Use translated NCERT textbooks from state education boards

Online resources: YouTube channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam covering UPSC GS exist (search 'UPSC [language]') — quality varies widely.