New Delhi: The 2026 UPSC prelims exam on Sunday left many aspirants in shock. They allege the questions this year were unlike any seen in previous years—“lengthy, interpretations-based, vague, non-syllabus-oriented.” Some aspirants even called it a luck-based exam.
Many aspirants and teachers shared their frustration and disappointment on social media. The UPSC has been changing its question paper pattern over the years. In 2023, the commission set a very difficult paper and changed the pattern, but this time the kinds of questions that appeared made many feel it had become a luck-based test.
Mohit Prajapati, 29, studied eight hours a day for a year and ticked all the boxes that a serious UPSC aspirant is expected to do.
He read all the books from Lakshmikant to NCERT, did PYQs, and made a strategy, but when he saw the UPSC CSE preliminary question paper, all of his hard work went down the drain.
“Nothing could have prepared me for this exam. It was very lengthy, and the questions focused more on statements. It was like UPSC was making sure that everything we prepared for wouldn’t come in the paper,” said Prajapati, who took the UPSC CSE on Sunday.
For Shivin Chaudhary, co-founder and teacher at Sarthi IAS, those with good luck will clear the examination.
“If the UPSC says we have to see, that is not the way to select people. Lengthy, interpretations-based, vague, non syllabus-oriented. A luck-based exam was set. Those with good luck will clear it. It doesn’t matter where you studied,” he said.
Aspirants who appeared for the exam said that there was no way they could have prepared for this. The coaching institutes, books and toppers’ videos all failed to prepare someone for this exam.
“The paper was extremely lengthy and heavily statement-based. Usually, studying PYQs helps understand the UPSC pattern, but this time, UPSC completely changed it. Comprehension was very tough, maths was manageable, but overall, the exam felt unfair. We study standard books, follow the syllabus, analyse PYQs, and take mocks—yet none of that seemed enough this time. It feels like all the hard work went in vain because UPSC changed the game entirely,” said Prajapti.
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‘System will keep you as a cockroach’
Many aspirants shared the videos on social media, criticising the system. They alleged that the nation wants them to become cockroaches only.
“No matter how much hard work you do, the system will keep you as a cockroach. We were ready for a crazy paper, but not for this. This was a complete joke. We study for 12-14 hours for this. This was no way a two-hour question paper,” said Porshiya Virk, an UPSC aspirant, who took the exam.
Coaching institutes shared their observations and called it “unconventional.”
“The question paper was noticeably lengthier compared to previous years. For instance, while the UPSC CSE Prelims 2025 General Studies paper consisted of 48 pages, the 2026 paper extended to 56 pages, increasing the reading and comprehension burden on candidates,” said B Singh, founder of NEXT IAS.
He also pointed to a visible shift in the nature of questions asked in the exam.
“A few questions touched upon situational and ethical decision-making aspects related to Public Policy, reflecting UPSC’s growing emphasis on applied understanding and administrative judgment,” he said. “The examination reflected a clear shift towards more applied, analytical, and inference-based questions, with relatively lesser reliance on direct factual recall.”
(Edited by Saptak Datta)