NCERT Books for UPSC 2025: Get the Detailed List of Books

NCERT Books For UPSC: Thoroughly reading the NCERT textbooks is considered essential for IAS exam preparation. Some of the rank holders even consider NCERT books as the ‘Bible’ when it comes to preparation for UPSC exams. If you have a question on your mind about which NCERT books to study for UPSC, then here are some relevant UPSC books from the NCERT family. Theoretically, students must work their way through all UPSC related books from class 6 to class 12. However, even among these books, some topics are more important than others, so here’s the list of all important NCERT books for IAS and topics which are essential for the civil services exam. NCERT books are regarded as important study material that helps you understand a wide range of concepts. Many experts think that NCERT books are ideal for competitive exam preparation.

To start things off, we will give you information about UPSC IAS Exam Pattern. Along with the essential NCERT Books for UPSC IAS Exam, knowing the paper pattern will surely help you in planning an effective preparation strategy. Moreover, we will be providing you with the download links of the NCERT Books PDF. The UPSC IAS Exam has been postponed due to the current COVID-19 situation and is expected to be conducted in September 2025. This means candidates still have sufficient time and we advise them to utilize this time to prepare for the exam. In this article, we will provide you with the complete list of the best NCERT books for UPSC exam preparation.

Best NCERT Books for UPSC Preparation

Before getting into the details of NCERT books for the UPSC Exam, let’s take a quick look at the exam:

Organization	Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)
Name of the Exam	UPSC Civil Services IAS
Prelims Exam Date	To be announced
Exam Mode	Pen and Paper-based (Offline)
Prelims Result Date	To be announced
Mains Exam date	To be announced
Official website	upsc.gov.in

Now, we will be taking you to the IAS exam pattern and understanding which NCERT books for UPSC will be essential.

NCERT Books for UPSC: IAS Exam Pattern

The UPSC IAS Exam is conducted in three stages:

1st Stage: Prelims – Objective Type (Qualifier)
2nd Stage: UPSC IAS Mains – Written Test
3rd Stage: Interview / Personality Test

Candidates have to clear every stage if they want to get selected.

UPSC IAS Exam Pattern for Prelims (Stage-I)

Given below is the exam pattern for UPSC CSE Prelims:

Name of the Paper	Duration	Questions
Paper-1: General Studies	2 hours	100
Paper-2: General Studies (CSAT)	2 hours	80

There will be objective-type questions and maximum marks will be 200 for each paper. For every incorrect answer, 1/3rd marks will be deducted.

If you want to have an in-depth look, head over to this article on UPSC IAS Exam Pattern.

NCERT Books for UPSC IAS Prelims (Stage-I)

Find out the important NCERT books for IAS Prelims below.

NCERT Books for UPSC: History

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class VI	Our Past
NCERT Class VII	Our Past-I
NCERT Class VIII	Our Past II and III
NCERT Class IX	India and the Contemporary World – I
NCERT Class X	India and the Contemporary World – II
NCERT Class XI	Themes in World History
NCERT Class XII	Themes in Indian History – I Themes in World History – II Themes in World History – III

NCERT Books for UPSC Exam: Indian Society

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class VI	Social Science: Social and Political Life
NCERT Class VII	Social Science: Social and Political Life – II
NCERT Class VIII	Social Science: Social and Political Life – III
NCERT Class IX	Contemporary India – I
NCERT Class X	Contemporary India – II
NCERT Class XI	Sociology: Understanding Society
NCERT Class XII	Indian Society Social Change and Development in India

NCERT Books for UPSC: Indian Art & Culture

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class XI	An Introduction to Indian Art
NCERT Class XI	Living Craft Traditions of India

NCERT Books for UPSC: Geography

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class VI	The Earth Our Habitat
NCERT Class VII	Our Environment
NCERT Class VIII	Resource and Development
NCERT Class XI	Fundamentals of Physical Geography India – Physical Environment
NCERT Class XII	Fundamentals of Human Geography India – People and Economy

UPSC IAS Exam Pattern for Mains (Stage-II)

The Mains exam has 9 papers. Out of these 9 papers, 2 are only qualifying in nature. The duration of each paper is 3 hours. Given below is the exam pattern for the Mains exam followed by the best NCERT books for UPSC preparation.

Subject	Marks
Compulsory Indian language	300
English	300
Essay	250
General Studies-I	250
UPSC General Studies-II	250
General Studies-III	250
General Studies-IV	250
Optional Subject I	250
Optional Subject II	250

NCERT Books for UPSC IAS Mains (Stage II)

It’s important that you clear the basics when preparing for UPSC IAS. This is where NCERT books can help you. You can find out the important NCERT books for IAS Mains Exam below:

NCERT Books For UPSC: Polity

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class IX	Political Science: Democratic Politics – I
NCERT Class X	Political Science: Democratic Politics – II
NCERT Class XI	Political Theory Indian Constitution at Work
NCERT Class XII	Political Science-I: Contemporary World Politics Political Science-II: Politics in India since Independence

NCERT Books for UPSC: Economics

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class IX	Economics
NCERT Class X	Understanding Economic Development
NCERT Class XI	Indian Economic Development
NCERT Class XII	Introductory Microeconomics Introductory Macroeconomics

NCERT Books for UPSC: General Science

Class	Book Title
NCERT Class VI	Science Class 6
NCERT Class VII	Science Class 7
NCERT Class VIII	Science Class 8
NCERT Class IX	Science Class 9
NCERT Class X	Science Class 10
NCERT Class XI	Chemistry: Unit 14 Biology: Unit 4 & 5
NCERT Class XII	Chemistry: Unit 16 Biology: Unit 8, 9 & 10

Important FAQs on NCERT Books For UPSC

1. Where can I solve UPSC IAS mock tests?
A: You can solve UPSC IAS Mock Tests for at Embibe.

2. What are the NCERT books to be read for UPSC?
A: There are a lot of NCERT books that you can read for your UPSC preparation. Books such as History, Indian Society, Social Studies, etc. can help you understand the basics. This basic knowledge will help you when you will read the newspapers/books for Current Affairs and General Studies.

3. Is it necessary to make notes from NCERT books for UPSC?
A: Yes, it’s necessary to make notes from NCERT books for UPSC. You might not be able to remember important points for long. This is why writing it in your notebook makes it easier to quickly go through selective texts rather than finding from a book.

4. What is the best way to study NCERT textbooks? How much time should I devote per book?
A: The best way to study NCERT books for the UPSC exam is by creating a proper study plan. Go through the entire exam pattern and syllabus. Create a study plan based on your weak and strong areas. This will help you in dedicating more time to your weak subjects/topics. The retention time of our mind is less; therefore, experts suggest reading different subjects in a day to build continuity. Please note that there is no specific time to devote per book but you can go a minimum of 2 hours for every subject.

5. How can I download the NCERT books for my UPSC preparation?
A: You can download these NCERT books from the official website ncert.nic.in. Go to Publications and select PDFs. Now select class, subject, and topic, you will get the desired PDF. Download it and access it anytime and from anywhere.

Now you know everything about NCERT books for UPSC preparation. We hope this article helps you in your preparation for UPSC exams. If you have any queries, put them down in the comment sections. We will surely assist you in the best possible way. Stay tuned to embibe.com for more information on the UPSC exams 2025.