Case studies in GS IV, year by year
| Year | Case studies | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2025 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2024 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2023 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2022 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2021 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2020 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2019 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2018 | 6 | 120 / 250 |
| 2017 | 7 | 130 / 250 |
| 2016 | 6 | 130 / 250 |
Steady since 2018: 6 cases, 120 marks every year.
What the questions ask
| Asked for | Cases (of 67) |
|---|---|
| The options available | 28 |
| The ethical issues involved | 22 |
| The ethical dilemmas | 13 |
| Your course of action | 13 |
| Merits and demerits of each option | 4 |
Our count of the parts of every GS IV case study since 2016; one case often asks several of these.
A six-step method
- 1. Read the case, sort the facts
Read the question's parts first, then the case. Mark the facts, the posts, the rules and the deadlines.
- 2. Name the stakeholders
Who is affected, you, your seniors, citizens, the vulnerable, the institution. One line on each one's interest.
- 3. Name the issues and the dilemma
Which values collide, integrity vs loyalty, rules vs compassion, efficiency vs fairness. State the dilemma in those terms.
- 4. Options, each with merits and demerits
Three or four realistic options, each with its pros and cons; never list illegal or impossible ones.
- 5. Your decision and why
Choose one course of action and justify it by law, service rules, constitutional values and practicality.
- 6. Fix it for the long term
One or two systemic steps so it does not happen again: process, training, oversight.
Give each case about 14 minutes, time in proportion to marks, and answer exactly the parts asked, in their order, with a heading for each.
A worked example: the 2025 flood case (Vijay)
A Deputy Commissioner is leading relief after a cloudburst, with over 200 dead, when his mother dies in his hometown far away. How the six steps play out:
- Stakeholders: the disaster-hit people, the district team, the state government, Vijay himself, his family.
- Dilemma: duty to the public in an emergency against duty to his mother's last rites; responsibility against grief.
- Options: (1) leave at once: honours family duty, but leaves a gap at the worst moment; (2) stay and miss the rites: serves the public, at a deep personal cost; (3) hand charge formally to the next senior officer with the state's approval, take the shortest possible leave, and return.
- Decision: option 3, if a capable officer can take over; otherwise stay until the situation is stable and tell the family why. Duty, empathy and accountability all point the same way.
- Long term: a district disaster plan with a clear chain of command under the District Disaster Management Authority, so no single officer is indispensable.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Moralising instead of deciding, the examiner wants a decision, not a sermon.
- Options that are illegal, unrealistic or simply 'resign'.
- Ignoring the law and the service rules that already answer part of the case.
- Forgetting the weakest stakeholder.
- Writing past the word limit and leaving the last case unfinished.
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Quick answers
How many case studies are there in GS Paper IV?
Since 2018, six every year, each worth 20 marks with a 250-word limit, 120 of the paper's 250 marks. The number and marks differed slightly in 2016–17.
What do GS IV case studies ask most often?
Across 67 cases since 2016: the options available (28), the ethical issues (22), the ethical dilemmas (13) and your course of action (13).
How much time should one case study get?
If time follows marks, about 14 minutes a case, roughly an hour and a half for all six, leaving the rest for Section A.
What is the commonest mistake in case studies?
Moralising and suggesting impractical options. The examiner wants an administrator's balanced, lawful and workable decision.
What is a case study in UPSC GS Paper IV?
A short real-life situation, usually an officer facing a difficult decision, followed by questions on the options, the ethical issues and what you would do. It tests judgement and values in action, not definitions.
Counts are from UPSC's own GS IV papers in the PYQ Vault.
