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GS Paper 2 · Full-Length Test · Mains 2026 / 2027
UPSC Mains GS2 Full-Length Mock Test — Polity, Governance & IR
Two full-length GS Paper 2 mock tests on the UPSC Mains pattern — the Constitution, Parliament and the judiciary, governance and welfare delivery, social justice, and India’s international relations, set on current themes. Read every question free below, or download either set as a printable booklet and take it under exam conditions.
Twenty compulsory questions · Q1–10 carry 10 marks (~150 words), Q11–20 carry 15 marks (~250 words) · 250 marks · 3 hours
Printable question-cum-answer booklets with ruled answer space · free · no login
What's inside (40 questions across two sets)
Original UnlockIAS Sherlocking Simulator papers on the UPSC Mains pattern — not official past papers.
Set A · Simulator Set 1 (spaced single paper) · 20 questions
- Q1.On a Bill under Article 200, the Governor may assent, withhold assent, or reserve it for the President. Examine the limits of this discretion and whether courts can remedy prolonged inaction without prescribing timelines. (10 marks)
- Q2."The Direct Benefit Transfer architecture built on the JAM trinity has turned welfare spending into leakage-free, targeted delivery." Comment. (10 marks)
- Q3.The Supreme Court has upheld the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, including its power to examine citizenship. Discuss the basis of this power and the balance between roll purity and mass disenfranchisement. (10 marks)
- Q4."Tribunalisation expands citizens' access to remedies, yet repeated legislative reversal of judicial directions on tribunal appointments undermines the separation of powers." Assess. (10 marks)
- Q5.Explain the scope and limits of the President's pardoning power under Article 72, and the grounds for its judicial review. (10 marks)
- Q6.Analyse the gaps in India's social-security architecture for gig and platform workers, and how far the recently operationalised Labour Codes and related measures close them. (10 marks)
- Q7.Compare and contrast the Lokpal, the State Lokayuktas and the Central Vigilance Commission on their jurisdiction over public servants and their powers to investigate, sanction and prosecute corruption. What does this reveal about why the anti-corruption ombudsman architecture under-delivers? (10 marks)
- Q8.Discuss reforms to make the higher civil services both politically neutral and responsive, and how capacity-building can reconcile the two. (10 marks)
- Q9.In February 2026 the United States set its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods at 18 percent, after threatening steeper rates. Analyse the impact of this shift on India's export economy and how India should respond. (10 marks)
- Q10."The India-EU Free Trade Agreement and the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement mark a shift towards using trade pacts as instruments of economic statecraft, hedging against rising protectionism." Elaborate. (10 marks)
- Q11.Apart from impeachment, accountability for the post-appointment conduct of higher- judiciary judges rests on a self-regulatory in-house mechanism rather than statute. Elucidate this mechanism, including its misconduct inquiry and the recent move to disclose judges' assets, and suggest how it can be made more credible without eroding judicial independence. (15 marks)
- Q12."The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, now in force, tilt the balance towards the State's access to data and away from the citizen's right to privacy and to information." Evaluate. (15 marks)
- Q13.Declining sittings and the growing tendency to pass Bills with little or no committee scrutiny have weakened Parliament's deliberative and law-making role. Discuss the consequences and suggest reforms to strengthen legislative scrutiny. (15 marks)
- Q14.In the devolution of powers to local bodies, the transfer of functions has run ahead of the transfer of finances. Explain the reasons for this gap, and, with reference to Fifth Schedule areas and the PESA Act, 1996, how far it weakens tribal self-rule. (15 marks)
- Q15.The NHRC, the NCBC and the National Commission for Women differ in their constitutional or statutory standing, the independence of their composition, and whether their orders bind or only recommend. What do these differences reveal about why such commissions struggle to protect the vulnerable? (15 marks)
- Q16."Social audits and outcome-based budgeting, meant to make welfare delivery answerable to beneficiaries, have largely become procedural rituals." Do you agree? Justify your answer. (15 marks)
- Q17.Despite strong constitutional and statutory guarantees of gender equality, India's female labour-force participation remains low. Examine the reasons, with particular reference to the burden of unpaid care work and the design of social security provisions. (15 marks)
- Q18."India's education system produces degrees, not employability." Elucidate, and indicate how the National Education Policy, 2020 can narrow this gap. (15 marks)
- Q19."India's chairmanship of BRICS in 2026 offers it an opportunity to consolidate its leadership of the Global South." In view of the cohesion challenges of the expanded grouping, critically evaluate this claim. (15 marks)
- Q20."India's policy of engagement without recognition of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan best serves its strategic interests." Examine. (15 marks)
Set B · Simulator Set 2 (real Mains shape) · 20 questions
- Q1.Women's reservation in legislatures is tied to the first delimitation after the next Census. Discuss how this linkage shapes its timing, and the federal concerns a population-based delimitation raises for the southern States. (10 marks)
- Q2."Public perception of the integrity of civil servants is now as decisive for democratic governance as their actual conduct." Comment. (10 marks)
- Q3."Simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies wound federalism and the basic structure far more than they serve cost-saving and stable governance." Examine. (10 marks)
- Q4.Compare and contrast a Union Territory having a legislature with a full-fledged State, and locate this within India's asymmetric federalism. (10 marks)
- Q5.Explain why Speaker-led adjudication of Tenth Schedule disqualifications breeds partisan delay, and why an independent tribunal is proposed instead. (10 marks)
- Q6."A steady decline in multidimensional poverty need not narrow the rich-poor gap." Assess, and in its light weigh the case for targeted welfare against universal provisioning. (10 marks)
- Q7."India's protection for those who expose corruption exists largely on paper, not in practice." Do you agree? Justify with reference to the gaps in safeguarding disclosers, and suggest what would make it real. (10 marks)
- Q8.Analyse the limits of after-the-fact competition enforcement against large digital platforms acting as gatekeepers, such as self-preferencing or barring sellers from steering users to cheaper options. What is the case for advance, rule-based regulation of digital markets? (10 marks)
- Q9.After Operation Sindoor, India has kept the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, tying its revival to Pakistan ending cross-border terrorism. Why has India linked water-sharing to a security demand, and what risks does this carry? (10 marks)
- Q10."India's multi-alignment offers a durable hedge for its strategic autonomy even under sustained trade and tariff coercion by the United States." Critically evaluate. (10 marks)
- Q11.After the striking down of the National Judicial Appointments Commission, judicial appointments to the higher judiciary still draw criticism for opacity. Discuss the reforms needed to build accountability without compromising judicial independence. (15 marks)
- Q12.What is the nature and constitutional status of the Fundamental Duties under Part IVA? With reference to Article 51A(g), examine how these duties can be made operational without rendering them legally enforceable. (15 marks)
- Q13.The cooperative-federalism machinery, namely the Inter-State Council, the Zonal Councils and the NITI Aayog Governing Council, remains largely advisory. Explain how these bodies differ in composition and role, and what would make the machinery more effective. (15 marks)
- Q14."Judicial interpretation has made Article 21 an open-ended reservoir of new socio- economic and digital rights." Elaborate, with its limits. (15 marks)
- Q15.How does a CAG performance audit differ from its traditional legality-and-regularity audit, and where does the audit-to-PAC follow-up fall short? (15 marks)
- Q16."The State may regulate the secular administration of a religious endowment but cannot redraw a denomination's right to manage its own affairs of religion under Articles 25 and 26." Comment in the light of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and its judicial scrutiny. (15 marks)
- Q17.India's high out-of-pocket health expenditure pushes households into poverty despite expanding insurance cover. Evaluate the State's effort to strengthen public primary healthcare, and suggest measures to curb catastrophic spending and advance universal health coverage. (15 marks)
- Q18.Nearly a decade after the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 replaced welfare with a rights-based mandate, its entitlements have not delivered real inclusion of Divyangjan. Examine why its implementation falls short of its promise. (15 marks)
- Q19.Narrow sea routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb carry much of India's energy and trade, making the security of sea lines of communication central to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Elaborate how India weaves these chokepoints into its maritime posture, and the instruments it relies on. (15 marks)
- Q20."Even under Western sanctions, India's defence and discounted-energy partnership with Russia remains a sustainable bilateral pillar, not a growing liability." Discuss, keeping in view defence dependence, secondary-sanctions risk, and the deepening Russia-China alignment. (15 marks)
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FAQ
How do I download the GS Paper 2 full-length mock test?
Click "Download Set A" or "Download Set B" at the top of the page. Each is a printable question-cum-answer booklet with a UPSC-style cover, instructions and ruled answer space — print it and write the paper under the real three-hour clock. No sign-up or login is required.
Are these GS2 mock test papers free?
Yes — both sets are free to read and download. Only the model answers, AWE engine evaluation, weak-subject diagnostics and the 1-to-1 call with Neil Sir are part of the paid Sherlocking Test Series Module.
How is the GS2 paper structured?
Like the real UPSC GS2 paper: twenty compulsory questions — Q1–10 carry 10 marks (about 150 words each) and Q11–20 carry 15 marks (about 250 words each), for 250 marks in three hours.
Do I get model answers for this paper?
The question papers are free. The deployable model answers — written to the UPSC word limits — plus AWE engine evaluation and weak-subject diagnostics for every test are part of the Sherlocking Test Series Module, also included in the Sherlocking Mains Comprehensive Module.
Are these official UPSC previous-year questions?
No. These are original UnlockIAS papers from the Sherlocking Simulator, set on the UPSC Mains pattern and current themes — not official UPSC past papers.
Question papers from the UnlockIAS Sherlocking Simulator (Sherlocking Test Series Module) — original full-length papers set on the UPSC Mains pattern, not official UPSC past papers. Last updated: July 2026.