How long the answers are
The printed limit is 150 words for 10 marks and 250 words for 15 marks. The GS Paper 3 answers in the bank average:
| Marks | Answers | Avg words | Avg pages | With a diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 marks | 393 | 179 | 2.0 | 28% |
| 15 marks | 372 | 249 | 3.0 | 30% |
| 20 marks | 17 | 378 | 5.0 | 35% |
Which directives are asked
Each of the 890 questions is counted by its last directive word.
| Directive | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Discuss | 343 | 39% |
| What / how / why (direct question) | 205 | 23% |
| Examine | 62 | 7% |
| Analyse | 58 | 7% |
| Explain | 39 | 4% |
| Suggest | 37 | 4% |
| Other | 35 | 4% |
| Comment | 34 | 4% |
Recent GS Paper 3 questions in the bank
Some of the newest questions in the bank that have a topper answer. The full set is 574 questions.
| Question | Year | Marks | Answered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| You are a young IAS officer and have recently joined as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate in a district, which has been declared 'open defecation free'. However, you get information that some villages in your sub-division are still continuing… | 2025 | 20 marks | Nikita Verma (AIR 30) |
| While examining the shortcomings of the land reforms in the past, elaborate what land reforms 2.0 should look like. (Answer in 250 words) | 2025 | 15 marks | Akansh Dhull (AIR 3) |
| Labour and export intensive industries are key to problems of jobless growth. In this perspective, analyse the opportunities and challenges associated with the textile sector. | 2025 | 15 marks | Raghav Jhunjhunwala (AIR 4) |
| As NITI Aayog completes 10 years of its establishment, critically examine its role in the planning and development paradigm of governance in India. (Answer in 250 words) | 2025 | 15 marks | Ishan Bhatnagar (AIR 5) |
| Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a transfer of surplus to the Union Government for the financial year 2024-25. What does 'surplus' mean in this context? How does the RBI generate it, and what is its significance for… | 2025 | 15 marks | Astha Jain (AIR 9) |
| What are the key objectives of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016? To what extent has it been successful in achieving them? | 2025 | 15 marks | Ujjwal Priyank (AIR 10) |
| Examine the significance of pulses in ensuring dietary diversity, soil health, and sustainable agriculture. What challenges do farmers face in terms of production and marketing of these crops? (Answer in 250 words) | 2025 | 15 marks | Akshit Bhardwaj (AIR 12) |
| Private sector participation in the operations of Indian Railways can provide a solution to the multiple issues that it faces. Discuss. Also, highlight the features of the Bharat Gaurav Scheme in this context. | 2025 | 15 marks | Surabhi Yadav (AIR 14) |
How a topper approached it
For each answer, the bank notes how it was built. Two examples:
Opens by defining inclusive growth per the OECD, then sketches its aspects (sectoral, gender, regional, social) before moving into a long numbered list of government schemes and initiatives that have driven inclusive growth, loosely grouped by theme: financial inclusion, cash and non-cash transfers, health, skilling, rural cooperatives, tribal welfare, regional development and entrepreneurship. Closes with a short Way Forward on shifting focus from absolute to relative poverty, citing an Oxfam wealth-concentration figure to justify exploring a wealth tax.
How the bank describes Akansh Dhull’s (AIR 3, 2025) answer to: “Analyse the factors that have contributed to India's inclusive economic growth in the past decade. (Answer in 150 words)”
Opens with the context of the Bimal Jalan committee's recommendation and the 2019 transfer figure, then runs through a numbered list of positive implications of RBI surplus transfers for the government, before turning to a separate numbered list of challenges these transfers pose to RBI's independence and mandate. Closes with a short Way Forward and a one-line balancing statement between long term economic stability and short term fiscal needs.
How the bank describes Akansh Dhull’s (AIR 3, 2025) answer to: “The Reserve Bank of India's surplus transfers offer the government much-needed fiscal space, yet they are not without challenges. Critically examine the implica”
Whose answers are in the bank
| Topper | Rank | Year | GS Paper 3 answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikita Verma | AIR 30 | 2025 | 59 |
| Ujjwal Priyank | AIR 10 | 2025 | 40 |
| Simrandeep Kaur | AIR 15 | 2025 | 40 |
| Deepali Mahto | AIR 36 | 2025 | 40 |
| Nausheen | AIR 9 | 2023 | 40 |
| Kush Motwani | AIR 11 | 2023 | 40 |
| Monika Srivastava | AIR 16 | 2025 | 39 |
| Ashi Sharma | AIR 12 | 2024 | 39 |
Names and ranks are as printed on the published booklets. writeupsc is not linked to these toppers or to the institutes that published the booklets.
Questions
How many GS Paper 3 answers does writeupsc compare against?
890 answers to 574 distinct questions, written by 36 toppers between 2023 and 2025. When you upload a GS Paper 3 answer, writeupsc finds the closest questions in this set and compares what those answers contain with yours.
How long should a GS Paper 3 answer be?
In the bank, 10-mark GS Paper 3 answers average 179 words and 15-mark answers 249 words. Write to the printed limit. The marks are in the dimensions and examples, not in the length.
Do toppers draw diagrams in GS Paper 3?
28% of the GS Paper 3 answers in the bank contain a diagram, flowchart, map or table. Draw one when it shows the structure of your answer, not just to fill space.
See how your own answer compares.
Photograph the sheet the way you wrote it. 1 free evaluation with a Google account, no card.