How long the answers are
The printed limit is 150 words for 10 marks and 250 words for 15 marks. The GS Paper 4 (Ethics) answers in the bank average:
| Marks | Answers | Avg words | Avg pages | With a diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 marks | 818 | 174 | 2.0 | 32% |
| 15 marks | 32 | 298 | 3.8 | 41% |
| 20 marks | 354 | 331 | 4.3 | 39% |
Which directives are asked
Each of the 1,288 questions is counted by its last directive word.
| Directive | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Discuss | 398 | 31% |
| What / how / why (direct question) | 322 | 25% |
| Other | 127 | 10% |
| Explain | 95 | 7% |
| Examine | 73 | 6% |
| Suggest | 47 | 4% |
| Critically examine | 46 | 4% |
| Do you agree / think | 46 | 4% |
Recent GS Paper 4 (Ethics) questions in the bank
Some of the newest questions in the bank that have a topper answer. The full set is 903 questions.
| Question | Year | Marks | Answered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utkarsh is a dedicated and experienced Chief Engineer in the Public Works Department (PWD) of a major Indian city. His responsibilities include overseeing the maintenance and construction of the city's infrastructure. One of his… | 2025 | 25 marks | Deepanshu Jindal (AIR 38) |
| A Reputed food product company based in India developed a food product for the international market and started exporting the same after getting the necessary approvals. The company announced this achievement and also indicated that… | 2025 | 25 marks | Deeksha Chourasiya (AIR 44) |
| (a) Discuss the ethical dilemma Karan faces in deciding whether to report the incident against Mariyam's wishes. (b) Evaluate the options available to Karan. Which of these options should he choose and why? (c) What responsibilities do… | 2025 | 20 marks | Akansh Dhull (AIR 3) |
| You are posted as the Joint Secretary in the Department of Information Technology of a state. The government recently implemented several citizen-centric digital services, collecting large volumes of personal data from residents. The… | 2025 | 20 marks | Ishan Bhatnagar (AIR 5) |
| You are an IAS officer, currently serving as the Secretary of the Public Works Department in a hill state. Recently, a disturbing incident has come to light involving a senior Cabinet Minister and two engineers of the National Highways… | 2025 | 20 marks | Zinnia Aurora (AIR 6) |
| A State Government in the northeastern part of the country has launched a series of anti-encroachment drives across forest areas, wetlands, and revenue lands. Under the directions of the Chief Minister, the administration has… | 2025 | 20 marks | Pakshal Secretry (AIR 8) |
| Megha is a first-year sociology student at a reputed college in the national capital. She is originally from Tadchiroli, a tribal village in a western Indian state. Megha's family migrated to the city when she was seven years old and… | 2025 | 20 marks | Astha Jain (AIR 9) |
| You are the Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India. In recent years, an increasing number of civil servants, particularly younger officers from the IAS, IPS, and IRS, have begun maintaining… | 2025 | 20 marks | Ujjwal Priyank (AIR 10) |
How a topper approached it
For each answer, the bank notes how it was built. Two examples:
Opens with a Hillary Clinton quote and an example of Pakistan-backed terrorism, then states the core equation "means determine end" before running through six numbered situations, closing with a counterpoint on proportionate means before it is cut short by the page limit.
How the bank describes Akansh Dhull’s (AIR 3, 2025) answer to: “"The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced." Discuss with suitable e”
Opens with recent debates (marital rape, same-sex marriage) as evidence of evolving ethics, states law as an outcome of society, then runs through four numbered examples linking law to shifting social morality, closing with a counterpoint that law can also drive social progress and a diagram contrasting Law and Ethics.
How the bank describes Akansh Dhull’s (AIR 3, 2025) answer to: “Discuss how the relationship between law and ethics is dynamic and continuously shaped by societal changes. Provide examples to illustrate this dynamic relation”
Whose answers are in the bank
| Topper | Rank | Year | GS Paper 4 (Ethics) answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medha Anand | AIR 13 | 2023 | 129 |
| Bhavika Chopra | AIR 25 | 2025 | 57 |
| Ujjwal Priyank | AIR 10 | 2025 | 55 |
| Akansh Dhull | AIR 3 | 2025 | 53 |
| Kush Motwani | AIR 11 | 2023 | 40 |
| Astha Jain | AIR 9 | 2025 | 39 |
| Ishan Bhatnagar | AIR 5 | 2025 | 38 |
| Pakshal Secretry | AIR 8 | 2025 | 38 |
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 4 (Ethics) answers does writeupsc compare against?
1,288 answers to 903 distinct questions, written by 40 toppers between 2020 and 2025. When you upload a GS Paper 4 (Ethics) answer, writeupsc finds the closest questions in this set and compares what those answers contain with yours.
How long should a GS Paper 4 (Ethics) answer be?
In the bank, 10-mark GS Paper 4 (Ethics) answers average 174 words and 15-mark answers 298 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 4 (Ethics)?
34% of the GS Paper 4 (Ethics) answers in the bank contain a diagram, flowchart, map or table. In case studies, a stakeholder diagram or an options table is common.
See how your own answer compares.
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