Why Law Optional is emerging as a Top Choice among UPSC Aspirants
Why Law Optional is emerging as a Top Choice among UPSC Aspirants
Every year, thousands of aspirants appear for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, but one decision quietly shapes their final outcome more than most realise — the choice of optional subject. While online platforms and yearly rankings often highlight popular subjects based on trends or coaching popularity, a closer look at recent toppers reveals a growing inclination towards Law as an optional subject.
• Anmol Rathore secured AIR 7 (UPSC CSE 2023) and is widely profiled as a Law optional candidate.
• Kritika Goyal secured AIR 14 (UPSC CSE 2022) and is reported to have Law optional.
• Jaspinder Singh secured AIR 33 (UPSC CSE 2021) and is reported to have taken Law as his mains optional.
• Kshitij Aditya Sharma secured AIR 58 (UPSC CSE 2024) and is profiled in the media, with Law-optional focused platforms documenting him as a Law optional candidate.
This trend is not accidental. It reflects a calculated, strategic choice made by serious aspirants who understand how UPSC evaluates knowledge, reasoning, and answer-writing.
This matters because Law optional is often misunderstood as “only for law students”. In reality, it shows consistent conversion for serious, well-prepared candidates.
In recent years, several high-rankers have opted for Law optional and performed exceptionally well, indicating that the subject consistently delivers results when prepared smartly. But beyond individual success stories, there are structural reasons why Law has become such a powerful optional.
1. Limited and finishable syllabus (compared to many other optional subjects)
One of the biggest advantages of Law optional is its compact and clearly demarcated syllabus.
Unlike many humanities and science optionals that sprawl across vast conceptual territories, Law optional is structured around specific areas such as:
• Constitutional Law
• Administrative Law
• Criminal Law
• Contract and Tort
• Jurisprudence
• International Law
Because of this focused scope, the entire syllabus can be thoroughly completed within four to five months of disciplined preparation.
For UPSC aspirants who are constantly racing against time, this becomes a huge strategic advantage. Rather than spending a year grappling with endless topics, Law allows candidates to master the subject, revise it multiple times, and practice answer writing effectively — all within a realistic timeline.
2. Questions are relatively direct and “markable”
Another reason toppers favour Law is the nature of the question papers.
Law optional does not rely heavily on obscure facts or unpredictable theoretical twists. Instead, most questions are:
• Direct
• Concept-based
• Application-oriented
Candidates are asked to explain legal principles, apply them to given situations, and present reasoned conclusions.
This clarity in questioning significantly reduces uncertainty. Aspirants who understand concepts well and practise structured answers often find Law to be a high-scoring optional compared to subjects where evaluation can be more subjective or abstract.
3. Strong overlap with GS and Prelims through Paper I
Perhaps the most underrated advantage of choosing Law optional lies in Paper One, which is largely rooted in Indian Constitution, governance, rights, and administrative structure — the very core of UPSC Prelims and GS Paper II.
While preparing for Law optional, aspirants naturally deepen their understanding of:
• Fundamental Rights and Duties
• Constitutional principles
• Separation of powers
• Judicial review
• Administrative functioning
This directly strengthens:
• Prelims Polity
• GS Paper II
• Essay content
• Ethics case reasoning
Many aspirants who choose subjects like Anthropology, Sociology or Geography often feel that months of optional preparation do not contribute meaningfully to their GS performance. Law, on the other hand, offers a rare advantage — one optional paper actively boosts core UPSC subjects.
Instead of feeling that optional preparation is taking time away from GS, Law aspirants find both moving forward together.
4. Law Encourages Structured, UPSC-Friendly Answer Writing
UPSC rewards clarity, logical flow and well-reasoned conclusions precisely the skills law trains naturally.
Law answers typically follow a clear pattern:
• Identifying the issue
• Explaining the legal principle
• Applying it to facts
• Concluding logically
This structure aligns perfectly with UPSC’s expectations across GS papers, Ethics case studies, and Essay writing. As a result, Law optional not only improves optional scores but also raises overall answer quality across the examination. 5. Not Just for Law Graduates: Why Non-Law Students Also Choose It
A common myth is that Law optional is suitable only for law graduates. Recent trends prove otherwise.
Many successful candidates from engineering, humanities, and science backgrounds have chosen Law and scored impressively.
The reason is simple. Law is not about memorising endless statutes. It is about understanding concepts, reasoning logically, and practising application. With systematic preparation, even non-law students can master it effectively.
In fact, some non-law aspirants find Law easier than optional subjects overloaded with abstract theory.
5. Consistency and Predictability Make Law a Strategic Optional
What makes Law especially attractive to toppers is its predictability:
• Stable syllabus
• Repetitive core themes in PYQs
• Concept-based evaluation
This allows aspirants to prepare smartly rather than endlessly.
With focused reading, regular revision, and answer practice, Law optional becomes a subject where effort is directly converted into marks - something every serious UPSC candidate looks for.
5) “Real-life governance” flavour improves GS answers too
• While preparing Law optional, aspirants naturally build content for:
• constitutional morality,
• separation of powers,
• judicial review,
• administrative law principles,
• rights-based policy framing
• This often upgrades GS-II answers: better vocabulary, better constitutional anchoring, better examples.
6) Availability of good toppers’ material and answer benchmarks
• Law has a visible ecosystem of:
• topper copies,
• answer writing formats,
• case-law buckets,
• short notes.
• When a subject has clear model answers, the learning curve becomes faster for serious aspirants.
7) Advantage for candidates targeting services where law-mindset helps
• Candidates aiming for:
• administration-heavy roles,
• regulatory roles,
• governance/legal-policy interfaces,
often find Law optional builds the right mental framework.
8) Good for candidates who prefer structured writing over “creative” writing
• If a candidate’s strength is:
• outlines,
• headings,
• crisp points,
• precise conclusions,
then Law optional aligns naturally with that style.
Conclusion
The growing popularity of Law optional among UPSC toppers reflects a deeper strategic understanding of the examination.
Its limited syllabus, direct question pattern, strong overlap with Polity and GS papers, and high scoring potential make it uniquely positioned among optional subjects.
For aspirants who want their optional preparation to complement — not compete with — their overall UPSC preparation, Law offers a rare combination of efficiency, depth, and scoring power.
In today’s highly competitive UPSC environment, success increasingly belongs to those who prepare smartly. And for many toppers, Law optional has proven to be exactly that smart choice.