UGC NET Political Science — Paper II
Unit-wise weightage analysis and suggested study order | Target: December 2026 cycle
A note on the data (read this first): NTA does not publish an official unit-wise question count. I could not locate a single
verified source tabulating exact per-unit question counts for each of the last ~10 cycles — even the coaching platforms
(JRFAdda, Testbook, Adda247, Diwakar) present aggregated tier estimates from repeated PYQ review, not year-by-year raw
counts. What follows is a synthesis of those consistent tier estimates. Treat the tiers as directionally reliable, not exact statistics
— cross-check against your own PYQ solving as you go.
1. Weightage tiers (out of 100 questions, Paper II)
Unit Topic Tier Approx. Qs % of paper
I Political Theory Very High 10–12 10–12%
II Western & Indian Political Thought Very High 10–12 10–12%
III Indian Government & Politics Very High 9–11 9–11%
V International Relations High 8–10 8–10%
IV Comparative Politics High 7–9 7–9%
VII Political Institutions (Exec/Leg/Judiciary) Moderate 6–8 6–8%
VIII Political Processes (Parties/Elections/Movements) Moderate 6–8 6–8%
VI India's Foreign Policy Moderate 6–8 6–8%
IX Public Administration Low–Moderate 5–7 5–7%
X Governance & Public Policy Low 4–6 4–6%
Units I–III alone typically account for roughly 30–35 of the 100 questions; adding IV and V (Comparative Politics,
IR) takes the top five units to around 50–55% of the paper.
2. Recurring trends across recent cycles
• Political Theory (I) and Political Thought (II) are the most consistent scorers — thinkers (Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes,
Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Gandhi, Ambedkar) and concepts (liberty, equality, justice, rights, power, democracy)
appear almost every cycle.
• Indian Government & Politics (III) is stable and high-yield — Constitution, Parliament, Judiciary, federalism,
centre-state relations are asked nearly every session.
• International Relations (V) has shifted toward more application/current-affairs-linked questions (UN reform,
contemporary geopolitics) rather than pure theory recall in recent years.
• Governance & Public Policy (X) and Public Administration (IX) carry the fewest questions but candidates often
under-prepare them — since the syllabus here is narrower, they're comparatively easy marks per hour of study
once covered.
• Overall pattern since ~2022: more conceptual/assertion-reason and application-based framing, less pure
one-line factual recall.
3. Suggested study order (highest return first)
1. Unit I — Political Theory Foundation for half the other units; concepts recur
everywhere.
2. Unit III — Indian Government & Politics Highest stable weightage; also overlaps with your MDU
coursework and general-knowledge base.
3. Unit II — Political Thought (Western + Heavy but very scoring once thinkers/works are mapped;
Indian) pairs naturally with Unit I.
4. Unit V — International Relations High weightage; needs current-affairs layering, so start
early and keep updating till exam month.
5. Unit IV — Comparative Politics High weightage; systems-based, relatively quick to revise
once learned.
6. Units VII & VIII — Institutions & Political Moderate weightage; a lot of overlap with Unit III, so easier
Processes once III is done.
7. Unit VI — India's Foreign Policy Moderate; overlaps with Unit V, do them close together.
8. Units IX & X — Public Administration, Lowest weightage but narrow syllabus — good for a final
Governance & Public Policy quick-revision pass before December.
4. How to use this with your Pearson (Pradyumn Tripathi) book
The book already covers all 10 units — use this ranking only to decide sequence and time allocation, not to skip
units. A workable split for a ~4-month runway to December: spend roughly 55–60% of your first study pass on Units
I, II, III, V, IV (in that order), then move to VII, VIII, VI, and finish with IX and X. Reserve the last 3–4 weeks before
the exam for PYQ solving across all units and a rapid-revision pass, since Political Theory and Thought have the
most retention risk if not revised.
Prepared as a study-planning aid from aggregated public exam-analysis sources (Aug 2026). Not an official NTA statistic —
verify unit numbering against the current syllabus PDF, since NTA has renumbered/merged units in past cycles.