UP APO Syllabus 2026: Detailed Break Down & Subject-wise Topics

The UP APO syllabus 2026 has two written stages. Prelims is a  150 marks objective paper: 50 questions on General Knowledge and 100 on Law (BNS, BSA, BNSS, U.P. Police Act and the Constitution). Mains has six descriptive papers of 500 marks, followed by a 50-mark interview.

• Prelims is an objective paper of 2 hours consisting 150 marks and one-third negative marking.
• Mains consists of six papers of 500 marks. English and GK papers are 1.5 hours each, the rest 3 hours.
• Other Laws paper lists 16 special and state Acts.
• Interview is of 50 marks and  final merit adds written marks and interview marks.

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UP APO Syllabus 2026 Highlights

UP APO examination for the Prosecution Directorate of Uttar Pradesh is conducted by UPPSC. The UP APO syllabus 2026 covers general awareness, criminal law, evidence law, state police law, special Acts and 2 language papers.

Particulars	Details
Examination	Uttar Pradesh Assistant Prosecution Officer Examination
Conducting body	Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC), Prayagraj
Post	Assistant Prosecution Officer (APO)
Selection stages	Prelims, Mains and Interview
Prelims subjects	General Knowledge (50 questions) and Law (100 questions)
Mains papers	General Hindi, General English, General Knowledge, Criminal Law & Procedure, Sakshya Adhiniyam, Other Laws
New criminal laws	Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
State-specific laws	U.P. Police Act and Regulations; six UP Acts in Anya Adhiniyam
Official website	uppsc.up.nic.in

UP APO Syllabus 2026 PDF Download Link

UPPSC publishes the syllabus as an annexure with the UP APO advertisement on their official website. Candidates can download the UP APO Syllabus 2026 from the link below. 

Download UP APO Syllabus 2026 PDF

UP APO Syllabus 2026 For Prelims

The UP APO prelims syllabus is tested in one paper General Knowledge & Law. It carries 150 questions for 150 marks, and you get 2 hours. Part I has 50 GK questions and Part II has 100 Law questions, so law decides two-thirds of your prelims score.

• Part I covers GK, with 50 questions worth 50 marks.
• Part II covers Law, with 100 questions worth 100 marks.
• Each question carries one mark, so the number of questions equals the marks in each part.
• The Law section consists of two-thirds of the total prelims score.

Prelims Part I: General Knowledge

Part I has 50 questions divided into 6 notified topics. The same GK syllabus applies to the mains GK paper.

No.	Topic	Questions	Important Points
1	Current Events of National and International Importance	10	Last 12 months of national news, Supreme Court rulings, government schemes, summits, awards, appointments
2	General Science	08	Everyday physics and chemistry, human body, diseases, nutrition, space and defence technology
3	History of India	08	Indus Valley, Mauryas, Guptas, Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, British administrative changes
4	Indian National Movement	08	1857 revolt, INC sessions, Gandhian movements, Acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935, Partition and Independence
5	Indian Polity & Economy	08	Parliament, judiciary, federal structure, Budget, RBI, inflation, Five-Year Plans to NITI Aayog
6	World Geography and Population	08	Continents, climate zones, rivers, Census data, population density and sex ratio

Prelims Part II: Law

Part II has 100 questions from five laws. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita alone carries 30 questions. Some coaching sites list the Sakshya Adhiniyam at 25 questions; the notified syllabus gives it 20 and gives the Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 25.

No.	Law	Questions	Important Topics
1	Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023	30	General exceptions and private defence (Ss. 14–44), abetment, criminal conspiracy (S. 61), culpable homicide and murder (Ss. 100–103), mob lynching, organised crime (S. 111), terrorist act (S. 113), sexual offences, theft, snatching, extortion, robbery, dacoity, cheating, community service as punishment
2	Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023	25	Directorate of Prosecution and Assistant Public Prosecutors (Ss. 18–20), arrest, Zero FIR and e-FIR (S. 173), police custody rules, mandatory forensics for offences punishable with 7 years or more, bail and anticipatory bail, trial in absentia, plea bargaining, summary trials
3	Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023	20	Relevancy of facts, admissions and confessions, dying declaration, electronic records as primary evidence, certificate for electronic evidence (S. 63), burden of proof and presumptions, estoppel, examination of witnesses, hostile witness
4	U.P. Police Act and Regulations	15	Police Act, 1861 as applied to Uttar Pradesh, constitution and powers of the force, duties of officers, U.P. Police Regulations on investigation, case diaries and prosecution
5	Indian Constitution	10	Articles 14, 20, 21 and 22, Article 39A (legal aid), writs under Articles 32 and 226, pardoning powers under Articles 72 and 161

UP APO Syllabus 2026 For Mains

The UP APO mains syllabus has six descriptive papers carrying 500 marks. Three law papers make up 300 marks, two language papers 150 marks and GK 50 marks. Duration is not uniform: General English and General Knowledge run for one and a half hours each, and the other four papers for three hours each.

• Paper 1: (General Hindi) includes High School standard Hindi, including essay, grammar and comprehension.
• Paper 2: (General English) includes High School standard English, including comprehension, precise and grammar.
• Paper 3: (General Knowledge) includes same six topics as prelims Part I, answered in written form.
• Paper 4: (Criminal Law & Procedure) includes BNS and BNSS, tested through problem questions.
• Paper 5: (Sakshya Adhiniyam) includes Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
• Paper 6: (Anya Adhiniyam/Other laws) includes 16 special and Uttar Pradesh Acts.

Candidates can also refer UP APO Previous Year Papers for Mains to get more idea about the syllabus.

Paper	Subjects	Syllabus
Paper 1	General Hindi	High School standard Hindi
Paper 2	General English	High School standard English
Paper 3	General Knowledge	Same as prelims GK
Paper 4	Criminal Law & Procedure	BNS, 2023 and BNSS, 2023
Paper 5	Sakshya Adhiniyam	BSA, 2023
Paper 6	Other Laws	16 notified Acts
Total	Six descriptive papers	Three law, two language, one GK

UP APO Syllabus 2026 for Interview

The UP APO interview (personality test) carries 50 marks. UPPSC judges suitability on the basis of efficiency, character, personality and physical fitness. There is no separately notified interview syllabus, so the table below lists suggested preparation areas.

Area	Topics
Core criminal law	BNS, BNSS and BSA provisions, especially what changed from IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act
Role of an APO	Duties under BNSS, relationship with police during investigation, opposing bail, conducting trials before magistrates
Uttar Pradesh awareness	State laws in Anya Adhiniyam, policing and law-and-order issues, recent Allahabad High Court decisions
Ethical situations	Weak police evidence, pressure from complainants, conflict of interest, duty of fairness to the accused
Current legal developments	Recent Supreme Court judgments on bail, arrest, electronic evidence and custodial rights
Communication and motivation	Clear answers in Hindi or English and a considered reason for choosing prosecution

UP APO Exam Pattern 2026

The UP APO exam pattern has one objective prelims paper, six descriptive mains papers and an interview.

Particulars	Prelims	Mains	Interview
Type	Objective (MCQ)	Descriptive	Personality test
Papers	One (two parts)	Six	Not applicable
Questions	150	Varies by paper	Not applicable
Maximum marks	150	500	50
Duration	2 hours	3 hours each; 1.5 hours for English and GK	As scheduled
Negative marking	One-third per wrong answer	Not applicable	Not applicable
Role in selection	Screening only	Counts towards final merit	Counts towards final merit

UP APO Syllabus 2026 Marks Distribution

UP APO marks are distributed as 150 for prelims, 500 for mains and 50 for the interview. Prelims marks only to qualify mains, so final merit is out of 550.

Stage	Paper / Subject	Marks
Prelims	General Knowledge	50
Prelims	Law	100
Mains	General Hindi	100
Mains	General English	50
Mains	General Knowledge	50
Mains	Criminal Law & Procedure	100
Mains	Sakshya Adhiniyam	100
Mains	Anya Adhiniyam	100
Interview	Personality test	50
Final merit	Mains plus interview	550

How to Prepare for the UP APO Syllabus 2026

Candidates can start with the three new criminal laws, because they carry 75 prelims questions and two full mains papers. Then add the U.P. Police Act, Anya Adhiniyam and the language papers to a weekly cycle. A detailed day-wise plan is in our UP APO preparation strategy.

1. Build a paper-wise tracker. List every Act in the syllabus and mark three columns: first reading, MCQ practice, written answer. Gaps show up quickly.
2. Read the bare Act before any guide. For BNS, read the illustrations as closely as the sections; prelims questions are often built on them.
3. Map old to new. Keep IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act numbers beside BNS, BNSS and BSA numbers for the provisions you revise most.
4. Give the U.P. Police Act its own week. Fifteen prelims questions come from it, and general judiciary material rarely covers it well.
5. Prepare Anya Adhiniyam Act by Act. For each of the 16 Acts, write a one-page sheet: definitions, offences, punishment, bail position, special court.
6. Write in Hindi every week. One essay and one précis a week through the year does more than a month of last-minute practice.
7. Test under exam conditions. Take full 2-hour prelims mocks with negative marking, and time the 90-minute English and GK papers separately.
8. Use previous papers to judge depth. The UP APO previous year papers show how far into each Act questions go.

Best Books for UP APO Exam 2026

The current bare Acts are your primary source for every law in the syllabus. Add a commentary where a provision needs explanation, and confirm the edition covers BNS, BNSS and BSA. The list below is a study suggestion, not an official UPPSC list; see the full Best books for UP APO Exams 2026 .

Subject	Book / Source	Author or Publisher
All prescribed Acts	Bare Acts (latest amended text)	Government of India (India Code) / State of Uttar Pradesh
BNS	Law of Crimes (BNS edition)	Ratanlal & Dhirajlal
BSA	Law of Evidence (BSA edition)	Batuk Lal
BNSS	Criminal Procedure (BNSS edition)	R. V. Kelkar
Constitution	Introduction to the Constitution of India	D. D. Basu
General Knowledge	General Knowledge	Lucent
General Hindi	Samanya Hindi	Lucent
General English	High School English Grammar and Composition	Wren & Martin

The UP APO syllabus 2026 states depth in a narrow set of laws. BNS, BNSS and BSA run through prelims and two mains papers, and 16 special Acts fill a third. Read the bare Acts first, practise MCQs and written answers together, and keep Hindi in your weekly timetable from day one.

If you want structured guidance, book a free demo class for UP APO coaching or talk to a Judiciary Gold counsellor.