📜 Past Essay Topics (2001–2026) — By Category

🎯 What to Prepare First — Frequency Guide

Read this before the lists below. You only have to answer one topic out of ten. So the goal is not to cover 218 topics — it is to prepare a handful of categories so deeply that every paper hands you 2–3 topics you can already argue. Here is what the 22 papers actually say.

The 2026 paper vindicated theme-based preparation. Two of its ten topics — Youth Bulge: a demographic dividend or a demographic bomb? and Emerging Multipolar World Order: opportunities and risks for Pakistan — match sample essays already written in this section, almost word for word. A third, Local Government System: the missing link, is the subject of a full section in the Democracy in Pakistan essay. Three attemptable topics from prep done before the paper existed.

Category frequency (2001–2026)

The coverage maths (why 7 categories is enough)

Prepare only Philosophy + Governance + Economy + Gender + IR + Tech/Media + Environment, and here is how many topics on each recent paper you could attempt:

2015 → 9 · 2016 → 8 · 2017 → 9 · 2018 → 8 · 2019 → 6 · 2020 → 9 · 2021 → 9 · 2022 → 9 · 2023 → 7 · 2024 → 10 · 2025 → 9 · 2026 → 6

Worst case in twelve years: 6 of 10 topics, hit twice (2019 and 2026). Average: 8.3 of 10. You never need the other five categories to have a safe choice — and 2024 would have given you the entire paper.

But 2026 is a warning about narrowness. It carried four IR topics, no pure abstract quotation, and rewarded three Tier-2/Tier-3 categories the core seven exclude — Education & Youth (Youth Bulge), Society (beggary, politicisation of sports) and Security (cyber security). Adding Education & Youth as an eighth category raises 2026 to 7 and costs little, since it overlaps heavily with Governance and Economy material you are preparing anyway. Treat the seven as the floor, not the ceiling.

Most redundant themes (asked again and again)

These are the ones worth pre-writing a full outline for, because FPSC keeps returning to them:

• Gender equality / status of women — 11 papers (2007, 2009, 2010×3, 2011, 2012, 2016×2, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021×2, 2022, 2023×2, 2025). The single most repeated theme in the paper's history.
• Democracy & governance in Pakistan — 8 papers (2009, 2012, 2018×2, 2019, 2020, 2024×2, 2025×2, 2026)
• Education, youth & human capital — 8 papers (2007×2, 2009×2, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023×2, 2026)
• World order, multipolarity & the balance of power — 6 papers (2010, 2012, 2017, 2020, 2024, 2026×3). Rising fastest of any theme; 2026 set four IR topics out of ten.
• Global warming / climate action — 6 topics (2006, 2007, 2008, 2018, + recycling 2023, reforestation 2025)
• Water & natural-resource management — 4 (2003, 2010, 2016, 2021)
• Globalization & world trade — 5 papers, 6 topics (2007, 2017, 2021, 2022×2, 2024)
• UN effectiveness / world peace — 4 (2009, 2010, 2012, 2017)
• Media, truth & information — 6 (2006, 2009, 2011, 2018, 2022×2)
• CPEC & economic corridors — 3 (2018, 2019, 2024)
• Terrorism — 6 (2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2022) — fading, and in 2022 it returned only as a media question

Verbatim repeats (pre-write these two, they cost you nothing):

• "Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated" — 2006, 2012, 2025
• Voltaire on free speech — 2015 and 2020, same idea, near-identical wording
• "Frailty, thy name is woman" (2016) → inverted into "Frailty is no more the name of Woman" (2025). FPSC flips old topics, so prepare the counter-argument to every quotation too.

What is fading out

Do not spend your best weeks here: Religion/Islam has appeared once since 2015 (2019), Terrorism/Security four times (2015, 2018, 2022 and 2026 — but note the drift: 2022 reframed it as a media question and 2026 as a cyber question, so the classic war-on-terror essay is genuinely dead), and Society/Health twice (2023, 2026×2). Compare that with 2008, where three of nine topics were religious. The paper has moved decisively toward economy, geopolitics, technology, gender and abstract argumentation.

How to prepare each Tier-1 category

For each of the seven, build one page containing:

1. A two-way thesis — one paragraph arguing for, one against. FPSC increasingly sets propositions you must agree or disagree with ("Gender equality is a myth!", "AI: the death of creativity"), and a balanced-but-decided stance scores highest.
2. 8–10 hard facts — figures, years, institutions, reports. This is what separates a 50 from a 65.
3. 3 Pakistan examples + 2 global examples you can drop into any essay in the category.
4. 3 quotations you have actually memorised.
5. One full outline for the most redundant topic in that category.

For the Philosophy bucket (49 topics) you cannot pre-write the topics — prepare a method instead: a decoding drill (literal meaning → implied claim → your stance), plus a universal example bank (5 historical, 5 scientific, 5 literary, 5 Pakistani-political) that can be bent to almost any quotation. That single bank covers all 49.

Suggested order of work

Weeks 1–3: Governance, Economy, Gender — the three biggest Pakistan-specific buckets.

Weeks 4–5: IR/Geopolitics and Tech/Media/AI — the fastest-rising themes and the ones with the most 2026-current material.

Week 6: Environment/Energy/Water — small effort, appears in 14 of 22 papers. Then add Education & Youth as the eighth category, per the 2026 warning above.

Throughout: one abstract-quotation outline per week from Category 11, rotating through the sub-groups.

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218 topics from 22 FPSC English Essay papers, extracted from the question papers and grouped by theme so you can prepare categories instead of individual topics.

Papers covered: 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.

Not in the folder yet: 2002, 2005, 2013, 2014 — add those PDFs and this page can be topped up.

How to use this: pick 6–8 categories you will actually defend in the exam hall. Every paper since 2001 offers at least one topic from Governance/Democracy, one from Economy, one from Gender, one from Environment/Energy, and 2–4 abstract quotations. Prepare arguments, data and quotations by category — the exact wording changes every year, the themes do not.

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1. Governance, Democracy & Politics in Pakistan — 28 topics

The single largest Pakistan-specific cluster. Appears in every paper.

• Justice delayed is justice denied (2001)
• National integration (2001)
• Devolution of power in Pakistan (2001)
• Public office is a public trust (2001)
• Personalization of Pakistani politics (2006)
• Politics is the art of the possible (2007)
• Lack of discipline — a national disaster (2008)
• The future of democracy in Pakistan (2009)
• Without an independent truth-finding commission, accountability is unachievable (2010)
• In this country reason does not apply to anything (2011)
• Fair play and life, as it is lived, in the land of the pure (2011)
• What are the hurdles in our way to becoming a truly independent state? (2011)
• Disaster management and government preparedness (2011)
• Democracy is a culture rather than a process (2012)
• The emerging power of public opinion (2012)
• Crisis of good governance in Pakistan: need for reforms and institution building (2016)
• The creation of new provinces in Pakistan: implications for an integrated country (2016)
• Democracy in Pakistan: hopes and hurdles (2018)
• Will "Rule of law" always remain an impracticable myth in our country? (2018)
• Democracy and illiteracy do not move together (2019)
• Polarized politics: the issues and challenges of democracy in Pakistan (2020)
• Bureaucracy doldrums (2021)
• Pragmatism vs Passion in politics (2024)
• Political polarization: governance and society (2024)
• Rich in politicians, we desperately need statesmen (2025)
• Dynastic politics is the worst mockery of democracy (2025)
• Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it (2025)
• Local Government System: the missing link in Pakistan's governance structure (2026)

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2. Economy, Development & Globalization — 24 topics

2022 was the most economics-heavy paper on record — 5 of its 10 topics sat in this category.

• Modern banking, finance and employment are part of one single paradigm (2004)
• Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan (2006)
• A country is backward because its people are backward (2007)
• Moral depravity is the root cause of poverty (2008)
• The food crisis: problems, challenges and opportunities for Pakistan (2009)
• Promotion of tax culture in Pakistan: perspective, prospects and challenges (2016)
• Does foreign aid help to achieve economic stability? (2016)
• Brexit means globalization is the rhetoric of the privileged, and capitalism will return ferociously as ever (2017)
• Real development should transform people's lives, not just economic statistics (2018)
• CPEC and its socio-economic implications for the region and the world (2018)
• New war fronts lie in economic zones (2019)
• Pakistan's informal economy: the way forward (2020)
• Promoting tourism in Pakistan: opportunities and challenges (2020)
• IMF bailouts: roads to stability or recipes for disaster (2020)
• Pros and cons of globalization (2021)
• An analysis of the concept of globalization of markets (2022)
• Global trade and trade policies of China (2022)
• World food systems: the economics of agriculture (2022)
• Is there such a thing as ethical consumerism? (2022)
• Human development and economic sustainability (2022)
• BRICS and Pakistan: prospects of recovery (2024)
• Pathways to Pakistan's prosperity (2024)
• Globalization and national economies (2024)
• Revitalising the agriculture sector of Pakistan (2026)

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3. Environment, Climate, Energy & Water — 14 topics

Global warming alone appeared in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2018.

• Dilemma of the water and energy crisis in Pakistan (2003)
• The end of cheap oil (2004)
• Global warming (2006)
• The future of mankind in a global warming perspective (2007)
• Global warming, fact or fiction? (2008)
• Pakistan is rich in natural resources but very poor in their management (2010)
• Energy crisis in Pakistan: causes and consequences (2012)
• Government should eliminate subsidies and incentives for manufacturers and consumers of electric cars, as they are costly and do not do enough to protect the environment (2015)
• Water crisis and national unity (2016)
• The threat of global warming and the ways to counter it (2018)
• "Do not waste water even if you were at a running stream" (2021)
• Not all recycling projects are cost effective (2023)
• Phase out of fossil fuel and Arab economies (2024)
• Reforestation as a global urgency (2025)

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4. Education, Knowledge & Youth — 13 topics

• Economic prosperity of a nation is directly proportional to the level of literacy in it (2001)
• Higher education as an agent of change (2007)
• The present system of education must assume some of the responsibilities of our failure (2007)
• Co-education: merits and demerits (2009)
• English as the medium of education in Pakistan (2009)
• A critical analysis of education systems in Pakistan (2012)
• Higher education in Pakistan: ills and remedies (2018)
• Classrooms decide the future of the nation (2019)
• Meaningful, purposive education (2021)
• Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone (2023)
• Online learning is not only convenient but often more effective than traditional classroom instruction (2023)
• An investment in knowledge pays the best interest (2025)
• Youth Bulge: a demographic dividend or a demographic bomb? (2026)

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5. Women, Gender, Minorities & Human Rights — 19 topics

The most reliably repeated theme after governance — at least one topic in almost every paper since 2007.

• The state of women's rights in Pakistan (2007)
• Status of women in Islam (2009)
• All humans are born equal in dignity and rights, but they are in shackles everywhere (2010)
• Why is there no status of the third gender in Pakistan? (2010)
• Can women be equal to men in Pakistan? (2010)
• Does Pakistani society regard woman as the angel in the house or the source of all evils? (2011)
• Social and economic securities for women in Islam (2012)
• Gender equality is a myth! (2016)
• Frailty, thy name is woman (2016)
• Feminism is not really a Third World issue (2017)
• Being a minority is a fate no one wants. Can nationalism be really inclusive? (2017)
• New waves of feminism and our culture (2019)
• Women universities as agents of change (2020)
• Gender equality: a popular slogan (2021)
• Universal human equality is utopic (2021)
• The controversial issues of feminism in contemporary women's rights movements (2022)
• Both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child (2023)
• Boys will be boys (2023)
• Frailty is no more the name of Woman (2025)

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6. International Relations, Geopolitics, War & Peace — 23 topics

The fastest-rising category: 2026 set four of its ten topics here, including three framed as quotations.

• Nuclear weapons are not only a great peril, but a great hope (2006)
• The more developed a country, the more lethally it is armed (2007)
• Can we prevent the Third World War? (2008)
• The future of UNO: hopes and hurdles (2009)
• The UNO has failed to measure up to the demands of its charter (2010)
• World politics stands more derisive than ever before due to specific imperialist designs (2010)
• The United Nations in the 21st century: obligations and limitations (2012)
• World as a global village: learning to live together (2016)
• Is colonial mentality impeding Pakistan's progress? (2017)
• More and more international military engagements by the United Nations; is the world moving towards peace? (2017)
• Are modern wars not holy wars? (2017)
• Pakistan and the future of the Kashmir cause (2020)
• Global power dynamics and Pakistan's foreign policy (2020)
• Intercultural communication is panacea to avoid 3rd world war (2021)
• Global politics and international relations (2022)
• CPEC and "Indo–Middle East–Europe": new war fronts (2024)
• The power of propaganda and the Muslim World (2024)
• Hamas–Israel conflict: a test case for world conscience (2025)
• True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice (2025)
• Emerging Multipolar World Order: opportunities and risks for Pakistan (2026)
• The one who controls the sea, rules the world (2026)
• There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy (2026)
• Nations have no permanent friends and enemies, they have only permanent interests (2026)

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7. Terrorism, Security & Cyber Threats — 7 topics

• Terrorism as a new threat to the contemporary world (2007)
• Pakistan's war on terror and its impact on our psyche and politico-socio-economic fronts (2009)
• Dialogue is the best course to combat terrorism (2010)
• The war on terror has contributed to the growing abuse of human rights (2015)
• In the fight against terrorism and corruption, it is imperative not to compromise human rights and civil liberties (2018)
• How is terrorism and its perception shaped by the Mass Media? (2022)
• Cyber security as the new national security frontier (2026)

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8. Religion, Islam & Spirituality — 8 topics

• "Turn not thy cheek in scorn towards folk, nor walk with pertness in the land" (Al-Qur'an) (2001)
• Pluralistic vision of Islam (2004)
• The image of Islam in the Western world and the responsibilities of the Muslim Ummah (2007)
• Peace: the essential message of our religion (2008)
• Poetry is the highest form of expression — the greatest proof is the Holy Qur'an (2008)
• Materialism is the death of spirituality (2008)
• Religion has done more harm than help to human relations in the world (2010)
• Let there be more light in the corridors of worship places (2019)

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9. Science, Technology, Media & AI — 15 topics

The fastest-growing cluster: media/IT topics appear in every paper from 2015 onward.

• Truth in short supply (2006)
• Globalization and electronic media (2007)
• Power of media in the modern world (2009)
• Truth is a rare commodity despite the freedom enjoyed by the print and electronic media (2011)
• The suffering soul in the scientific age (2012)
• The introduction of new digital technologies has radically altered identities (2015)
• Labour-saving devices are more troublesome than they are worth (2015)
• The emerging power of social media: prospects and problems (2018)
• Expanding information technology: a curse or a blessing (2019)
• Is Pakistan ready for the digital revolution? (2020)
• COVID-19: a wake-up call for Pakistani researchers (2021)
• Human inventions move societies backward (2021)
• Digital democracy: social media and political participation (2022)
• People have become overly dependent on technology (2023)
• Artificial Intelligence: the death of creativity (2024)

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10. Literature, Language, Art & Culture — 9 topics

• Art critics and reviewers (2003)
• Humour in Urdu literature (2006)
• Literature is the best criticism of life (2010)
• The pleasures of reading (2011)
• The place of Urdu in Pakistan and the Supreme Court's ruling on making Urdu the official language (2016)
• Literature is a lonely planet of idealists (2017)
• Urdu literature and the progressive movement (2019)
• Art for peace (2019)
• Do we really need literature in our lives? (2020)

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11. Philosophy, Ethics, Ideas & Human Nature — 49 topics

The biggest bucket overall: abstract quotations and "isms". Every paper carries 2–6 of these, and they are where most candidates lose marks for want of a clear stance. Prepare a stock of universal examples (history, science, literature, Pakistani politics) that can be bent to any of them.

Character, effort & self

• Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes (2001)
• It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds (2001)
• Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction (2001)
• He who eats the fruit should at least plant the seed (2001)
• The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm (2001)
• Time management is the keynote of success (2008)
• Dreams for the future rely on the work of today (2008)
• When life throws you lemons, make lemonade (2015)
• We have to learn to be our own best friends, because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies (2016)
• Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears (2018)
• Beware the barrenness of a busy life! (2018)
• Hope: the greatest driving force (2024)
• To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell (2025)

Truth, wisdom & knowledge

• Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change (2003)
• All recorded history is contemporaneous (2004)
• A long dispute means that both parties are wrong (2004)
• There is no great genius without a mixture of madness (2009)
• Truth is lived, not taught (2019)
• Sometimes we do not see what we see (2019)
• "Imagination is more important than knowledge" (2022)
• The fool speaks, and the wise listens (2023)
• The one who uses force is afraid of reasoning (2023)

Society, institutions & human folly

• Attitude of indifference (2003)
• Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny (2006)
• Every solution breeds new problems (2006)
• We grow too old too soon and too late smart (2006)
• There comes a time to put aside principles and do what's right (2006)
• Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated (2006, 2012, 2025)
• The time we live in is the winter of the world (2011)
• Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties and nations it is the rule (2011)
• Beggars cannot be choosers (2012)
• In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence (2015)
• Anticipation is often greater than realization (2015)
• Punctuality is the virtue of the bored (2015)
• Luxury of predecessors becomes the necessity of successors (2015)
• Life without controversy is no life. But why should one not choose the safe haven of conformism? (2017)
• A friend walks in when everyone else walks out (2023)
• I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed (2021)

Ideologies & "isms"

• On tolerance (2001)
• Existentialism (2003)
• Humanism (2004)
• Longing for love (2004)
• Liberalism (2006)
• Modernity is an unending project (2017)
• Ideologies thrive on notions of resistance, yet change is a simulation (2017)

Free speech (the Voltaire topic — asked twice)

• I disapprove of what you say, but I defend to death your right to say it (2015)
• I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it (2020)

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12. Society, Health & Everyday Life — 9 topics

• Formal and casual dressing codes (2003)
• Young habits die hard (2003)
• Peer pressure (2004)
• Health is not a condition of matter, but of mind (2009)
• Without good communication skills, life becomes impossible in the modern world (2011)
• Obesity is the root cause of all diseases (2012)
• To encourage healthy eating, higher taxes should be imposed on soft drinks and junk food (2023)
• Countering the growing menace of beggary (2026)
• Politicisation of sports — a new challenge (2026)

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🔁 Repeats & high-frequency patterns

Topics FPSC has recycled almost verbatim — these are the safest to pre-write:

• "Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated" — 2006, 2012, 2025. Asked three times.
• Voltaire on free speech — 2015 and 2020, near-identical wording.
• "Frailty, thy name is woman" (2016) → inverted into "Frailty is no more the name of Woman" (2025). FPSC likes flipping an old topic.
• Global warming / climate — 2006, 2007, 2008, 2018, plus recycling 2023 and reforestation 2025.
• Democracy in Pakistan — 2009, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024, 2025.
• Gender equality — 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025.
• The UN's effectiveness — 2009, 2010, 2012, 2017.
• CPEC / new war fronts — 2018, 2019, 2024.
• Education systems in Pakistan — 2007, 2009, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023.

What this means for preparation: roughly 75% of every paper is drawn from six buckets — Governance/Democracy, Economy, Gender, IR/Geopolitics, Technology/Media, and abstract quotations. Master those six with hard data and you can always find two safe topics on the paper.

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📅 Year-wise index

2001 (12 topics, choose one)

1. "Turn not thy cheek in scorn towards folk nor walk with pertness in the land" (Al-Qur'an) · 2. Economic prosperity of a nation is directly proportional to the level of literacy in it · 3. Justice delayed is justice denied · 4. National integration · 5. Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes · 6. It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds · 7. On tolerance · 8. Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction · 9. He who eats the fruit should at least plant the seed · 10. The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm · 11. Public office is a public trust · 12. Devolution of power in Pakistan

2003 (7)

1. Formal and casual dressing codes · 2. Attitude of indifference · 3. "Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change" (Confucius) · 4. Dilemma of the water and energy crisis in Pakistan · 5. Art critics and reviewers · 6. Young habits die hard · 7. Existentialism

2004 (8)

1. Humanism · 2. The end of cheap oil · 3. All recorded history is contemporaneous · 4. Pluralistic vision of Islam · 5. Longing for love · 6. "A long dispute means that both parties are wrong" · 7. Modern banking, finance and employment are part of one single paradigm · 8. Peer pressure

2006 (12)

1. Truth in short supply · 2. Liberalism · 3. Humour in Urdu literature · 4. Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan · 5. Personalization of Pakistani politics · 6. Global warming · 7. Nuclear weapons are not only a great peril, but a great hope · 8. Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated · 9. Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny · 10. There comes a time to put aside principles and do what's right · 11. We grow too old too soon and too late smart · 12. Every solution breeds new problems

2007 (10)

1. The more developed a country, the more lethally it is armed · 2. Higher education as an agent of change · 3. The future of mankind in a global warming perspective · 4. The image of Islam in the Western world and the responsibilities of the Muslim Ummah · 5. A country is backward because its people are backward · 6. Globalization and electronic media · 7. The present system of education must assume some of the responsibilities of our failure · 8. Politics is the art of the possible · 9. Terrorism as a new threat to the contemporary world · 10. The state of women's rights in Pakistan

2008 (9)

1. Moral depravity is the root cause of poverty · 2. Peace, the essential message of our religion · 3. Time management is the keynote of success · 4. Lack of discipline — a national disaster · 5. Materialism is the death of spirituality · 6. Poetry is the highest form of expression — the greatest proof is the Holy Qur'an · 7. Dreams for the future rely on the work of today · 8. Can we prevent the Third World War? · 9. Global warming, fact or fiction?

2009 (10)

1. The future of democracy in Pakistan · 2. Health is not a condition of matter, but of mind · 3. Co-education: merits and demerits · 4. The food crisis: problems, challenges and opportunities for Pakistan · 5. English as the medium of education in Pakistan · 6. The future of UNO: hopes and hurdles · 7. There is no great genius without a mixture of madness · 8. Status of women in Islam · 9. Pakistan's war on terror and its impact on our psyche and politico-socio-economic fronts · 10. Power of media in the modern world

2010 (10)

1. Literature is the best criticism of life · 2. Dialogue is the best course to combat terrorism · 3. Pakistan is rich in natural resources but very poor in their management · 4. The UNO has failed to measure up to the demands of its charter · 5. All humans are born equal in dignity and rights, but they are in shackles everywhere · 6. Why is there no status of the third gender in Pakistan? · 7. Can women be equal to men in Pakistan? · 8. Without an independent truth-finding commission, accountability is unachievable · 9. Religion has done more harm than help to human relations in the world · 10. World politics stands more derisive than ever before due to specific imperialist designs

2011 (10)

1. Truth is a rare commodity despite the freedom enjoyed by the print and electronic media · 2. Without good communication skills, life becomes impossible in the modern world · 3. The time we live in is the winter of the world · 4. In this country reason does not apply to anything · 5. Does Pakistani society regard woman as the angel in the house or the source of all evils? · 6. Disaster management and government preparedness · 7. Fair play and life, as it is lived, in the land of the pure · 8. The pleasures of reading · 9. What are the hurdles in our way to becoming a truly independent state? · 10. Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties and nations it is the rule

2012 (10)

1. Energy crisis in Pakistan: causes and consequences · 2. Obesity is the root cause of all diseases · 3. Beggars cannot be choosers · 4. The United Nations in the 21st century: obligations and limitations · 5. Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated · 6. The emerging power of public opinion · 7. The suffering soul in the scientific age · 8. A critical analysis of education systems in Pakistan · 9. Democracy is a culture rather than a process · 10. Social and economic securities for women in Islam

2015 (10)

1. The war on terror has contributed to the growing abuse of human rights · 2. Anticipation is often greater than realization · 3. Punctuality is the virtue of the bored · 4. The introduction of new digital technologies has radically altered identities · 5. In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence · 6. I disapprove of what you say, but I defend to death your right to say it · 7. Luxury of predecessors becomes the necessity of successors · 8. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade · 9. Government should eliminate subsidies and incentives for manufacturers and consumers of electric cars, as they are costly and do not do enough to protect the environment · 10. Labour-saving devices are more troublesome than they are worth

2016 (10)

1. World as a global village: learning to live together · 2. We have to learn to be our own best friends, because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies · 3. Water crisis and national unity · 4. The place of Urdu in Pakistan and the Supreme Court's ruling on making Urdu the official language of the country · 5. Crisis of good governance in Pakistan: need for reforms and institution building · 6. Promotion of tax culture in Pakistan: perspective, prospects and challenges · 7. Gender equality is a myth! · 8. The creation of new provinces in Pakistan: implications for an integrated country · 9. Does foreign aid help to achieve economic stability? · 10. Frailty, thy name is woman

2017 (10)

1. Is colonial mentality impeding Pakistan's progress? · 2. Brexit means globalization is the rhetoric of the privileged, and capitalism will return ferociously as ever · 3. More and more international military engagements by the United Nations; is the world moving towards peace? · 4. Modernity is an unending project · 5. Feminism is not really a Third World issue · 6. Literature is a lonely planet of idealists · 7. Being a minority is a fate no one wants. Can nationalism be really inclusive? · 8. Ideologies thrive on notions of resistance, yet change is a simulation · 9. Are modern wars not holy wars? · 10. Life without controversy is no life. But why should one not choose the safe haven of conformism?

2018 (10)

1. Real development should transform people's lives, not just economic statistics · 2. Higher education in Pakistan: ills and remedies · 3. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears · 4. China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its socio-economic implications for the region and the world · 5. Beware the barrenness of a busy life! · 6. The emerging power of social media: prospects and problems · 7. In the fight against terrorism and corruption, it is imperative not to compromise human rights and civil liberties · 8. The threat of global warming and the ways to counter it · 9. Will "Rule of law" always remain an impracticable myth in our country? · 10. Democracy in Pakistan: hopes and hurdles

2019 (10)

1. Let there be more light in the corridors of worship places · 2. New war fronts lie in economic zones · 3. Urdu literature and the progressive movement · 4. Art for peace · 5. Truth is lived, not taught · 6. New waves of feminism and our culture · 7. Democracy and illiteracy do not move together · 8. Sometimes we do not see what we see · 9. Expanding information technology: a curse or a blessing · 10. Classrooms decide the future of the nation

2020 (10)

1. Do we really need literature in our lives? · 2. Women universities as agents of change · 3. Pakistan and the future of the Kashmir cause · 4. Polarized politics: the issues and challenges of democracy in Pakistan · 5. Global power dynamics and Pakistan's foreign policy · 6. Pakistan's informal economy: the way forward · 7. Promoting tourism in Pakistan: opportunities and challenges · 8. I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it · 9. Is Pakistan ready for the digital revolution? · 10. IMF bailouts: roads to stability or recipes for disaster

2021 (10)

1. "Do not waste water even if you were at a running stream" · 2. Meaningful, purposive education · 3. COVID-19: a wake-up call for Pakistani researchers · 4. Human inventions move societies backward · 5. Universal human equality is utopic · 6. Bureaucracy doldrums · 7. Gender equality: a popular slogan · 8. Pros and cons of globalization · 9. Intercultural communication is panacea to avoid 3rd world war · 10. "I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed"

2022 (10)

1. An analysis of the concept of globalization of markets · 2. Digital democracy: social media and political participation · 3. Global trade and trade policies of China · 4. "Imagination is more important than knowledge." · 5. Global politics and international relations · 6. The controversial issues of feminism in contemporary women's rights movements · 7. World food systems: the economics of agriculture · 8. Is there such a thing as ethical consumerism? · 9. Human development and economic sustainability · 10. How is terrorism and its perception shaped by the Mass Media?

2023 (10)

1. Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone · 2. The one who uses force is afraid of reasoning · 3. Not all recycling projects are cost effective · 4. The fool speaks, and the wise listens · 5. A friend walks in when everyone else walks out · 6. Online learning is not only convenient but often more effective than traditional classroom instruction · 7. To encourage healthy eating, higher taxes should be imposed on soft drinks and junk food · 8. People have become overly dependent on technology · 9. Both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising a child · 10. Boys will be boys

2024 (10)

1. Hope: the greatest driving force · 2. CPEC and "Indo–Middle East–Europe", new war fronts · 3. The power of propaganda and the Muslim World · 4. Phase out of fossil fuel and Arab economies · 5. Pragmatism vs Passion in politics · 6. BRICS and Pakistan: prospects of recovery · 7. Artificial Intelligence: the death of creativity · 8. Pathways to Pakistan's prosperity · 9. Globalization and national economies · 10. Political polarization; governance and society

2025 (10)

1. Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it · 2. Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated · 3. Reforestation as a global urgency · 4. Hamas–Israel conflict: a test case for world conscience · 5. Rich in politicians, we desperately need statesmen · 6. True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice · 7. To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell · 8. Frailty is no more the name of Woman · 9. Dynastic politics is the worst mockery of democracy · 10. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest

2026 (10)

1. Youth Bulge: a demographic dividend or a demographic bomb? · 2. Local Government System: the missing link in Pakistan's governance structure · 3. Cyber Security as the new national security frontier · 4. Emerging Multipolar World Order: opportunities and risks for Pakistan · 5. The one who controls the sea, rules the world · 6. There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy · 7. Revitalising agriculture sector of Pakistan · 8. Countering the growing menace of beggary · 9. Politicisation of sports — a new challenge · 10. Nations have no permanent friends and enemies, they have only permanent interests

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Source: FPSC English Essay question papers (PDFs in Downloads/css/essay). 2006–2011 and 2015 papers were scanned images and were OCR'd — wording there is faithful but a handful of the original papers contain their own typos, which have been silently corrected.