How to prepare for UPSC Prelims?

The UPSC or Civil Services Examination is tough to crack. Due to this, the candidates appearing for the exams start their preparation one year prior to the exam date.

The UPSC exams have two stages, the Prelims and the mains. The only major difference between both of these is the question type. The prelims exam pattern is entirely objective based contrary to this, the mains exam is description based.

The common talk of the town is that reading the NCERT books, going for classes regularly and revising older question papers is self sufficient. This is indeed true to some extent. The difference lies in the way you prepare yourself for the exams.

More About Prelims

The Prelims or the Preliminary Examination consists of two papers in total. Both of them would have Object type or multiple choice questions. This exam holds 400 marks.

This exam is supposed to be the very first level for qualifying UPSC. It is just like a screening test. This means that the marks that you have scored in the Prelims Exam would not be added up in your merit that would be made at the end of your Mains exam.

It is approximated that the candidates who have qualified to the Mains are 12 or 13 times the number of posts available. This means that the number of candidates qualified will also depend on the number of vacancies available.

If you want to appear in the Mains Exam, you have to make sure that the Commission qualifies you. You are only eligible in this way, otherwise you can not appear for the Mains.  

Pattern of the UPSC Prelims Examination

Recently the pattern has been altered a bit by the government. Now the revised pattern of the UPSC prelims exams has two papers.

• General studies : Also known as the   GS or paper I.
• The CSAT : CSAT stands for Civil services Aptitude Test. This is also known as paper II.
  
  

Few important facts about the Prelims Exam

It is compulsory for all of the candidates to appear in the General Studies test as well as the Civil Services Aptitude test. If by some means you failed to appear in any of these exams, you would be straight away disqualified for your attempt.

Paper I

• Paper I hold a maximum of 200 marks.
• You would be allotted a total of Two hours to complete the exam.
• The questions asked in the paper would mostly cover current events happening in the country and the world.
• Other possible types of questions can be about the History of India. Other than this they could also be about the Indian National Movement.
• Paper I would include five different subjects : Indian and World Geography, Indian Polity and Governance, Economic and Social Development, Environmental Science and General Science.
• The Indian and World Geography section includes a major topic known as Physical Economic and Social Geography of India and the World.
• Everything related to the Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, and so on would fall under the Indian Polity and Governance Section of the Paper I
• The Economic and Social Development section of Paper I includes topics like Sustainable Development, Poverty, Social Sector, Demographics and others.
• Environmental Science is based on the General issues about the Environmental such as ecology, Biodiversity or Climate change. Please note that you do not need to get a specialization course in this subject, basic knowledge is enough.
  

Paper II

• Paper II will also hold a maximum of 200 marks and should be completed within two hours, just like the Paper I.
• This paper would be comprehension based.
• Your Interpersonal skills such as communication skills and others would be tested.
• This paper would include questions based on Logical reasoning, analytical ability, Decision making, problem solving, General mental ability, Basic numeracy and Data interpretation.
• A gentle reminder that the Basic numeric section would only include Class X level problems with topics such as numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude.
• In a similar way, Data interpretation would also be based on Class X level such as, charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency and so on.
• Paper-II of the UPSC prelims could be qualified after scoring at least 33% marks in the test.
• All the questions would be object type or multiple choice questions.

In this article, we have covered some major key points that would guide you to your path of success in the prelims.

Know Your exam well

The most important and foremost step is to know everything about your exam. Without this knowledge there you can not start off with the preparation. Check out government websites and thoroughly go through the whole syllabus, the exam pattern, exam dates and everything possible.

There are tons of articles online that give an insight to the UPSC exam, check them out as well.

Find a good source

Finding a good source or study material is not hard, sticking to it for the whole year is tough. We understand that it is important to study to the maximum limits. At the same time it is also  important that you should not mess up your knowledge by going through way too many books.

The best way to tackle this issue is to find a few good books from your nearby books store. Or you may also ask any previous UPSC aspirant for their study material. Select a few and stick with them. It will help in avoiding unnecessary confusion in your brain.

Candidates might come from different backgrounds. Therefore it is important for you to clear off the core subjects of the UPSC exam. NCERT is the only source that will help you in laying your foundation. The best part about it is that NCERT books are available for free on the official websites.

It is highly recommended that you should go through your NCERT books at least twice. And don't forget to take notes.

Upgrade Your source

By just going through NCERTs would help but you should not rely on NCERT books. Once you have revised all the recommended NCERT books, expand your knowledge by going through the standard books for UPSC exams.

Remember to read these books twice and take notes every time you get to a new topic.  You can also refer to Youtube videos Online.

Keep increasing your knowledge with Current affairs

The best way to keep your knowledge up to date is by reading newspapers regularly. Make it your habit to surf through sites that release the latest news.  

Pre-Planning you study schedule

It is always better to plan and make a timetable for your study routine.  After doing so, set a realistic goal and then work hard with determination.

UPSC has a huge syllabus pattern. It is merely impossible for you to complete the whole syllabus without proper planning. You can go for anything, planning your day, a week or maybe a whole month.

Set some fixed number of hours for yourself to study. This will help in resolving your day well. Make sure to make a 'to do list', daily in the morning.

The CSAT paper

Do not even try to ignore CSAT. Even though you just need to score 33% for it, yet it is important as well. So you should prepare equally well for this.

Keep this fact in your mind that if you are somehow not able to qualify the CSAT, you would not be able to clear the Prelims. It does not matter how high your score in General Studies is. Therefore we recommend that you should not neglect the CSAT. If you have prepared it well in the last month itself, you would be able to qualify the exam with ease.

You could practise previous year's question papers to get an idea about the test.

Spend some time in revising

Revision is the most important aspect of studying. There is no way through which you can underestimate the importance of revision, especially when you are appearing for Prelims. Learning new facts every now and then is good, but it is the best thing to revise them everyday. In this way your knowledge would always be fresh.

If you are the kind of person who forgets things easily, start making notes. Make notes about everything that you have learnt in the day and go through your notes whenever you feel like.

Notes make the revision process easier and more effective.

Aptitude tests

Aptitude Tests help in polishing your mental ability as well as logical reasoning. Taking Aptitude tests can prove to be very beneficial for cracking down Prelims as it requires an intense amount of practise.

Do not underestimate Mock tests

Often candidates skip Mock tests as they seem less important to them.When you start solving the question paper from the prior years, you make your brain set up to the level of exams. Solving previous year's question papers or Sample papers will help you in getting an idea about the pattern of the questions.

This will eventually help you in finding the right books for your preparation and setting your preparation level accordingly. Also, you can even work on your time management.

Don't Give Up

Everything on this list would be useless if you lack determination. UPSC exams require determination and perseverance more than anything else.

During your preparation period, your mind and body would signal you to give up. But you should not. Even though the UPSC exams are hard to crack and might seem impossible sometimes, yet it will be worth all the effort that you put in.

Even once you qualified Prelims you should not give up because cracking down Prelims is just half a distance covered. The path to your Ultimate goal is quite harsh and long. Do not lose your enthusiasm after cracking Prelims.

If your point of view towards the UPSC exams is just a mere burden that you can not expect success. Cracking down UPSC should be your ambition and you have to achieve it with passion.  Consider your exams as an opportunity to polish your knowledge and improve yourself as a person. Look in the mirror and tell yourself that you have to do it and you will do it.

Get a Proper sleep regularly

Both hard work and determination are required to qualify UPSC prelims but not at the cost of your sleep. No matter what happens, your sleep schedule should not mess.

Make sure that you are getting a sound sleep of 7 - 8 hours. If you are sleep deprived you can not study and you will eventually lose your focus. Even before the day of your exam, sleep well and do not go through your book right before your exams. It would just create unnecessary confusion in your brain.