One of the most challenging examinations conducted in our country is the UPSC Civil Services exam. It is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission which is a central recruiting agency. The task of cracking the UPSC Civil Services exam is not that much easy. The aspirants need to a lot of hard work in order to succeed.
This article will help you by giving some tips to study for an IAS exam at home. When you strongly decide to prepare at home then you need to spare more time for preparation. Everything starts from preparation and plan. So make a plan to kickstart your preparation.
Eligibility criteria:
Educational qualification
Education Qualification for IAS exam is that Candidate must hold a Graduate Degree from a recognised University.
Age limit
Candidate must be a minimum of 21 years of age and must not be more than 32 years of age. General Category & EWS: 32 years; 6 attempts.
Nationality
Candidates must be the citizen of India.
Exam pattern:
The next thing which you should know is the exam pattern. The UPSC conducts civil services examination in three stages. They are:
- Prelims
- Mains
- Personality test
The Prelims examination is objective and the General Studies Paper II is qualifying in nature. The question paper is set in English and Hindi. The UPSC IAS Prelims examination consists of two papers.
- General Studies Paper-I
- General Studies Paper-II
The General Studies Paper I comprises of Geography, History, Economy, General Science, Environment and ecology, and current affairs.
The General Studies Paper-II comprises is aptitude paper which has quantitative aptitude, logical reasoning, and comprehension skills.
When a candidate clear prelims exam, they have to fill up a form called “Detailed Application form” (DAF). Mains examination consists of nine descriptive papers including one optional subject (2 papers). This is considered as the crucial stage which decides an aspirant fate.
Candidates who qualify the mains exam, are called for the final round, that is personality test or interview. This round decides your rank in the final list.
Tips to crack the exam at home/without coaching:
Syllabus
First of all thoroughly go through the syllabus, then make sure of exam pattern because syllabus is one of the important thing. After knowing the syllabus only you can plan accordingly.
Study plan
After knowing the syllabus make a timetable to equally allocate time to cover the whole syllabus. Don’t leave any chapters, try to cover the entire syllabus before the exam.
Time management
Time management is one of the crucial thing when you decide to study at home. Spare at least 6-7 hours and maximum of how much you can depends upon you. Time management skills are also important when you write your exam. If you manage time only you could be able to complete the paper.
Practice:
How much you spend for preparing as much as it is important that you practice those questions. So test and evaluate yourself. Improve in the areas which you are weak. Spend more time on the weaker sections.
Mock tests:
The important thing after preparing is taking mock test. It develops time management, helps to evaluate yourself, progress, and also helps to improve confidence.
Urexam is one of the best sites for taking mock tests. It has more than 65000+ questions.
Some more additional tips:
- Read NCERT and other standard books
- Read a newspaper and make notes
- Practice writing answers daily for UPSC Mains exam
- Choose and excel in the optional subject for Mains examination
- Practice UPSC previous year question paper as well as the mock test
- Groom yourself for interview
Apart from this, it is assumed that candidates can clear the IAS exam only with the help of coaching but in real it is not. Candidates can able to clear the paper if they have confidence, hard work, practice of course they can improve their progress
Strategies:
- Refer online PDFs, e-books etc, if you can’table to find books
- Get an advice and tips from those aspirants who cleared their exam.
- Refer lecture videos, YouTube videos to clear your doubts.
- Try to read newspapers to know the current affairs many of the questions are asked from there.
- Know at least 6 months of current affairs for safer side.
- Practice more GK questions.
- Mock test are more important to evaluate yourself.
- Try to keep your mind clear. Do not stress yourselves with other things.
- It is very much important to take care of yourselves
All the best!
