How to plan & prepare for UPSC Civil Services Prelims examination

By Anish Passi

UPSC Prelimsexam prep

If there is any government job that is esteemed to hold the most glorified status in India, it is the Civil Services. Every year, nearly ten lakh aspirants appear for the UPSC CSE, but only a thousand make it through the other end of the tunnel. This is why it has given rise to myths regarding cracking the CSE. Many tend to presume that to crack the Civil Services Examination (CSE), one needs to have a strong educational background and must have emerged as a topper at every level of education. Let us break this myth for you – to emerge as a successful candidate in the CSE, you do not need to be a topper. What you need is a burning passion and dedication for it.

Passion for becoming a part of the prestigious Indian Civil Services is the foremost driving factor behind the UPSC Civil Services Exam. Then, of course, you need to chalk out a well-planned study schedule so that you can cover almost all the topics without getting overwhelmed. Let us be your guide and walk you through the process!

When Should You Start Preparing For The Exam?

First, you should know that the UPSC CSE is conducted in three parts - Prelims and Mains - followed by the personal interview. Usually, the exam commences in June with the Prelims and stretches over a year. The best way to begin preparation for UPSC exams is to kick start a year before the exam.

In the course of this one full year, two months should be fully dedicated for Prelims exam preparation, three months should be fully dedicated towards Mains exam preparation and the remaining seven months can be utilized towards the consolidated preparation of both Prelims and Mains.

Pattern of Civil Services Prelims Examination

Civil Services Prelims Examination consists of two objective type MCQ papers – General Studies (Paper-1) and CSAT (Paper-2), each carrying 200 marks (total of 400 marks) with an allocated time of 2 hours each.  While the marks of General Studies are counted in Mains selection, one needs to score 33% marks in CSAT as it is just a qualifying exam. One must note that the marks obtained in prelims exam are not counted in the final merit.

How to prepare for Prelims Exam

NCERT books: Starting from scratch with NCERT books (Std. VI to XII) is a good idea. Static General Studies subjects like History, Geography, Polity, Indian Economy, Art and Culture, Environment and Science and Technology are thoroughly covered in NCERT books. These books will help strengthen the basic knowledge of conceptual questions.

Newspaper: UPSC has been increasing the weightage of current affairs question in prelims every year. Regular newspaper reading is a must for preparing for Prelims. It helps you stay updated with the current affairs. Inculcate the habit of jotting down all the important pieces of information you gather through the newspaper or the news.

Solving Mock Test Papers: Take regular mock tests to sharpen your time management and answering skills. Also, try to get your hands on the previous years’ question papers and solve as many as you can. You can find answer keys to previous test papers too, go through them and get important insights on what to prepare and how to answer. Trust us, it’ll be a great help when you finally appear for the exam!

Apart from this, you need to work on your reasoning and guesstimation skills. With so many questions before you and within so little time, it’s a must that you can eliminate options using your guesstimation skills. Also, two months before the Prelims should be solely reserved for preparing for the Prelims. Remember, cracking the Prelims will ensure your progress towards the Mains.

Once you make it through the Prelims, preparing for Mains shouldn’t be much of a headache since you’ll already be wired to follow a routine. You’ll get around three months of time to prepare for the Mains.

Timetable

Maintaining a timetable is the best way to ensure a holistic approach to UPSC exams. Since there are many subjects and topics to cover, we suggest that you break them into small chunks over a planned course of weeks. Typically, two full months (8 weeks) should be dedicated towards Prelims preparation. While preparing your study timetable, make sure that you allocate ample time for CSAT and revision. Here’s an example of how you can step-up your preparation and plan your schedule two months before UPSC Prelims:

*Morn – Morning
 FN – Forenoon
AN – Afternoon
Activity Break – Relax or engage in productive physical activities
EV – Evening

#CA (Current Affairs)
T1 (Test 1)
IB (India Year Book)
Rev His (Revise History)
Old qs His (Old History Questions)
Rev Pol (Revise Polity)
Test FN Analysis / Test AN Analysis (Review your answers and scores)

Schedule for Working Individuals and College-Going Students

If you are a working individual or a college-going student you can still prepare effectively for the Civil Services Exam. Try to squeeze in 6-7 hrs. every day for your preparation. However, two months before the Prelims exam you might have to stretch a little. Follow the above-mentioned time-table and ensure that you are able to cover the daily schedule in 8-9 hours. This can be done by reducing the break time and utilizing your travelling time to read online study material/current affairs.

Is It A Good Idea To Prepare Separately For Prelims And Mains?
 
The preparation for Prelims and Mains exam should ideally go hand in hand as prelims exam is a subset of Mains Prelims exam. However, to be doubly sure of cracking prelims you should begin your journey by preparing for prelims exam and as you get comfortable with the syllabus and books, start balancing your prelims and mains preparation.  

Tips To Help You Maintain Balance Between Prelims And Mains
 
Study Smart: When you prepare for an exam such as UPSC CSE, the key to success is studying smartly. It is wrong to think that you have to read a ton of books to crack the CSE. If you think you can study all the books, you’re only in for wasting your precious time. Instead, do some research on the web and make a list of all the best reference books for CSE. Collect them and begin!
 
Make Notes: Like we mentioned earlier, making notes is a must when you study. When you make notes, these will stay as the power points that you can quickly brush through during your revision process. While reading, whatever you feel is essential or tricky to remember, just note it down. It will help you learn better and faster.
 
Choose Your Optional Subject Wisely: This is one of the most crucial steps in the UPSC exams. Your optional subject should be chosen according to your strength and interest. This will be your safe resort, allowing you to fetch marks.  However, before making your decision, carefully assess your strengths and weaknesses and of course, analyze the previous year's question papers.
 
It’s Not All About Facts And Figures: When it comes to the UPSC exams, most people are of the view that it is just about hard facts and figures, but is not so. Though it is true that you must have a lot of factual information at your fingertips, the assessment criteria for candidates in the UPSC is quite different - the judgments about the candidates are made based on various factors such as conceptual clarity, analytical skills, reasoning abilities, etc. Another critical judgment criteria for UPSC is a candidate’s ability to act and think fast - solving 100 questions in 120 minutes is not a cakewalk!
 
Revise, Revise, and Revise!: Studying is important, but so is the revision. Preparing for the UPSC will require you to remember a lot of information which is nothing less of a herculean task. So, how will you ensure that you retain all that you’ve studied? The answer is simple - revision! This is even more important for static subjects which have a definite syllabus

These tips should help you maintain a well-balanced schedule for both the Prelims and Mains. But as Swami Vivekananda said, make this exam your goal and let the passion for becoming a Civil Service Officer run deep into your veins!
All the best!

About the Author:

Anish Passi

Anish Passi is the Director at Neostencil, a test preparation platform. He is an engineer from McMaster University, Canada and an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. He previously founded Testcafe and has extensive experience in the education industry.

Also Read:

• How to plan & prepare for UPSC Civil Services Mains examination

• Most Popular Optional Subjects for Civil Services Mains Exam – How to select your UPSC Optional subjects