The IAS examination is one of the toughest examinations in the country. The pass percentage still remains very low at .1%. Very few can qualify this exam on their first attempt. The candidate has to cover a huge syllabus and face steep competition. The IAS aspirant has to opt for a proper study plan and a systematic strategy that has been followed by previous year’s topper.
Cracking the prelims becomes easier by adopting the right strategy. It is quite an important characteristic of IAS exams that only 3% of the candidates qualify for the prelims and then eventually make it to the Mains round. In recent years qualifying the Prelims has become more difficult than qualifying the Mains. Very few candidates make it to the Mains after qualifying the Prelims because they give more effort to qualify the Mains examination.
Focus on Prelims
While giving UPSC exams the time from January to May should be spent studying and solving previous year’s question papers and analyzing them. If 70% of the time is employed in these activities plus trying to solve the question paper in 1 hour and 40 minutes success is assured. Given below are some of the strategies
Civil Service aspirants can actually study previous year's question papers post 2011. This gives students an insight into the trends that have followed in recent years. Further analysis of question papers and online UPSC Coaching must be done. Questions are raised by students in the classroom and a holistic learning approach is tracked. It will be helpful to understand the nature of questions and the important areas of the syllabus.
Covering reference books and study materials within a single time frame is extremely important. Current affairs happen to be an extremely relevant area for aspiring candidates. There is also a high chance of getting the same questions in prelims.
Though offline and online content plays a crucial role in preparing individuals for the exam NCERT textbooks 6-12 are essential in UPSC exam preparation.
Daily compilation of current affairs includes important editorials available from different newspapers. Infographics contain a collection of events.
From 2015 onwards Paper 2 has become increasingly difficult to crack. Students must score 33% on this paper. This paper should be given adequate importance and not allocating enough time for Maths and English. Shortcut methods are taught for the aptitude session. Those students who lag in Maths can be taught tricks and short-cut methods.
For succeeding in IAS exams question papers must be practiced sticking to a time frame. Time management is indeed very important. Efforts must be undertaken at large. Sometimes students start preparing as early as when they are in their 10th or 12th standard.
The Pareto Principle is a rule of Management that actually determines 80% of output is determined by 20% of input. While preparing, more time must be given to areas from which maximum questions come. Keep the less return on investment areas (ROI) to be dealt with later.
Apart from this, students who start early in life always benefit as the UPSC syllabus is vast and detailed knowledge about the syllabus is required. Daily reading of the newspaper, making short notes, revising study material are always healthy trends to follow for cracking the exam.