More than 10 lakh candidates fill forms for UPSC Civil Services, out of which around 5 lakh aspirants appear in the Prelim Exam. Only around one thousand candidates get final selection. No doubt, UPSC Civil Services is the toughest exam, not only in India but also in the world.
\nWhat makes things more difficult for fresh candidates is that the competition is not between the fresh candidates starting out at the same time but with candidates who have appeared multiple times in the exam and candidates who are already selected in the Civil Services. All the many voices on social media and topper strategies floating around on social media further complicate and make the path complex for the candidates.
\nBut despite the many challenges, many candidates qualify in their very first attempt and that too with top ranks. What clicks for them and how they approach this exam is something all candidates starting their journey of UPSC Civil Services Exam should try to learn from. The key point is that these candidates appreciate the demands of the UPSC Civil Services Exam and prepare accordingly with a focused approach. Thus, let\u2019s understand the different stages of the UPSC Civil Services Exam and how we should approach them.<\/p>\n
STAGE-1: PRELIMINARY EXAM
\n*\tGS Paper 1 (200 Marks): Comprises 100 MCQ-based General Studies Questions.
\n*\tGS Paper 2 (Also known as CSAT) (200 Marks): Comprises 80 MCQ-based questions on English Comprehension & Basic Mathematics.<\/p>\n
Preparing for Prelims
\nBroad mix of Questions asked in GS Paper 1 of Prelims is:
\n*\tHistory (15-20%)
\n*\tPolity (15-20%)
\n*\tEconomy (15-20%)
\n*\tGeography (5-7%)
\n*\tEnvironment (15-20%)
\n*\tInternational Relations (5-7%)
\n*\tScience & Technology (10-15%)
\n*\tMiscellaneous (5-6%)
\nKey Points about Prelims Exam that Students should keep in mind :
\n*\tAbout 10-13 thousand candidates clear the Preliminary Stage out of about 5 lakhs who appear.
\n*\tIn recent years, UPSC has made the Prelim Exam very unpredictable. This has resulted in the cut-offs for candidates clearing the Preliminary Exam becoming lower.
\n*\tBetween current affairs and static themes, the broad mix is that 55-60% of questions are from foundation knowledge and static books, while 40-45% of questions are based on contemporary themes (Current Affairs of the past 1-1.5 years).
\n*\tGS-Paper 2, also known as CSAT, has also become more difficult in recent years; hence, it cannot be taken for granted. Students, if not comfortable, must dedicatedly prepare for this paper.
\n*\tThe merit list for the Preliminary Exam is only based on the score in GS Paper 1. However, students must attain a minimum qualifying score (67 out of 200) in GS Paper 2 as well.<\/p>\n
STAGE-2: MAIN EXAM
\nComprises Nine Descriptive Papers (Total 1750 Marks)
\n*\tEssay Paper (250 Marks): Two Essays on Topics
\n*\tGS Paper I (250 Marks): Twenty Questions on History, Geography, Society
\n*\tGS Paper II (250 Marks): Twenty Questions on Polity & Governance, Social Justice, International Relations
\n*\tGS Paper III (250 Marks): Twenty Questions on Economy, Environment, Science & Technology, Internal Security
\n*\tGS Paper IV (250 Marks): Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude (Descriptive Questions & Case Studies)
\n*\tOptional Paper I (250 Marks)
\n*\tOptional Paper II (250 Marks)
\n*\tTwo Language Papers on English (Mandatory) and any one other regional language, which candidates must pass. Their scores are not included in the final scores of candidates.<\/p>\n
Preparing for Main Examination
\n*\tThe most difficult aspect of the Main Exam is the vast syllabus.
\n*\tStudents must prepare, remember, and should have adequate answer-writing skills for all Seven Papers to qualify for the Main Exam.
\nStrategy most toppers that qualify the exam employ:
\n*\tBroadly, GS Papers I, II, III & IV account for 1000 Marks out of 1750 Marks in Main Exam. Students qualifying the Main Exam generally get 400-450 marks out of these, i.e., 40-45%.
\n*\tMany of these themes in the GS Papers are also prepared by students during the Prelim Exam. Thus, integrated studies and preparation of themes which are common in the Prelims & Mains enable students to have both the factual orientation for these themes for the Prelim Exam and deep analysis and answer-writing practice for the Main Exam.
\n*\tMastery over the Optional Subject, which accounts for 500 Marks, is a must for students to get their desirable rank and hence, Service of their choice. Toppers getting final ranks tend to score between 270-320 marks in their Optional Subjects, i.e., 55-65%. Excelling in Optional demands an in-depth appreciation of the Optional Subject and adequate answer writing practice.
\n*\tStudents need to give attention to the Essay Paper as well. In recent years, UPSC has been touching upon philosophical themes in the Essay Paper which many students find difficult to tackle.
\n*\tThe final merit list of candidates in the Main Exam is based on the aggregate of marks students secure in Essay, GS Paper I, II, III, IV and the two Optional Subjects. This aggregate is computed for candidates who have secured the minimum qualifying marks in the two language papers.<\/p>\n
STAGE-3: INTERVIEW STAGE
\n* At this stage about 2000-3000 candidates are invited by the UPSC based on the marks secured by them in the Mains Stage.
\n*\tThe interview stage is a test of personality, attitude, and mindset of the candidate to assess his\/her suitability for a career in the Civil Services.
\n*\tA Board comprising one UPSC Member and four other distinguished experts interact with the candidate and assess his\/her personality.
\n*\tThe interview comprises 275 Marks. There is a wide variation in the marks awarded by the UPSC Board in the interview stage. Some candidates are known to get 210 marks while others have even got 120 marks.
\n*\tCandidates should prepare their Detailed Application Form (DAF) and display virtues of an ideal civil servant to impress the Board.
\n*\tThe final merit list based on which final ranks are awarded is a sum of Final Mains Marks and Interview Marks.
\nWe believe that having a better appreciation of the demands of the exam allows students better align their UPSC journey with the demands of the UPSC Civil Services Exam, not waste time and achieve success at the earliest. Any student can reach out to us, if they want to discuss any issues regarding their strategy and align it better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 10 lakh candidates fill forms for UPSC Civil Services, out of which around 5 lakh aspirants appear in the Prelim Exam. Only around one thousand candidates get final selection. No doubt, UPSC Civil Services is the toughest exam, not only in India but also in the world. What makes things more difficult for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2088"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2091,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions\/2091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}