How how to prepare for UPSC Preliminary examination
UPSC civil service examination is conducted by UPSC every year to recruit some of the government officials for some of the reputed government posts. This examination is one of the challenging examinations in the country. The preliminary examination is the first step for the candidates who want to appear for the IAS examination. UPSC civil service examination has three stages for IAS examination that are preliminary, mains, and IAS interview session. The examination 2021 was conducted on 27th June 2021. In the first stage, the preliminary examination, the candidates get two papers and both of them are objective. This round is the easiest round but it still takes a plan and dedicated approach towards the study of the candidates to clear this step. The examination process for UPSC 2021 was started on 4th March 2021 the union public service commission has released the IAS application form on the official website there are three stages in this examination that include interview session, mains examination, and preliminary examination. It is important for the candidates to get the best guide for the preparation for the UPSC civil service examination. Otherwise, the candidates can end up studying a lot of unnecessary things and leaving the most essential parts of the syllabus. The civil service examination is known as the UPSC examination. This examination is conducted on an annual basis the main aim to conduct this examination is to recruit the candidate for all India services. There are some of the candidates that are confident enough to do self-preparation for the UPSC civil service examination but there are some of the candidates who do not get the right way. In this article, we will provide you with a guide that you can use while preparing for the preliminary examination.
UPSC syllabus 2021
For the preliminary examination and the main examination, the UPSC releases the syllabus every year; there has been no change in the UPSC syllabus since 2013. The aspirant can get detailed information about the syllabus of the UPSC civil service examination from the official website of UPSC.
Eligibility criteria for UPSC 2021
These are some of the conditions that are applied to candidates who want to sit for the UPSC civil service examination. The eligibility conditions are provided by the UPSC. here are the eligibility criteria that is set by the UPSC:-
- The age limit of the candidates that belong to different categories.
- The educational qualifications.
- A number of attempts for the examination.
- Age exemptions for different categories
- EWS criteria
IAS preparation syllabus for preliminary and examination format
We have also made a separate article in which you can find the complete syllabus of the preliminary examination. it will be a better idea for the candidates to download and save the syllabus for future reference there are some of the subjects that covers preliminary examination and those subjects are:-
- History
- geography
- Polity and governance
- Economy
- Current affairs
- Environmental studies
- General science
- Reasoning and decision making
- Comprehension and communication skills
- Basic numeracy and data interpretation.
UPSC IAS preliminary format
In the preliminary examination, there are two objective type exams.
- General studies paper 1 that is for general awareness
- General studies paper 2 is CSAT
Here are some more exam details for the preliminary examination:-
Exam | Total Marks | Duration | No. Of questions | Negative marking | Nature | Required marks to qualify |
GS 1 | 200 | 2 hours | 100 | Yes | Marks counted for ranking | Cut off prescribed by UPSC |
GS 2 | 200 | 2 hours | 80 | Yes | Qualifying only | 33% (66/200) |
The marks obtained in the general studies paper 2 will not be counted for the ranking of the preliminary examination. The candidate needs to score at least 33% in the examination to qualify for the UPSC mains examination. the marks obtained in the general studies paper 1 with the only examination that will be counted for the ranking of the candidates. The minimum marks required by the candidates in this paper will be determined by the commission and will be declared to the public only after the final result of the UPSC civil service examination is out.
Tips to prepare for IAS general studies at home
Here we are mentioning some of the tips that will help you in preparing for the IAS GS examination at home on your own.
- The candidate should know when they should start the preparation for the IAS examination. The candidate must take an approximate time span of one year to prepare for the UPSC preliminary examination one should start with the subjects that overlap in both the preliminary and mains syllabus; the dedicated preparation for the preliminary examination should start at least 3 months before the preliminary examination.
- One should have proper planning and plot regarding the study plan syllabus and the topic they have to study first and so on. It will be very helpful for the candidates if they go with proper planning about the preparation of the UPSC civil service examination. Preparing alone at home is a hard task but to succeed in this task one should have followed a proper and sincere study plan.
- CSAT preparation:- in this examination the aptitude and logical reasoning skills of a candidate have been checked so a candidate should be strong in mathematics.
- It is a big misconception for a lot of candidates that for the UPSC preliminary examination it is enough to remember a lot of facts and figures. It is hard for the candidates to get good scores in this portion of the examination. It is important for you to prepare well for this examination. The candidate should prepare properly for this portion of the preliminary examination. The UPSC also checks that whether your concepts are clear or not for UPSC examination one should have analyzed every single topic in a very proper manner.
- Current Affairs play a most important role in the UPSC civil service examination. Every year a lot of questions that appear in the examination are from the current affairs section directly or indirectly. So the candidate who is going to appear for the UPSC civil service examination should definitely have good knowledge about the surroundings and what is happening in the world.
- It is very important for the candidates to practice maximum questions in a very short time. For this, the candidate should take a good number of mock IAS test papers that will not only enhance the ability of the candidate but will also improve the speed and learning of a candidate.
We hope that the information and tips we have provided you in this article are helpful for you in figuring out how to prepare for the IAS examination at home. You can also gain inspiration from the IAS toppers who have topped in the IAS examination without any external help. IAS examination is one of the toughest examinations in which the candidate should have a good dedication and should do proper hard work to achieve success in the examination. We have mentioned every important detail about the preliminary examination in this article. We hope that this article is helpful for you. If you have any query or question you can contact the mentioned below.