Step-by-Step Guide For UPSC Civil Services Preparation

UPSC CSE Examination pattern comprises of three stages:

1. Preliminary

2. Mains

3. Interview

Preliminary examination consists of two papers. GS and CSAT.

Paper 1

GS

100 MCQs

Penalty:? rd of negative marks assigned to that question

200 Marks

Paper 2

CSAT

80 MCQs

Penalty:? rd of negative marks assigned to that question.

200 Marks

For CSAT, candidates have to score 33% (66 marks) to qualify for Prelims.

Steps for prelims:

I: Syllabus + Previous Year analysis:

You should be familiar with the UPSC exam syllabus of the examination you are aiming to give.

Previous Year Question papers must be analyzed to find out what kind of questions are being asked. You must be able to link the questions with the syllabus.

For this, you can take help of books like Vishal or Disha publication.

II: NCERTs

NCERTS builds the foundation of our knowledge.

Many questions are being directly asked from NCERTS by UPSC. So, your book reading process should start with NCERT without any doubt.

Geography

Class 6 to 12

History

• Class 6 to 12 (skip class 10 which deals with World History)

• Old NCERT by R.S Sharma /Satish Chandra

Art and Culture

Class 11 and 12

IndianEconomy

Class 9 to 12

III: Reference Books

After reading NCERT, important reference books should be done.

Polity

Laxmikant

History

A brief History of Modern India by Bipin Chandra

Art and Culture

CCRT + Nitin Singhania

Indian Economy

Ramesh singh/SriRam IAS

Environment

Shankar IAS’s Environment

International Relations

International Relations by Pavneet Singh

There are some subjects like Indian Economy and International Relations which have to be covered with Current Affairs.

IV: Notes

Notes making is important as in the end it is better to revise your handwritten or online made notes rather than revising the whole book.

Notes should be made using keywords. Make minimum use of sentences.

V: Current Affairs

Current Affairs should begin from day one.

Initially, you must get familiar with the newspaper like The Hindu and Indian Express and websites like PIB.

Reading one newspaper daily is mandatory. This should be supported by news analysis given by institutes like Jatin Verma IAS Academy’s Daily News Analysis.

Again online UPSC coaching institutes provide daily news updates and daily quizzes on daily current affairs for UPSC which can be followed to prepare well for your current affairs.

At the end of the month, you should follow a monthly magazine. Any source like Vision Monthly magazine can work well for you.

VI: Mock Test

Mock tests are important for practice in dealing with questions. You can’t expect to deal with questions directly on the D-day.

UPSC CSE examination does not test only your knowledge. It tests temperament. You have to be relaxed and able to think properly in a given 2 hours.

This practice of being relaxed and cool should be done wisely by solving 30/40 mock tests.

Test series are provided by institutions like Jatin Verma IAS Academy and Vision IAS which provide detailed answers for every question.

Mocks should be solved sincerely within 2 hours.

VI: Revision

Revision can change your game. If you read each and every word of a book and notes are beautifully made and forget to revise, the result will be negative.

Don’t underestimate the power of Revision.

Make sure you revise your notes in slots like

First revision- within 24 hours, second revision within a week, third revision within a month and fourth and fifth revision after 2/3 months.

Steps for Mains:

I: Syllabus + Previous Year Analysis

Same as the UPSC prelims examination, you should get familiar with the UPSC exam syllabus of mains and analyse PYQ very well.

II: Optional

Once you decide your optional, you will have to give dedicated 3 to 4 months for optional preparation. Your preparation should start with the optional selection and its completion. GS should not be left apart. You can ensure GS study by linking it with current affairs issues.

III: Books Reading

NCERTs are important for both prelims and mains.

Geography

Class 6 to 12

History

• Class 6 to 12 Old NCERT by R.S Sharma /Satish Chandra

Art and Culture

Class 11 and 12

IndianEconomy

Class 9 to 12

IV: Reference Books

Polity

Laxmikant

History

A brief History of Modern India by Bipin Chandra

Art and Culture

CCRT

Indian Economy

Ramesh singh/SriRam IAS

Environment

Shankar IAS’s Environment

International Relations

International Relations by Pavneet Singh

There are some subjects like Indian Economy and International Relations which have to be covered with Current Affairs..

IV: Notes Making

Notes making for mains should be easy to revise and incorporate pictorial representation like flow charts, etc.

Make sure you link every topic of syllabus in the notes itself and try to keep it short and crisp. This will make your notes comprehensive and concrete.

V: Mock Test

The Mains mock test is very important. You should have practice writing questions. It is said that you should be able to write at least something relevant for every question because one mark decides your rank.

UPSC preparation websites provide daily upsc free mock test questions from current affairs and static portions. Try them. They will help to bring your hand and mind in practice to address questions. One time will come, where you will be immediately able to start writing answers without thinking much.

VI: Revision

Revision, as stated above, should be done for mains as well.

UPSC CSE examination is getting tougher day by day. But online UPSC coaching is trying every day to provide you with good online IAS study material and initiatives. Thus taking help of these websites will help you deal with issues like current affairs update, current affairs compilation, and classes for a low rate. Some classes are provided for free as well. Website and apps developed by institutes like Jatin Verma’s IAS Academy, IASBaba, Insightsonindia, Byju’s etc have many features like MCQ, mains practice questions, news updates, PYQ analysis which will definitely help to make your preparation stronger.

Steps for Interview:

Interview is the last stage. You have to keep some point in minds while considering interview preparation

• Prepare your DAF carefully.

• Revise your graduation subjects important topics

• Revise your optional

• Read the newspaper regularly and have a clear opinion on every current issue.

• Be relaxed

• The interview will test your personality, so be confident.

I am Anup Jaiswal education consultant having 10 Years of experience in the Education Domain. I am providing information about Upsc exams, Ias jobs, and other career-related domains.