Step-By-Step Preparation For UPSC Exam

Every year, the Union Public Service Commission conducts the UPSC civil service examination to appoint responsible candidates to various administrative posts in India. Many candidates appear for the exam. Out of lakhs and lakhs of candidates, only 1% succeed in cracking it. However, this does not mean you will lose hope. If you have the willpower to follow the correct studying strategy and read from the suitable study materials and the current affairs 2020 in English, no one can stop you from passing the exam.

Before you apply for the exam, you need to know all about UPSC exam and how you should prepare for the current affairs for UPSC.

UPSC Exam Pattern

Before you start preparation with the current affairs for UPSC PDF, you need to know about the exam pattern. The UPSC exam consists of three stages – the Preliminary, the Mains, and the Interview. One can qualify to the Mains only if they crack both Papers I and II in the Prelims. Only being a bookworm won't help you crack the UPSC exam. In the Interview round, examiners test the personality of the candidate.

Tips to Prepare For The UPSC Exam

If you are a UPSC aspirant and want to crack the civil service exam, specific strategies will help you achieve your goal. Simply studying the UPSC monthly current affairs PDF will not help. It would help if you did some smart work along with hard work. Here are some strategies that will help achieve success.

1. Have a detailed knowledge about the exam

Before you fill up the UPSC exam application form, it is crucial to know everything about the exam. Go through all the notices about the UPSC exam, the syllabus, and the books that you should buy for the preparation. After you have gone through the syllabus, you need to gather question papers of previous years and understand the question pattern.

2. Your foundation has to be strong

No matter how many newspapers and books you study, if your foundation is not strengthened, it won't be easy to pass the exam. To build up a strong foundation, you should refer to the Hindu for current affairs and NCERTs of all subjects. Prepare notes as per your convenience. You can prepare online notes while studying the NCERTs.

3. Go through the correct books to upgrade yourself

As has been mentioned in the last bullet point, you need to go through the NCERTs. Once you have gathered enough knowledge from the NCERTs, now it is time to broaden your knowledge. You will find many books that UPSC aspirants and other toppers refer to while preparing for the UPSC exam. Now, it is time for you to skim and read from those reference books. It would help if you grasped those topics that are still new to you.

4. Revise and practice by writing answers

Writing answers is an art that cannot be mastered only by focusing on gathering bookish knowledge. So, practicing writing answers is a must. Your labor and hard work will not bear fruits if you depend on books to write answers. Learn to write answers on your own. Also, it is important to revise the already read chapters at this stage so that you do not forget.

5. Sit for mock tests

Prior to the prelims, when you are done studying all the materials and current affairs 2020, you need to put yourself to the test. Do not be afraid to encounter failure. Sit for mock tests to see how prepared you are. At this stage, the more self-critical you can be, the better will you be prepared for the exam.

Strategy For Preparing According to Different Subjects

Since you have to study many subjects for UPSC exams, it will be helpful for you to get a studying guideline for each subject. Here you go.

1. Polity and governance

Recently, the UPSC prelims have put more emphasis on the governmental schemes and policies of India. You can expect a good number of questions to come from here. If you study well, answering them won't be a problem for you. Since you won't find all the information in the books, the best would be to go through newspapers.

2. Life science, general science, science and technology

This is the science section and is categorized into biology, science, technology, physics, and chemistry. If you follow a few year's question papers, you will notice questions from this part that mainly check out the candidate's understanding of scientific problems. For life science, your primary area of focus should be zoology.

3. Economic and social development

The questions that you can expect from this area concern the Indian economy only. However, you also need to keep yourself updated about the international economics that have relation to India. For example, it can be the present trade environment and its impact on the markets of India. If you analyze previous years' question papers, you will find that questions come from public finance, banking, agricultural production, fiscal policy, etc.

4. Geography and environment

The paper in the prelims is filled with questions from the environment and geography section. When it comes to studying geography, you have to clearly understand the locations and focus on related other geographical concepts.

5. History and culture

Here, history is divided into ancient and modern history. The period that you need to study modern history extends from 1857 to 1947. In ancient history, thoroughly go through all the ages such as the Mauryan age, Gupta age, Vedic age, and the like. Once you can gain knowledge related to history, you can score well.

6. Current affairs

For any exam under the civil service format, much emphasis is put on current affairs. Although it has a vast syllabus to complete, if you study strategically, it is manageable.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is essential to study strategically for the UPSC exam preparation. If you are not confident enough, you can take help from various coaching classes. Also, make sure you select a suitable coaching class that can guide you properly.