How to Crack UPSC Civil Services Pre Exam in First attempt : UPSC has released the notification to apply for the India’s Most Prestigious Competition Examination – UPSC Civil Services Examination 2016. There is no doubt that Civil Services examination is not only most prestigious examination but also one of the toughest Competition examination in the World. Candidates who aspire to work as Administrator, Police officer, Revenue officer and foreign ambassador have to pass the Civil Service Examination.
Candidates often find it a hard nut to crack the Civil services preliminary exam in first attempt. In this article we will discuss the importance of the first attempt, strategy to adopt to clear the prelims examination in first attempt, syllabus of the prelims examination and reference books to be followed.
The key to clear any examination in the world is to prepare determinately for it and to give up everything else. To clear an examination which is considered toughest in the world, one has to put more than hundred percent efforts remaining positive about the result throughout the preparation mode. To come out with flying colours in the Prelims examination one should have a complete idea of the syllabus of the examination and the format of the question paper. If you are appearing for the first time in this examination you may get nervous at many points of time during the preparation but you have to maintain a positive attitude. You must keep in mind that
If the thing is already been done by somebody, then you can also do it. If it has not been done by anybody, then you have to do it.
Importance of the first attempt
The first attempt of the candidate is a very important one and it is the attempt in which we can give the attempt with the full fire. So you should not waste this opportunity for just sake of writing the Preliminary examination. Many can clear the Preliminary exam in just sake of writing but you cannot be done with the Mains examination. Let us explain that what advantage you have in first attempt is the thought about the civil services examination and how you approach to the preparation is decided by the fact that whom you approach to get the advice, Whether they are the successful candidates or those who are to succeed. Successful candidates can give you the positive approach, they would have had some fallbacks and how they rectified them. They will help you to focus in preparation with a positive way. But if you go for some candidates who have not succeeded, they might give you some negative thoughts about the examination that you have to study too much to cover the vast areas of study and course etc.
Another advantage to the first attempt students is that you can have the flexibility to change your mind according to the pattern of the questions which is asked. People who have done two or three attempts have a formed mindset which says that you have to prepare with such a way but in first attempt you have to concentrate on every aspects of the question paper and pattern. The syllabus is very fair and the question papers are setting in a very transparent manner and never go out of syllabus, and this is the main fair part of the UPSC. We have to identify all the areas which are generally asked and then prepare in such manner.
Strategy to be adopted for Clearing Civil Services Prelims Exam in the First Attempt
The best strategy to clear the civil service prelims in the first attempt is to have a positive mind set and a clear cut strategy in mind. Along with a proper strategy you must have a positive attitude towards the outcome of the result. You don’t need to know everything under the sun to clear civil services prelims, but you need to know the nature of UPSC questions to crack this exam. A blind study mugging up lot many things will neither help you in Prelims nor Mains. To get the idea of the nature of the question paper, you should look at the previous year question papers. This will give you the idea of the nature of the questions and the pattern of examination. Then you should have a clear cut image of the syllabus in the mind.
Some points must be kept in mind while preparing for Civil Service Examination:
- UPSC rarely ask facts and information of dates and years, so you are not required to mug up the facts and information.
- UPSC covers the entire details regarding an issue or topic, so it is advised to have a complete idea of whatever you read. Just remembering the facts won’t help you in the examination.
- UPSC checks your potential to apply logic, analyze the things and do the reasoning. So you must develop a habit of analyzing the things using proper logic and reasoning.
Syllabus for UPSC Prelims Examination
Paper I – (200 marks) Duration: Two hours
- Current events of national and international importance.
- History of India and Indian National Movement.
- Indian and World Geography -Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
- Indian Polity and Governance -Constitution, Political System,Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues etc.
- Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion,Demographics, Social Sector initiatives,etc.
- General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization
- General Science.
Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision-making and problem solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude,etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs,tables, data sufficiency etc. -Class X level)
- English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
Note 1: Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper- II) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper. Now UPSC is giving passage in both Hindi and English language.
Note 2: The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Reference books for UPSC Prelims :
- History: NCERT class 9-12, old NCERT books for ancient history (RS Sharma), Medieval History (Satish Chandra) and Modern History (Bipan Chandra).
- Indian Polity: Constitution of India by DD Basu / PM Bakshi / BK Sharma / M. Laxmi kanth.
- Geography: Class 6-12 NCERT Text books, GC Leong
- Economics: Class 9-12 NCERT Text books or Indian Economy by Sanjeev Verma, Economic Survey of India.
- General Science: NCERT Text Books
- Current issues: The Hindu Newspaper/ Times of India / Yojana Magzine.
Now start your preparation to crack upsc civil services pre exam in first attempt.
Last Updated on: 01-06-2016
All The best . . .