UPSC IAS Exam Preparation | Know Ultimate preparation Tips

Having a high percentage during your high school or being a bookworm is fine, but having a decent score with a good personality isn’t bad either. To all those who think only cramming books and getting 95% in school will get you through the upcoming exams and challenges, then you might be wrong. Let us talk about UPSC IAS exams and UPSC IAS Exam Preparation.

Many of those who clear the exam as well as make it to the merit list might necessarily not be a high school topper or the one who used to study for 22 hours straight.
It is high time for everyone who thinks only studying can make you clear the UPSC IAS Entrance exams and training, to get rid of this thought, now and forever. You might clear your written examination, but what the final round, i.e. the interview?

You will be judged by your personality and not the number of books you have crammed all these years. But you don’t have to worry now as we are here with this article to help every UPSC IAS aspirant crack the IAS exams. This article will talk about some useful tips for clearing IAS exams. But before that, let’s talk a little bit about UPSC IAS exams.

UPSC IAS Exam Preparation

For those who might not know, UPSC IAS examinations are said to be one of the toughest government exams in India. The IAS exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission or UPSC.

This exam has three stages, i.e., Prelims, Main exam as well as Interview. Every year a lot of candidates attempt to crack the UPSC IAS exams, but only a handful can clear all the rounds and make it to the merit list. So now, all the UPSC IAS aspirants should go through the whole article and know more about the UPSC IAS Exam Preparation.

Tip 1: Time management

One of the most important things to keep in mind while UPSC IAS Exam preparation is your time management. We all know how lengthy the UPSC IAS exam syllabus is. It might extend over a year as there are three rounds of UPSC IAS exams, i.e., Preliminary exam, Main Exam, and the Interview.

Not every one of you might take a break year to prepare for your IAS exam. Many of the UPSC IAS exam aspirants will be students or office-goers, who have to maintain a balance between their daily life work and their exam preparations.

To manage your time effectively, you should prepare a timetable in such a way that you get at least 10 hours a day dedicated to your exam preparation only. You can set up a deadline for particular topics which will include reading as well as making notes of a particular topic or subject within a few days.

Don’t rely upon learning new topics a few days before your UPSC IAS exam, it will all be in vain. Your timeline may vary from others, but this way is surely effective when followed with dedication.

Tip 2: Understanding the pattern of exam

To make a structured plan of your studying schedule, you must know about your syllabus. Do your research, check out the official website of UPSC and look for the UPSC IAS exam syllabus. From there you will get detailed knowledge of your exam. See its pattern.

The number of questions, weightage of each question, time given for every section of your exam, etc. will be mentioned there. You can know more about individual subjects by researching further. Then only you can plan a detailed and efficient studying strategy for UPSC IAS exam preparation.

Tip 3: Start with the basics

We all know how intimidating the UPSC IAS exam syllabus might be, but the key to a successful strategy is to always start from the basics. Basics here means NCERTs. More than 50% of the total exam questions for UPSC IAS exams come from NCERT.

For the conceptual knowledge of any subject, NCERTs are the best option. Never start the preparation from a help book. The building block of your exam preparation should begin from the NCERT.

Tip 4: Keep the update of the current affairs

Read a newspaper every day as well as watch news on Television to know about the ongoing national and international affairs. To clear the UPSC IAS exam, you have to remain updated with the news and current affairs.

You can also update your knowledge of current affairs with the help of magazines like Yojana, India, and Manorama Year Books. The UPSC IAS aspirants need to get in the habit of reading. Your general awareness is tested based on your correct knowledge of current affairs.

Tip 5: Notes making

Just reading the books is not and never enough. You cannot remember every line written in it and that’s why notes making is a necessity. Make shorts points of every topic for every subject. They will be a source of quick revision.

Whenever you read a particular topic, start making short pointers. Make separate files or notebooks for your subjects. This way the notes won’t get mixed, resulting in less hassle during revision. It will save your time and effort in finding a particular topic in your NCERT or help book.

Tip 6: Revise as much as you can

As mentioned earlier, the syllabus for the UPSC IAS exam is vast. You have to revise everything over and over again. Even though your concept is clear, an extra revision won’t harm you.

If you have highlighted important topics, the revision process becomes faster and easier. It is really normal to forget things over time, so you should always revise the topics from time to time.

Tip 7: Practice your answer writing

If you don’t know, I should tell you that the Main exam of UPSC IAS is descriptive. This means you have to write the answers. This will test your critical, analytical as well as communicative abilities. Your concepts should be clear and they along with your views should be presented in a real flawless manner.

You have to make sure the time limit and available space in your answer booklet is not much, so write the answer per that. This can only be achieved with an adequate level of practicing your answer writing.

Tip 8: Solve previous years’ UPSC question papers

To know the exam pattern and difficulty level of the UPSC IAS exam, a really good way is to solve previous years’ question papers. It will help you to understand the important areas of a particular subject. It will help you in your self-assessment as well. You can find these question papers on the official website of UPSC.

Tip 9: Mock Tests

Preparation for any exam is incomplete without attempting the mock tests. It is an important part of self-assessment. The aspirants can always know their strengths and weaknesses by solving the mock tests. If you are preparing from home, then joining a mock series is a good option for you and all the other UPSC IAS exam aspirants.

Tip 10: Interview round

This is the final stage of the UPSC examination Preparation, which will judge you based on your personality. This is something which cannot be achieved just by bookish knowledge.

The UPSC IAS aspirants, in the interview round, will be assessed on the qualities like diplomatic skills, communication skills, presence of mind, reaction to stress, etc. make sure to brush up the aspects like your interests, hobbies, education and work experience, if any.

UPSC IAS Exam Preparation – Admit Card

UPSC IAS Exam Preparation – Details on the admit card

The following details are mentioned on the UPSC IAS Admit Card:
• Name of the exam
• Date of the exam
• Name of the candidate
• Mother’s name
• Father’s name
• Roll number
• Exam center
• Venue of the exam
• Time Table of IAS Prelims
• General instructions for candidates

UPSC IAS Exam Preparation – UPSC IAS Admit Card, Steps to download

1. Open the Official website of UPSC and click on ‘Admit Cards.’
2. You can even open upsconline.nic.in and click on ‘e-Admit Cards for various examinations of UPSC.’
3. You will see a list of exams for which admit cards are available, click on the Civil Services (Prelims) Exam 2021 and download the admit card for UPSC IAS Prelims 2021.
4. Before downloading the UPSC IAS Prelims 2021 admit card you will be asked to fill your Roll Number or Registration ID for the same.
5. The admit card will open in a PDF Form, download it and print a copy and carry it for your Prelims exam.

If you have any queries regarding the UPSC IAS Exams, you can ask in the comment box. 

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