The civil service examination is one of the toughest examinations in India and requires a thorough preparation. Numerous candidates appear for the examination every year, but only a few emerge successful. To improve your preparation strategy, you need to follow certain rules. Some strategies that improve your changes of clearing the civil service examination:
Concentrate on Basics
As the pattern of the examination has changed over the times, it is essential for the candidates to clear their concepts pertaining to different subjects. The stress is more on the concept clarity and not simply mugging the data without any understanding. Refer to the books to get your concepts cleared for an effective understanding of the subject. Devote good amount of time for getting your basics cleared.
Plan Your Schedule
The candidates should plan their studies carefully keeping in mind the syllabus and time left for the mains examination. Necessary time should be devoted to carry out the revision. You should pay appropriate attention to both general studies and aptitude sections. Allot time based on the amount marks allotment for subjects in the exam. Atleast the last 45 days before the exam should be dedicated towards revision.
Keep Revising
Don’t forget your memory has an expiry date. You are likely to forget the important points if revision is not carried out at regular intervals. Make handy notes of the essential topics so that you can revise easily few days before the examination. If you keep revising at regular intervals, it becomes easier to revise before the exam and recall the important points during the examination.
Solve Past Test Papers
Candidates should solve previous years question paper as it gives you an idea about the type of questions asked in the civil service examination. Apart from this, this practice also helps the candidates in increasing the speed and accuracy significantly. Solving mock test papers also aid the aspirants in selecting the most appropriate options during the examination. Candidates can even join various online test series for civil services exam preparation to qualify the examination.
Concentrate on Ecology, Environment, and Culture
Numerous questions are asked from the subjects like ecology, environment, art, and culture. This is been the recent trend in the exam and the lesser questions come from the traditional areas. Therefore it is important to pay attention to them while preparing for the civil service examination. These subjects need to be studied in detail by referring to the best sources. To prepare these subjects, you can also refer to IAS exam study material of some of the reputed coaching institutes. These subjects are scoring helping you to score good marks.
Candidates from Different Backgrounds
Students from different backgrounds have to plan their strategy accordingly. Candidates from non-engineering background should focus more and devote a good amount of time for the preparation of CSAT paper and the number of questions asked is more. Other candidates who are confident about CSAT should not ignore the paper. Although it is qualifying paper, it’s not a risk worth taking for it can spoil your entire preparation.
Join a Reputed Coaching Institute
It is possible to crack the UPSC examination if you have joined a reputed coaching institute like Vajiram and Ravi. The coaching institute streamlines your study and keeps you updated about the changes in the examination patterns. They provide you online test series for civil services so that you can understand the type of questions asked in the examination.
These are some of the necessary rules which every candidate must follow to qualify the UPSC examination with good numbers.