Every serious UPSC aspirant aims to be a part of India’s biggest bureaucracy. Every year more than 5 lakh aspirants appear for UPSC IAS exams. Still, there are a handful of candidates who reach the final destination. This is because they have proper plans Strategies and dedication to crack the IAS exam on the first attempt. UPSC IAS exam is conducted in three phases where the first phase is of Prelims exam which can be considered the elimination round and the best candidates who qualify for the prelims appear for the Mains exams. The Mains exam is actually the real test of the candidate where the intelligence, intellect, and general awareness of the candidate are judged based on the answers written by them. The Mains exam is followed by the personal interview, which is actually the personality test.
Strategy to Clear UPSC IAS Exam in First Attempt
If you closely observe the syllabus of UPSC Prelims and Mains then you would come to know that it is quite similar and integrated. Therefore it is an added benefit that while preparing for prelims you prepare for Mains by default. But there has to be a certain strategy and follow some habits that will be helpful to you to learn UPSC 2022.
Understand the Syllabus:
Many students who are aspirants, fear doubt and step back from the preparations just by seeing the vast Syllabus of the UPSC exam. Undoubtedly the syllabus is vast but there is nothing that you haven’t learned before. It is the same history geography economics political science that we have learned in your school days between classes 6 to 10th. All that is required is brushing up on those topics and bifurcating them according to your strengths and weaknesses and focusing on the topics that need more attention.
Divide the subjects:
The aspirants should not take the IAS syllabus as a whole but rather tend to divide it into sub-topics and prepare accordingly. For example, divide the theoretical papers like Geography polity history economy, and other optional subjects which take a lot of time in studying and writing practice into one set, and the CSAT paper that includes Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, and General Awareness in the second set that demands more of the intellect. Then start preparing for the set that requires more attention.
Prepare a serious time-table:
Try to make a timetable wisely that includes everything like study period, rest period, and proper intervals. Divide the subjects and their topics according to the time slot or the time you may take to complete it and try to finish it on a daily basis. You can get subject-wise preparation material at BYJUS exam prep.
Follow the current affairs sources regularly:
Current affairs is a very important portion of every civil services examination. Current affairs are dynamic in nature and are asked to test the general awareness and viewpoint perspective of the aspirants. Also, you should choose the sources of current affairs wisely. Try to keep your resources authentic like the government website, government magazines, and government channels.
Practice mock test:
The mock test gives you the actual stimulus of the examination hall and allows you to complete the test within the time frame of the IAS exam. Make sure to solve as much as a mock test you can for Prelims and Mains both exams as they help you to evaluate your stand and performance for the upcoming exam.
Get the previous year’s question papers:
Solving the previous year’s question papers is a must practice for all the aspirants. The previous year’s question papers give you the idea and the essence of the type of questions being asked in the exam. The pattern, frequency of a topic or subject, and the trend of the paper can be understood by solving the previous year’s question papers.