How to Prepare for the 3 Stages in Conjunction?

3 Stages of the Exam

• UPSC conducts the Civil Service Examination in three phases namely: Preliminary Examination; Main Examination and Personality Test (Interview).

Tips to Prepare in Conjunction

• You might have heard in every Topper’s monologue, that they followed Prelims cum Mains approach. Albeit it might sound a little complicated at first or difficult to comprehend, but it's not as difficult as it sounds. If you have ample time, then don't think about appearing in the next exam but prepare with a long term strategy (2-3 years as the exam process itself will take a whole year to complete).
• Reasons to Prepare for the 3-stages of the exam in conjunction –
  • Similar Syllabus: Overall, syllabus for both Prelims and Mains is same. Mains, being a subjective written examination, has detailed syllabus and for Prelims, only small list of topics suffices all. You can say that, syllabus of Prelims is compressed version of Mains syllabus (Except, ethics and few other topics). The difference only lies in their paper pattern and demand of the examinations.
  • Questions in Sync: Considering that the Prelims is an objective test, it focuses on key material and tests key General Studies and current affairs nuggets.
  • As an illustration, consider the Ujjwala scheme as a topic. If a question about Ujjwala comes up in the Prelims, you can be asked what the initiative is all about. Which ministry is in charge of managing this? The same question when asked in Mains, usually takes one of the forms like, "Recent government initiatives like BBBP and Ujjwala have turned out to be a game changer in improving the social status and eradicating gender-bias environment. Critically evaluate. All-in-all, both these questions expect you to know about the scheme in-depth with other related provisions. The only difference lies in the approach of the questions. While studying for mains keep highlighting the points of prelims also separately.
  • Recent Trends: Recently, with the trend in Prelims, it has been seen that questions are being asked from the Mains syllabus. So, how can you afford to lose precious marks by studying Prelims and Mains separately? So, ideally, the candidates should actually study for Mains syllabus at stretch (covering different multitudes, different facets of topics) keeping in mind its (topic's) relevance for the Prelims.
  • Interview: With regard to interview, there is also no separate process. Candidates are asked contemporary questions from relevant syllabus of both Prelims and Mains. Interview can be factual and subjective depending on the interviewer. DAF should be prepared but that’s altogether a different matter which we have dealt with in the pages that follow.

Thus, there's no strict differentiation between preparation for Prelims/Mains/Interview. We all study the same topics, with same books and with same amount of time at our disposal. The only difference lies, in the approach we follow, which makes a huge difference.

• Note: Though one should prepare for all the stages in conjunction, when the Prelims approaches (probably 2-3 months before), one should focus only on prelims exam. This would help to better prepare for CSE Prelims as this is the major elimination stage.

Significance of going through Previous Year’s Question Papers Significance Understanding the Exam Pattern Having a solid understanding of the current examination pattern is one of the keys to doing well in the Civil Services Examination. Students can achieve this by consulting previous years’ question papers, which give them the requisite knowledge of the syllabus and subject matter covered in the test. Previous years’ Civil Services Examination question papers are also helpful in figuring out how many marks are given to each topic, allowing applicants to formulate their study plan around those topics. Students would be able to discover the pattern of questions on the basis of previous years’ question papers. Understand Question Format & Pattern Students can also benefit from question papers by using them to gain a thorough understanding of the style, content, and format of the questions that have been asked in the examination. This becomes crucial when there are objective questions included in the IAS Prelims Exam. In addition, they describe the degree or level of difficulty used for each question in a certain segment. Students who are familiar with the content and format of the questions will be able to prepare as per the needs of the examination and spend less time answering them during the exam.