UPSC Civil Services examination is conducted in three phases namely, prelims, mains, and interview or personality test. All three phases have their difficulty level but the prelim exam is generally considered the toughest phase. The Prelims exam consists of two papers, paper one, General Studies, and paper two CSAT. Both the papers have an equal weightage of two hundred marks each but paper 2 CSAT is qualifying in nature. The basic criteria to crack this exam is to read everything related to the examination very keenly and with full understanding. Below is the strategy for prelims, follow the points till the end, this may help you a lot in cracking the prelims.
Consolidate the basics.
A strong building needs a strong base, if the foundation is weak, the whole building will collapse. Similarly, if an IAS aspirant consolidates his/her basics there are maximum chances of cracking the UPSC examination. Start from the NCERTs and mug up everything with clear and crystal understanding. Conceptual clarity is the key and quintessential part of the UPSC preparation.
Understand what UPSC wants from you.
Merely studying and understanding the concepts won’t help you too much unless and until you analyze properly what is the demand of the UPSC. So you need to scrutinize in advance the nuances and trends that UPSC incorporates with the changing times. Analyzing the previous year's papers is the most important part to understand what UPSC wants from you and at the same time, you can comprehend the hot topics that are mostly targeted by UPSC.
Frequent Revisions and preparing self-notes.
Collecting the proper materials and revising everything that one reads is very essential to get a firm grip on your knowledge. There is an old saying that “It is better to read one book hundreds of times than to read hundreds of books”. Preparing self-notes and revising them periodically will give you a definite edge in getting qualified in the prelims.
Mock Tests.
Your preparation is incomplete without evaluation to check the application side of knowledge, to analyze this joining a mock test is very essential. There are lots of online and offline test series available join the one that you find perfect for yourself. Generally, one mock test per week is enough to check the depth and efficiency of one's knowledge and application. Mock tests are the simulation drill to prepare you for the real test.
Current Affairs and CSAT.
Current affairs form an important component of the UPSC syllabus and one needs to prepare it well to improve the scoring in the prelims examination. Prepare the notes well in advance from the current affairs and revise them as much as possible, you will find yourself in the safer zone. CSAT or paper two is the deciding factor whether you qualify for prelims or not, though this is qualifying in nature yet you need to score 33% of total marks to get qualified. Every year the difficulty level of CSAT is increasing and ignoring CSAT is a costly affair. So one needs to prepare well also for CSAT by analyzing the previous year’s papers.
With the above-defined strategies you can easily qualify for the prelims exam, you are religiously dedicated to your goal. Nothing works if there is not that much seriousness or determination from your side. So work hard with great diligence and perseverance and be among the toppers. We wish you the best of luck in all your endeavours.