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UPSC Notification is OUT! What are the next steps and How to Prepare for UPSC Prelims 2023 in the remaining 113 days?

Dear Student,

The UPSC Exam Notification for CSE and IFoS Prelims was released on 1st February. The last date for receipt of applications is 21st February, 2023 at 6:00 PM. The exam is scheduled for 28th May,2023.

 

The number of vacancies to be filled through the CSE examination is expected to be approximately 1105 which includes 37 vacancies reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disability Category. For IFoS, the number of vacancies is 150(approx.).

Want to know how to clear the exam? Read till the end.

 

HOW TO APPLY: Candidates are required to apply online by using the website upsconline.nic.in. It is essential for the applicant to register himself/herself first at the One Time Registration (OTR) platform, available on the Commission’s website, and then proceed for filling up the online application for the examination. OTR has to be registered only once in lifetime. This can be done anytime throughout the year. If the candidate is already registered, he/she can proceed straightway for filling up the online application for the examination.

 

About the Prelims Exam: The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each. It is meant to serve as a screening test only. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this Examination.

Note: (i) Both the question papers will be of the objective type (MCQs) and each will be of 2 hours duration

(ii) CSAT: The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

 

How to Re-orient your Preparation towards the Prelims Exam?

There are 113 days to go for the Sunday you’ve been preparing for since months/years: 28th May!

Before you go scrambling searching for IMPORTANT MATERIAL in the market, Telegram groups, YouTube videos, etc., that will help you crack the exam with “100% GUARANTEE”, pause and remember the basics that will actually empower you to ace the exam: SYLLABUS & PYQs! Sounds simple, right? But aspirants tend to miss the forests for the trees! (to not understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it). They seek to find quick solutions or “hacks” to clear the exam. The UPSC CSE Prelims 2022 illustrated that “techniques” do not work anymore(not always). Read the analysis of UPSC CSE Prelims 2022 Paper HERE.

What works, ALWAYS? Going back to the BASICS!

 

  • STEP 1: SYLLABI FOR THE EXAMINATION: Print it out/ Write it down and let it be imprinted in your memory!
    • Part A—Preliminary Examination Paper I – (200 marks)
    • Duration: Two hours
      • Current events of national and international importance.
      • History of India and Indian National Movement
      • Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
      • Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
      • Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
      • General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
      • General Science.
  •  CSAT : Paper II-(200 marks)
  • Duration: Two hours
    • Comprehension
    • Interpersonal skills including communication skills
    • Logical reasoning and analytical ability
    • Decision-making and problem-solving
    • General mental ability
    • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. — Class X level)
  • STEP 2: PREVIOUS YEARS’ QUESTION PAPERS:

We spoke about how aspirants tend to miss the forests for the trees by going on an expedition in search of “high-yield”/”high return-on-investment”/100% guarantee or money-back courses/materials. We will gladly burst that bubble for you. Please do not waste your precious time and energy searching for such quick-fix solutions. They will only delay your success further. Instead, follow these steps:

  1. The 100% guarantee materials are the basic books: NCERTS and standard books for each subject(We will post a detailed booklist soon).
  2. Read them, REVISE them– not once but thrice or even more!
  3. But is it enough to just Read & Revise? NO!!! You need to attempt tests! Full-length mock exams! Test yourself- even if you feel under-confident, even if you fear full-length exams or failure. It is better to fail now, get dismal scores and learn, than to fail in the real exam on 28th FAILURE IS FEEDBACK. Therefore, TEST YOURSELF every week! You may even subscribe to our test series HERE or you may choose to give our FREE STEP-UP MOCK Tests!
  4. Is it enough to attempt tests blindly? NO! Once you have attempted a test, you need to spend a few hours analyzing it: your weaknesses, your strengths, the optimum number of questions that you must attempt, your ability to make intelligent guesses . This will help you hone a strategy that is perfect for YOU for the real exam. It comes with practice and is unique to each one of us. Do not imitate your peer or a topper! Different strategies work for different people.
  5. Solve PYQs every single day! Buy a question bank of the last 25 years’ PYQs and solve a minimum of 50 questions on the topic that you are studying that day. You may also take our compilations(CA Quiz, Static Quiz, RTM, QUED, Insta-DART) and solve them on a daily basis.
  6. DO NOT IGNORE CSAT! Several aspirants tend to underestimate the difficulty level of CSAT. They may score high marks in Paper-1 but fail to clear the cut-off in CSAT and end up wasting a year. Do not be complacent. Solve CSAT Papers without fail.
  7. Revise everything that you have studied weekly. Studying without regular revisions is equivalent to not studying at all!

Dear student, Prelims may seem scary and unpredictable- it is to an extent. However, do not focus on your fears, instead focus on giving your best from NOW.

 

Need some motivation? Envision this scenario:

It is the evening of 28th May, 2023. You are frantically searching for answer keys and predicting cut-offs. You find that you are at the borderline of the predicted cut-offs and now you find yourself regretting and thinking “IF-ONLY I HAD BEEN DISCIPLINED AND GIVEN IT MY 100%!”

 

Don’t let regret be the story of your future. On the evening of May 28th, 2023, when you’re frantically searching for answers and cut-off predictions, don’t let a lack of discipline be the reason you fall short. The results may be beyond your control, but your efforts are not. Show up, give it your all, and never look back with regret. It’s better to have tried and failed than to live with the regret of not giving your best shot. So, take control of your future and commit to giving 100% starting today.

 

START NOW. Not tomorrow, but NOW!

We wish you the best!

Until next time!