- January 9, 2022
Exclusive Article on “How to prepare for Civil Services (Prelims) Exam”?
Civil Service Exam is conducted to select the All India Service officers (IAS and IPS), Group-A Central Service officers(IRS(IT),IRS(C&CS,IAAS etc ) and Group-B service officers by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) every year.
UPSC has released Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam Notification on 02-02-2022 to fill 861 Vacancies.
The Civil Services Examination consists of two successive stages
- Preliminary Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination;
- Main Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.
Preliminary Examination Pattern:
|
Paper |
Syllabus |
| Paper-I– General Studies- 200 Marks-2 hours |
|
| Paper-II- Civil services Aptitude Test(CSAT)-200 Marks-2 hours
**(Paper-II is a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%) |
|
Generally beginners have little bit confusion how to start preparation, what to read, what books are to read etc.
Here some tips to start preparation.
How to Start:
- Read Syllabus and identify subject/topics. Recollect the topics you have studied/learnt, so that you can start with those topics.
- Collect previous papers at least for five years and try to understand the questioning pattern and link them with syllabus.
- Read Social studies (History, Geography, EVS, Economy and Polity) from 6th to 10th NCERT or SCERT books and revise at least twice or thrice.
- Basic Science topics including applied physics and chemistry and Human physiology and latest trends
- Read daily English News paper (Hindu/Indian Express) and identify useful articles as per syllabus.
Books to Read:
Geography:
- NCERT XI & XII text books
- Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong
History:
- NCERT IX,X,XI & XII th text books.
- History of Modern India by Bipan Chandra
- India ‘s struggle for independence by Bipan Chandra
- Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
- A Brief History of Modern India – Spectrum series
Polity:
- Indian Constitution at Work -NCERT Class X th.
- Constitution of India (Pocket Size) by P.M.Bakshi.
- Indian Polity by M. Laxmi Kanth
- Our Constitution by Subhash C. Kashyap
Economy:
- Indian Economic development –NCERT XI th
- Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
- Indian Economy by Dutt & Sundaram
Science & Technology:
- Science & Technology by Ashok Singh (TMH)
- Manorama year book
- India Year Book S&T Chapter
- Science Reporter.
Aptitude:
- Magical Book on quicker Maths by Tyra.
- Aptitude by RS Aggarawal
- Any CSAT book
Important Year Books & Magazines
- India year book – Best resource to understand India’s Socio, Economic, Scientific, Ecological, Agricultural Progress
- Economic Survey- Best Source to understand the Economic policy and Prospect and Progress of India.
- Yojana – A magazine from Publications division of Government of India discuss on exclusively one topic every month.
- Manorma Year book.
- Science reporter magazine- a CSIR magazine gives updates in Science and Technology.
- Any one current affairs magazine (Monthly) or online current affairs websites.
- Press Information Bureau website releases
Best Practices
- Understand the basic concepts thoroughly by reading simple books
- Note making-Have a habit of notes preparation and revise at least twice in a week.(one way of writing practice)
- Time management-Divide the time into slots for different subjects/current affairs (useful to attempt maximum number of questions)
- Solve previous papers frequently (Improve your solvability)
- Improve English vocabulary- It will make you to understand swiftly and correctly and to write with good expression.(useful in Main Exam)
- Practice aptitude and reasoning
- Practice to think rationally to identify problem and solution.
- Observe the happenings around the world.(easy to understand the current affairs)
- Fill the mind with positive thoughts and inspire yourself to do service to the nation.(Retain the Goal with you)
- Listen to good voices /news and have conversation with few good friends on topics relevant to preparation. (Later it will be useful at Interview)
- Revise frequently whatever to read
- Check preparation frequently whether it is moving according to syllabus or not.
- Upgrade your preparation quality and content.
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