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How to Prepare for IAS Prelims Paper 1?

How to Prepare for IAS Prelims Paper 1?

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Paper 1 in the Prelims is the most important and critical paper to stand a chance to appear in the mains Exam. It is the first step towards your success and as such you have to make sure that you fare well in this exam.

Paper I

Marks: 200 (2 marks for each question – 100 question)

Negative Marking: Yes ( 1/3rd marks deducted for each wrong question)

Duration: Two hours

A detailed Syllabus for Paper 1 is as follows:

1.    Current events of national and international importance
2.    History of India and Indian National Movement
3.    Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
4.    Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
5.    Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
6.    General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization

Now that we have the syllabus, the basic question which arises is where to start from. Looking at the syllabus, you just get an outline. To give you a better idea, always start with the NCERT books. NCERT books will itself give you a fair idea of the basic concepts. Read this book at least 4-5 times because UPSC has begun asking conceptual based static question in the prelims. If you have understood the concept properly, then clearing the prelims should not be a hurdle.

Once you are done with the NCERT books, you may switch to NIOS or IGNOU materials. Reading these materials will broaden your horizon about the concepts of the various subjects. Even after reading the above given material, if you find time you may switch to the books by various authors that are mostly referred for Civil Services Examination.

How much will it take for me to complete the entire syllabus?

Considering that you are all fresher and you start from scratch, it will almost take 4-5 months to cover the syllabus in depth. Well there may be many sites and coaching center which will brag that you can complete the syllabus in 2 months, don’t give an ear to all these. To succeed in the Civil Services, you need to have a strong foundation. If you don’t dedicate enough in building and strengthening your base, there is very little chance that you would come up with flying colors. So, do not be under any impression that any James Bond technique can get you into clearing this exam. Secondly, there are lakhs of candidate who appear for this prestigious exam and all of them work hard enough to clear this hindrance. The Prelims is an elimination exam. It is a process by which UPSC eliminates the candidates who haven’t put in enough hard work. In an attempt, it hardly matters how much effort you have given in, what matters is how much percentage of people have been able to perform better than you. So, never keep yourself on the boundary line, you may end up yourself being eliminated. So, it is always safe to be above the required.

So a time of 4-5 months is good enough to boost you up to the UPSC level. Additionally, in depth study of the general subjects will help you in the Mains Examination.

Prepare_IAS_Prelims_Paper_1Where can I get the study Material?

For the NCERT books, you may find the online version of all the books at http://www.ncert.nic.in/. Browse in to get the study material for all the subjects.

For the IGNOU books, you may find the study material for almost all the subjects at http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/.

For NIOS books, you may find the study material at http://www.nios.ac.in/online-course-material.aspx

For other books, you may opt for either flipkart or Infibeam to order the books online.

Apart from this, here are lists of recommended books which you must read for prelims.

  • Indian Polity by M. Laxminknath
  • History by Bipin Chandra. However, the Old NCERT History by Bipin Chandra is fine too.
  • India Yearbook

Details of the books to be referred for each subject?

  • Ancient and Medieval History- New NCERT
  • Modern History- India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra, old NCERT, New NCERT
  • Geography- New NCERT
  • Environment- NIOS Environment
  • Polity- M. Laxmikanth. Last 5 chapters of New NCERT Biology
  • Science and Technology – Current affairs (The Hindu), New NCERT-biology, Chemistry, Physics.
  • Economics- New NCERT, NIOS
  • India Yearbook
  • Current affairs – The Hindu or any other current affair magazine of at least last 1 year.

To make sure that you have covered all the portions, it is recommended that you buy a GS manual to keep a track that you have not left any of the portions. As per the popularity, TMH is doing far more recommended than Pearson and but it is all upon one’s opinion and convenience as to which GS manual they must choose.

Strategy to prepare

For UPSC you always have to follow the formula of ‘Less is More’. You need not read heaps of study material and remember none of them. It is better to follow limited books for each subject and revise them 4-5 times. The more you read them, the better you will be at grasping concepts. When you look at any of the question of the prelims examination, they seem to appear very easily, but you might get tricked into marking the wrong answer. Prelims will only seem to be manageable if you have your concepts all clear in your head. The second mistake which aspirants commit is to go for higher concepts and ignoring the basic ones. UPSC seems to more of static based questions in prelims which check your basic concept. So, start with the golden rule of reading the NCERT at least 4-5 times.

How many marks should I secure so that I have chances of appearing in the Mains?

UPSC is known for asking tricky questions in the mains. Paper 1 consists of 100 questions with 2 marks for each question. For each incorrect answer you lose 1/3rd of the marks i.e. 0.67 marks from the total. So, you have to make sure that you attempt a question only when you are 100 sure about it. If you are able to attempt and answer 55-60 questions, there are fair chances that you would get through. However, there are 2 possibilities in which this might not work for you:
1) The questions paper was too easy.
2) You screwed yourself a lot in Paper 2.

Apart from these 2 reasons, the experience and pattern of past year have show that students who are able to get around 100-120 marks in Paper 1 have a very good chance to clear it.

Note:

Do not have the impression that in Paper 2 getting 100-120 marks is good enough. You have to extend yourself to a 70-80 % in Paper 2 to have a fair chance.