Many aspirants can’t move past the questions- “What to study?”, “How to study?”, and “Where to start?”.  This article takes you through the requirements and strategies needed to crack the most coveted examination in India for the last 150 years.

This article takes you through the requirements and strategies needed to crack the most coveted examination in India for the last 150 years. Contrary to what you may have heard from your relatives or the media, the exam is not impossible to crack. Any candidate aiming to be an IAS must clear all three stages which are:1. Preliminary2. Main3. Interview Each of these stages has a different demand. Right strategy, hard work, and unflinching determination, all add up to make this dream come true. Thus, the right guidance is of utmost importance. Many aspirants can’t move past the questions- “What to study?”, “How to study?”, and “Where to start?”. If worked out properly, the key to this exam is in your hand. Our mentors at <a href="https://www.convertias.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ConvertIAS</a> are the right people to answer these questions for you as they have gone through the drill and can give you unbiased guidance. Stage 1: Preliminary <ul><li>Often regarded as the toughest and most unpredictable stage in the Civil Services examination, the preliminary consists of 2 papers- General Studies, and the Civil Services Aptitude Test(CSAT).</li><li>While the first paper tests the candidate’s knowledge on a variety of topics of national and international importance, the CSAT exam tests the basic aptitude in Mathematics, Reasoning, and English language.</li><li>Paper 1 consists of 100 questions of 2 marks each. Each incorrect answer carries a negative marking of 0.33%, which means for every wrong answer 0.66 marks will be deducted. The questions are multiple choice questions with 4 options each and are to be filled in OMR sheets provided by UPSC. The time allotted is 2 hours.</li><li>Paper 2 has 80 questions and carries negative marking for every wrong answer. Candidates are required to score 33% or 67 marks to qualify this paper.</li><li>The aim of the candidate should be to clear the prelims exam, to qualify, and appear for the next stage which is the Mains examination.</li></ul> Stage 2: Mains Written Examination <ul><li>This stage is usually conducted around 3 months after the preliminary examination. At the Mains stage, candidates have to appear for an essay paper, 4 GS papers, and 2 papers based on their selected optional. Along with these 7 exams, mains also consists of 2 language papers including English in which candidates have to simply qualify i.e the marks are not added to the total marks.</li><li>The duration of each exam is 3 hours and the maximum marks awarded are 250.</li></ul> Preparation: The most tried and tested strategy recommended by toppers relies on the following: <ul><li>Basic Books (NCERT)</li><li>Newspaper (The Hindu)</li><li>Test Series</li><li>Previous years’ papers.</li><li>Regular answer writing</li></ul> 1. Basic Books <ul><li>One common mistake that many candidates make during preparation is that they consider the preparation for prelims and mains separately. The truth is that the entire preparation must be an integrated approach for both the stages.</li><li>Many aspirants tend to refer to too many books and end up confusing themselves. Time and again it has been seen that NCERT textbooks from classes 6-12 have been the major source of questions asked in UPSC examinations.&nbsp;</li><li>The NCERT textbooks for History, Geography, Political Theory, Science, Economics and Social Studies must be an essential part of your preparation and must be revised multiple times.</li><li>Thus, even for beginners NCERT textbooks prove to be the best starting point because of their lucid illustrations and simple language.&nbsp;</li></ul> 2. Newspaper <ul><li>Newspaper is the most reliable source of current affairs knowledge required in all three stages of the civil services exam. ‘The Hindu’ has been the most preferred newspaper.</li><li>It is crucial to understand what part of the newspaper is relevant to your preparation; for instance, politics or developments within political parties, lives of politicians, local cases of crime, and sports are dispensable.</li><li>However, you should focus on issues that have been in the news for a while, such as GST, demonetisation, national elections, and Covid-19. For preliminary, the facts of the topics are important, but for mains, you need to form an opinion about the suitability, pros, cons, and concept of the topic.</li><li>Example​- In prelims, you may be asked about the items kept out of the GST, while in mains you may be asked about the impact of GST on the Indian Economy.</li><li>For understanding the concept and preparing for answers as expected in mains, reading the editorials is essential. Since they are written by experts in the field, they can be safely taken as good opinions.</li></ul> 3. Test Series <ul><li>Test series for both, preliminary and mains are an inherent part of your preparation. The major purpose that these tests serve is to provide practice and help extend your knowledge base.</li><li>Civil Services examination is not just a test of knowledge but also of strategy. Test series help you simulate exam-like conditions and train your brain to answer the questions correctly in a limited period of time.</li><li>For Mains-oriented test series, the feedback received from examiners also forms a key requirement to improve your answers and eliminate the weak areas.</li><li>You can subscribe to Prelims Test Series curated by <a href="https://www.convertias.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ConvertIAS</a> as per the UPSC standards. Get the most Targeted Questions from topics with the highest probability to appear in this year's Prelims Exam!</li></ul> 4. Previous Years' Questions&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <ul><li>You should read the previous years’ questions asked by UPSC, not with the purpose that they would be repeated; rather to understand the type of questions asked and ideology behind each of them.</li><li>While studying these questions, you may notice that many areas are often repeated, like ‘Fundamental Rights in Polity’ and ‘Freedom Struggle in Modern History’.</li><li>The purpose is to understand the prime areas from the exam perspective, this applies to both, mains and preliminary.</li><li>Solving previous years’ questions also helps you gauge the language and terminologies that the commission employs to confuse the students while answering.</li></ul> 5. Regular Answer Writing <ul><li>Inculcating a habit of writing daily can help in internalizing what you have read. This holds greater significance when you have to cover a huge syllabus. Also, writing helps in organizing your thoughts. You will learn to write what is asked and not just what you know.</li><li>Writing helps you retain and revise things and learn new things which are not covered by conventional books. Above all, it develops the ability to think and formulate answers in an efficient way as practice makes you perfect.</li><li>Just regular answer writing won’t help. Getting your answers evaluated by experienced personnel and improving with the feedback provided is very much required. So, get your first answer copy evaluated by the rank holders for free at <a href="https://www.convertias.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ConvertIAS</a>.&nbsp;</li></ul> Stage 3: Interview <ul><li>The duration of the interview is 30 minutes and it carries 275 marks out of the total 2025 marks.</li><li>At this stage, the interviewer does not want to test your knowledge (it has already been tested in Mains and Prelims) but your innate personality.</li></ul> You may have heard many things regarding the difficulty of the exam, however, with the right strategy, this exam is doable even in the very first attempt, many examples of which you may have heard of or seen.The initial requirements for this exam are focus and determination. Unwavering focus will always help you overcome the hardships that you may face. So before beginning your first newspaper or first book, you need to be resolute about your dream of becoming an IAS officer!

IAS: A Doable Dream