With the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declaring the results of UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination on July 1, candidates who have qualified the exam have started their final leg of preparation for the UPSC Civil Services (Mains) examination. A total of 14,625 candidates have qualified the preliminary examination. The candidates will be appearing in the UPSC Civil Services Mains examination scheduled to commence on September 20.
To help candidates with their final preparation, The Telegraph Online Edugraph spoke with Rimita Saha (AIR 566) in UPSC Civil Services Examination 2023, who shared her valuable insights on cracking the Civil Services Mains Examination.
Speaking on the main areas that should be in focus, Rimita advised candidates to focus more on revision and rigorous answer writing as most of the portion from General Studies have been covered during the Preliminary examination.
"The next two-three months should be primarily used for revision and rigorous answer writing. Few topics like world history, security etc which are solely in the Mains syllabus also need to be covered. Among all the subjects, optional, essay and ethics have lately proven to be the deal-makers. Importance should be given to Optional revision and answer-writing in these few weeks," said Rimita.
"Furthermore, practising the previous year questions is also of utmost significance. Limited resources with multiple revisions is the key. Practising answer-writing with a timer and writing two full-length mock tests in a single day is very important. This prepares the candidates for the D-day, where speed and accuracy prove to be the game-changers," she added.
Commenting on the language papers, which are qualifying in nature, she asked candidates to practice and revise the basic grammar books of Class 10 or Class 12.
"Any grammar book of 10th or 12th standard can be taken up for the papers, and thereafter, referring the previous year question papers, the type of questions can be identified which can then be revised from the book. Since the papers are qualifying in nature, very limited time should be dedicated for them," advised Rimita.
"For the GS papers, thorough revision and answer-writing is the key. One can take up any GS test series, where evaluation is done properly with detailed feedback. This will help the candidate to understand the mistakes or shortcomings in the answers and the places where improvement can be done. Referring to different past successful candidates can also help understand their approaches. Each question needs to be understood properly, broken down into sub-parts and each sub-part should be addressed separately. Proper sub-headings, relevant introduction and conclusion are important parameters of a good answer," she said. She added that including relevant diagrams, quotations, data and graphical representations can also help increase the marks.
The essay paper holds a lot of significance in the UPSC Mains Exam. Commenting on the approach students should have towards the paper, she said, "For the essay paper, there has been a shift of focus towards philosophical topics more lately. This sometimes becomes tricky to handle in the exam hall. First, reading a few essays of past successful candidates with good essay scores can be done. This provides an idea of how to frame an essay. Second, understanding the essence of the topic is very important."
"Brainstorming for the first few minutes before starting the essay is important. This helps to organise the thoughts in one’s mind and arrange them in order of priority. This also gives a proper structure to the essay. Lastly, including quotations and anecdotes can be done wherever relevant. The thought that the use of difficult words and jargon fetches more marks is a myth. Accurate expression of thoughts in a lucid manner is always appreciated," she added.
Optional subject is one of major deciding factors in UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination. Here's what Rimita had to say on preparation strategies to be followed for the optional subject.
"Before Prelims, at least one reading of the optional paper must be completed. After prelims, answer writing and revision are the primary strategies. Similar to GS, one can take up a test series from any institute and solve them in a time-bound manner. Furthermore, previous year's questions also need to be practised. At least 3-4 revisions of the optional paper need to be done before the Mains exam," she said.
Lastly, she advised candidates to focus on time management while preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination.
"While attempting the questions, one can allocate time for questions based on their marks. For example, 6-7 minutes for the 10-mark questions and 8-10 minutes for the 15-mark questions. This helps in keeping track of time during the exam. For the Ethics paper, it is suggested to attempt Section A first, followed by the case studies. One should try to attempt all questions without fail. This helps in maximising the marks in Mains, where even 1 mark can make a lot of difference," she said.
Avijit Das
Source: The Telegraph, 8/07/24
