IAS Preparation 2021: Last month strategy for UPSC Prelims Exam

Last month preparation strategy for IAS Prelims 2021. Read below for details.

IAS 2021 exam (prelims) will be conducted on October 10 across the nation and the candidates are expected to have prepared by now for the exam. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the UPSC postponed the IAS prelims 2021 exam to October 10. It will be very difficult to conduct the IAS prelims 2021 at the pan India level because the COVID-19 infection cases are still large in number in the Southern states such as Kerala.

UPSC postpone the IAS prelims 2021 exam by approximately four months. The candidates got four more months to study for the IAS 2021 exam (prelims) in comparison to other years.  But with the additional four months, the current affairs syllabus for the IAS Prelims 2021 is also enhanced. Now the candidates need to prepare the extra syllabus for the exam. The candidates should prepare the current affairs till the date September 15. IAS Prelims Paper is very much oriented towards current affairs and hence it is one of the most important sections of the IAS syllabus. Even in the official notification, current events of national and international importance are mentioned at the top of the IAS Prelims Syllabus.

Also Read: IAS Toppers

IAS prelims 2021 is just one month away and the candidates are expected that they have finished their basic general studies topics and will be revising for the exam. We will discuss the dos and don’ts for the last month of IAS preparation for IAS prelims 2021.

Revision

Revision is the key to the IAS Exam. Revision in the last month will strengthen the IAS preparation and it will increase your chances of selection in the IAS exam. IAS exam is the test of pure knowledge and application of that knowledge. Revision helps the candidates to understand the concepts and answers of the IAS questions in a better way. Most of the IAS toppers suggest that the revision is the key to differentiate the related concepts because the answer options in the IAS prelims question papers are very similar and the candidates are expected to mark the right answer.

Also Read: Best Books for IAS exam

IAS Question Papers

Previous year's IAS question papers of prelims are very helpful in the IAS preparation. The previous year question papers help the candidates to plan their studies and the time management at the time of the question paper. 

The previous year question paper also helps the candidate to understand important topics of different general studies sections. The candidates should make a chart of the topics asked in the previous year question papers and determine the important topics for the IAS prelims. So that they can lay more stress on the important topics.

Also Read: IAS Question Papers

Mock Test Papers

The candidates should practice with the mock test papers designed by the coaching institutes and various online websites. The candidates should solve these mock test papers in exam-like conditions. Exam like conditions means that the candidates should solve these mock test papers within the time limit of one hour forty-five minutes. We suggest trying to solve the mock test papers in less time because there will be no pressure which can equate to the actual exam day pressure. On the exam day, time is also wasted in signing the attendance sheet which is not counted at the time of the mock test. In the COVID-19 times, it is not clear how much time will it take to follow all the protocols and precautions.

Also Read: IAS Syllabus for Current Affairs

Mock test papers also provide a clear picture of the candidate’s preparation. The candidates will come to know which topic needs revision. It will also help the candidates to practice marking the answers in the OMR sheet. By practice, the candidates can minimise the human error in marking the answers on the actual exam day.

UPSC Answer key

The candidates should take the printout of the UPSC answer key and mark the official answers on the previous year question papers. This is very helpful in knowing the official answers to the IAS questions. There are various notions related to the topics and concepts but the UPSC official answer key provides the right approach to the concept and the topic.

Also Read: UPSC IAS 2019 Official Answer Key

For example. There was a question in the IAS prelims exam 2017 asking about the Right to vote. Most of the coaching institutes marked fundamental right as the answer to this question. But the UPSC official answer key provides the right answer, as it is the constitutional right, not the fundamental right.

The official answer key also gives insight into the other three options. The candidates should also understand why the other three options were wrong. This will help them in understanding the topic better.

Tackling Negative Marking

There is a provision of negative marking in the IAS prelims exam. The candidate should develop a habit of leaving the questions. The simplest way to tackle the negative marking is by leaving the questions where the answers are unknown. The candidate should leave the question where he or she has no idea about the answer.

The candidates should rely on intelligent (calculated) guesses in attempting the questions where the candidate has some idea about the concept or the options. Do not wildly guess the answers. Wild guess can reduce the score significantly.

Eliminating Wrong Answers

An intelligent guess comes into play when the number of questions attempted is less. The candidates who want to increase their number of attempts in the IAS prelims can take a chance of an intelligent guess. An intelligent guess is not a reliable way to increase the number of attempts, but most candidates do this to increase their chance of selection in the IAS exam. Intelligent guess is the way to eliminate wrong answers and pick up the right option. The candidates should try to develop this skill while practising with the mock test paper and also analyse their success rate. If the success rate is less than 75% then it is not advisable to resort to this technique.

Keep revising and practising with the mock test papers, it will provide a better understanding of time management in the actual paper.

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