UPSC IAS Topper 2020 Pradeep Singh shares his experience
Indian Administrative Services 2025 ( IAS )
UPSC IAS Topper 2020 Pradeep Singh shares his experience. Read below for details.
UPSC IAS topper Pradeep Singh all India rank 1 hails from Haryana’s village Tewri, near Sonipat. He belongs to the family of farmers. His father, Sukhbir Singh, is a farmer and former village sarpanch. Pradeep Singh secured this rank in his fourth attempt. In the previous attempt, he got 260th rank and currently undergoing the training as the Indian Revenue Service Officer in National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) in Faridabad, Haryana.
See Here: IAS Toppers 2020
He was not expecting the first rank and the UPSC IAS result surprised him. He was also selected in the SSC exam and was working as the Income Tax inspector. He took the help of coaching in his initial phase, but after the initial selection; he prepared for the UPSC Civil Services by himself with no coaching. He has done his schooling from Shambhu Dayal Modern School, Sonipat, Haryana. He studied Engineering from Dcrust University, Murthal and got an Engineering degree in Computer Science.
In the first two attempts, he could not clear the IAS prelims exam. He got the Indian Revenue Services in IAS exam 2018. His optional subject was Public Administration. He is of opinion that the IAS prelims, IAS main and interview are three different exams and require different approaches to qualify.
IAS topper Pradeep Singh suggests that for IAS prelims exams, the primary focus remained on Current Affairs and factual knowledge. The IAS main (written) requires the focus on answer writing and analysis of the events and issues.
Upcoming Sarkari Exam Dates
24 Sep '25 - 5 Oct '25
12 Oct '25
26 Sep '25 - 16 Oct '25
25 Sep '25 - 24 Oct '25
27 Oct '25 - 31 Oct '25
15 Nov '25 - 16 Nov '25
22 Nov '25 - 23 Nov '25
1 Oct '25 - 3 Oct '25
See here: IAS Topper Pradeep Singh's Story in Hindi
In IAS interviews, current events and Detailed Application Form (DAF) are the focus of preparation. He suggests the candidates should devise a separate strategy for each phase of IAS exam to qualify each of them.
Pradeep Singh suggests that the candidates should start with the basic general studies topics and then go for the current affairs so they can understand and relate the current events of national and international importance with the general studies topics. He said, for IAS main exam, writing practice is a must. Nowadays, there are many websites and online platforms which help the candidates in IAS main answer writing practice.
See Here: IAS Topper rank 3 Pratibha Verma's Strategy
The candidates should dedicate their last three or four months for the IAS Prelims exam and design their study plan based on their weakness and strengths. He suggests that the candidates should focus on answer writing practice in the IAS main because the candidates get only three and a half months to prepare the IAS mains after the IAS prelims exam. But, the IAS syllabus is so vast that the candidates could only cover the topics and the answer writing practice takes the back seat. He suggests answer writing is the key to IAS main exam.
For IAS Interview, he suggests improving the personality is a continuous process and can only improve over time. The candidates should always remain in touch with the current affairs and their DAF. IAS topper suggested exploring the questions which can be framed from their DAF.
IAS topper Pradeep Singh made his family and state proud by achieving the highest rank in India’s toughest examination. His detail IAS preparation strategy will be published soon.
Also Read
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
27 Oct '25 - 31 Oct '25 | SSC JE Tier 1 Exam 2025 |
30 Jun '25 | SSC JE Tier 1 Notification 202... |
1 Oct '25 - 3 Oct '25 | HP TET Nov 2025 Application Wi... |
4 Oct '25 - 6 Oct '25 | Application Correction |
13 Sep '25 | SBI PO Mains Exam 2025 |
4 Aug '25 | SBI PO Prelims Exam Date 2025 |
25 Sep '25 - 24 Oct '25 | CSIR NET 2025 Dec Application |
25 Oct '25 | CSIR NET 2025 Dec Application ... |
22 Nov '25 - 23 Nov '25 | IBPS RRB PO 2025 Prelims Exam |
6 Dec '25 - 7 Dec '25 | IBPS RRB Clerk 2025 Prelims Ex... |
Aug '25 | Kerala SET 2025 July Exam |
12 Jun '25 | Kerala SET 2025 July Applicati... |
29 Sep '25 | KTET Answer Key |
18 Sep '25 - 19 Sep '25 | KTET Exam Date |
12 Oct '25 | IBPS PO Main Exam 2025 |
26 Sep '25 | IBPS PO 2025 Prelims Result |
Sep '25 | UGC NET 2025 Dec Notification |
21 Jul '25 | UGC NET 2025 June Result |
27 Sep '25 | OTET Exam Date |
17 Sep '25 | OTET Admit Card |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a week ago
The Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC IAS 2026 notification on January 14 on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The Commission will also activate the UPSC CSE (IAS) 2026 online application link on its website. The last date for the UPSC IAS application form is February 3, 2026.
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
The candidates should analyse the UPSC CSE previous year question papers to know the trend of the most asked topics. The Commission releases the UPSC question paper on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The candidates can get the UPSC question paper of previous year here. The candidates can downloa
N
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 3 weeks ago
The Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC Civil Service (IAS) notification on January 14, 2026. With the release of official notification, the UPSC IAS Application form 2026 will also be activated for the candidates. The last date to apply online for the UPSC CSE (IAS) exam 2026 wil
M
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 3 weeks ago
The Union Public Service Commission released the UPSC CSE notification 2025 on January 22, 2025. In the official notification, the Commission notified 979 vacancies for the UPSC CSE 2025 exam. But this is a tentative number and the final number of vacancies will be mentioned in the final Result of
N
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the UPSC CSE (IAS) Main exam (written) from August 22 to 31, 2025. The Commission will conduct the UPSC IAS main exam in offline mode at the designated exam centres. The candidates are informed about their exam centre through their UPSC admit card.
T
S
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
Yes, the Union Public Service Commission has released the UPSC CSE (IAS) Main exam admit card 2025 on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The candidates are required to log in with their UPSC OTR and password. The UPSC CSE admit card will inform the candidate about their UPSC exam centre.
The UPSC IA
R
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission has released the UPSC CSE (IAS) main admit card 2025 on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The Commission released the admit card for the candidates to download. The candidates are required to download the admit card from the official website by logging in with t
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission released the UPSC CSE (IAS) Prelims cutoff 2024 after the declaration of final result. The candidates can see below the UPSC IAS Prelims Cutoff 2024
Category | IAS Prelims Cut off 2024 |
|---|---|
General | 87.98 |
EWS | 85.92 |
OBC | 87.28 |
SC | 79.03 |
ST | 74.23 |
PwBD1 | 69.42 |
PwBD2 | 65.30 |
PwBD3 | 40.56 |
PwBD5 | 40.56 |
Shiksha.com had predicted the UPSC CSE cutoff most accurately in some cases.
V
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The UPSC CSE (IAS) exam result 2024-25 was released on June 11. The Commission released the final UPSC CSE (IAS) 2024 cutoff for all the categories and stages of exam. The Commission released the UPSC Cutoff 2025 for all the stages of exam as given below:
| Category | CS (Prelim)* | CS (Main)# | CS (Final) |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | 87.98 | 729 | 947 |
| EWS | 85.92 | 696 | 917 |
| OBC | 87.28 | 702 | 910 |
| SC | 79.03 | 685 | 880 |
| ST | 74.23 | 684 | 884 |
| PwBD-1 | 69.42 | 663 | 876 |
| PwBD-2 | 65.30 | 696 | 913 |
| PwBD-3 | 40.56 | 307 | 701 |
| PwBD-5 | 40.56 | 361 | 461 |
M
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a month ago
The Union Public Service Commission is expected to release the UPSC CSE (IAS) main exam admit card 2025 soon on its official website - upsc.gov.in. The candidates will be required to download their UPSC admit card from the official website using their UPSC One-Time Registration (OTR) number and pass
N
Beginner-Level 5