The Last Lap is Here: 30 Days Prelims Strategy

The month leading up to the Prelims examination is indeed a stressful time for students across the country who are preparing for the Civil Service Examination. Over the past year, you would have gone through the syllabus, made notes, and revised them during different intervals, but it is important for all the content you have learned to flow effortlessly in your mind. Recalling little facts of information, and going through concepts again can prove vital during this time. It is important that you don’t leave your foot off the pedal during this final lap. You will realize that as an aspirant, confidence in the core subjects is vital, and added to this, a good round-up of current events is important–aspirants should revise sources like, “The Hindu”, “India Year Book”, and “Economic Survey”. A bulk of the questions from current affairs come from these sources. We at BYJU’s Classes, have created a quick timetable into which you can align your preparations during this last month.

How to prepare for UPSC Prelims in 30 days?

September 1st to September 6th: Consolidation of Economy

• Go through Economy (Around 15 Questions appear in Prelims)
• The important chapters are Money and Banking, International Trade, Public Finance, National Income, Inflation, Fiscal and Monetary Policy, etc.
• BYJU’S students can revise the tablet lectures once and their classroom notes as all these topics have been done in great detail.
• Class Notes, highlighting important question areas should be revised, also students should go through the Prelims MCQ Mock tests once.
• BYJU’S video lectures on Current Affairs related topics should be revised once. These lectures are available on the student portal.
• Give special attention to issues covered in the Economic Survey- such as “Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G),” “Infrastructure,” “Ayushman Bharat,” “Green Bond Market,” “Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban),” “Governance in public sector banks,” etc.
• Go through simple concepts like, “What are the core industries in India?”, and their contribution to India’s GDP; revise terms like WPI, CPI, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, etc.

For the important economy articles, candidates can refer to Indian Economy notes for UPSC at the linked article.

September 7th to September 13th: Go through Current Affairs

• Go through India Year Book 2020. (Recorded video lectures are at available at BYJU’S IAS Youtube Channel.)
• Economic Survey of India.
• Go through other current affairs lectures available on the portal, where roundup of events over the past year has been done.

For any reference related to current affairs, check the links mentioned below:

September 14th to September 19th: Go through Geography & Environment and Ecology during this time

• Around 25 Questions are expected in Prelims
• For Geography, it is an absolute must to revise the NCERT books (Class 6th to Class 12th), and a revision of Goh Cheng Leong.
• Go through NIOS material for Environment and Ecology
• Chapter on Environment in India Year Book 2020 is an essential read.
• BYJU’S students can revise the tablet lectures once and their classroom notes- the lectures on climatology, atmospheric circulation, etc. should be revised again as they are core conceptual topics. Plus, the lectures covered in the tablet on the NCERT syllabus should be gone through once more. Class Notes, highlighting important question areas should be revised, also students should go through the Prelims MCQ Mock tests once.

For a quick reference to some of the important geography and environment topics, you can check the links below:

September 20th to September 25th (Go through Modern Indian History, and Art and Culture)

• Revision of NCERT’s and “A Brief History of Modern India” by Spectrum Publications.
• For Art and Culture, refer NCERT (Introduction to Indian Art- Class XI), and CCRT website.
• BYJU’S students can revise the tablet lectures once and their classroom notes- all the important topics have been covered with great detail.

NCERT history notes are linked below:

September 26st till Exam Day

• Laxmikanth Revision for Indian Polity
• BYJU’S students can revise the tablet lectures once and their classroom notes.

Get important polity notes for UPSC at the linked article.

  Important checklist of items during this period would be:

• Revision of NCERT’s and basic reference material.
• Taking tests for each subject area during the allotted period.
• Maintain exam like conditions while taking the test, which includes, sticking to the time limit.
• Wake up early in the morning and have a routine which you align the day towards.
• Don’t worry about the ranking you get in the test series which you take, instead, concentrate on the areas where you are not scoring well in.
• Go through previous years questions papers.
• Visit your examination centre once before the exam date, and make the necessary arrangements for travel and food.
• Take a printout of your hall ticket, and keep two copies of it.
• Stay calm and confident throughout this period and in the exam hall.
• Focus on your strong areas when you have only a couple of days to go.
• Have a balanced diet, and relax on the day before your exam!

30 Days Prelims Strategy:-Download PDF Here

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