The Mains (Written Test) is the second stage of the Civil Services Exam. There are nine papers and all of them involves a descriptive type of questions. The candidates have to develop the answer writing practice to easily clear in the UPSC Mains.
This article will provide some idea on the number of questions to be answered in the Mains stage of the IAS Exam.
Number of Questions to be Attempted in UPSC Mains
It is generally said that the candidates have to complete the entire paper if he/she aims to clear the Mains. However, it depends on the candidate and his/her plan to attempt the questions. The maximum marks allotted for the Essay, General Studies paper and Optional Papers are 250 marks each, and the maximum marks allotted for Indian Language and English paper is 300 marks each.
The Mains stage consists of nine papers in total. The aspirants can check the UPSC Exam Pattern to know about it in detail.
There are usually 20 questions (subject to variations) in each paper of the UPSC Mains, and 3 hours is allotted to complete them. The candidates have to try to attempt all the questions to gain maximum marks in the Mains Exam. It is generally said that there are high chances to clear this stage for the candidate who has attempted the maximum number of questions, rather than candidates who couldn’t complete the paper on time.
Importance of completing the entire paper in UPSC Mains
In total, it is recommended to spend seven minutes answering a question in the Mains Exam. Only then the candidate can complete the paper in time. If seven minutes were not enough to answer a particular question, he/she has to plan to compensate for the extra time spent in answering the previous question.
The candidate has to remember that all the question carries equal marks and spending much time in answering a particular question will be unfair while answering the other questions.
The aspirants can check the 7-5-3 Rule for Answer Writing in UPSC Mains and try to follow them during the exam.
The aspirants can read more about the General Studies paper and their syllabus, strategy from the links below:
Tips to Increase the Number of Questions Attempted in UPSC Mains
- The speed and accurate answers will help in clearing the Mains stage. The accuracy can be attained if a candidate has sufficient knowledge in all the topics of the Mains Syllabus.
- However, the speed can be achieved only by Practice. Take UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice 2023 to improve the speed in attempting the questions.
- Don’t spend too much time answering a single question.
- Don’t spend time defining the keywords in the question. Instead, focus on answering the crux of the question.
- Prefer to answer the question in bullet points, diagrams and other ways instead of monotonous paragraphs. Presentation of answers is important. This will definitely catch the attention of the examiner.
- Don’t give irrelevant information or facts or diagrams. Stick to what has been asked in the question.
- Don’t give a negative solution or conclusion. Of course, there can be criticisms, but try to conclude with a positive solution.
- In case you do not know the answer to a particular question, try not to skip it entirely. Try to answer something relevant to the question and can save such kinds of questions to be answered later in the exam.
- Last but not the least, manage your time wisely. In the total three hours, the candidates can set hourly targets to complete.
To know more about how to Improve Your Writing Skills for the UPSC Mains Exam, check the linked article.
Other relevant links:
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