Every year, lakhs of aspirants apply for the Civil Services Examination conducted by the UPSC, and only a few are fortunate enough to clear this exam on the very first attempt. The first attempt at the UPSC Exam is extremely crucial because many candidates give it full energy and there are few other candidates who take up the first attempt as a test and trial.
This article will provide you with some information and tips on how to crack the UPSC Exam in the first attempt.
Tips to crack the UPSC IAS exam in the first attempt
Clearing the Civil Services Exam, commonly known as UPSC or IAS Exam in the first attempt means cracking all the three stages – Prelims, Mains and Interview in one go. All the stages of the CSE Exam can be called rejection or elimination level rather than selection level because of the application and selection ratio.
Even though there are six attempts allowed in general and 9 or unlimited attempts allowed in the cases of OBC and SC/ST candidates, many aspirants aspire to clear the exam on the very first attempt. Here are some general tips on how to crack the UPSC IAS Exam in the first attempt:
- Follow an Integrated Approach – Don’t see the three levels of the exam differently, follow an integrated approach while preparation. This approach should be adopted as the time between the stages of the exam is less. If a candidate starts his/her preparation for Mains after clearing the Prelims level, then probably he/she will not be able to clear the exam.
- Make sustainable notes and keep updating them – Especially for the current affairs section, the notes made at the prelims stage has to be constantly updated till the interview level. Use software like Microsoft One Note or any other marketing tool in the market where you can constantly edit and update with recent developments.
- Avoid overstuffing of information – Possibly, try to avoid last-minute overstuffing of information before Prelims and Mains. Instead, keep revising the known concept and facts.
- Develop Logical Ability – All the levels of the CSE Exam expects this quality in the candidate. The Mains exam has more indirect questions and the candidates are expected to answer in a comprehensive manner.
- Understand the language of the question – In the Mains exam, the words like comment, elucidate, critically analyse, explicate, examine, assess, explain, etc., are used in the questions. The difference between these words should be known by the candidate, and he/she should answer the question accordingly.
- Be confident – Face the interview board with confidence and exhibit your personality before them. Have a positive attitude and don’t hesitate to say “I don’t know the answer” if you did not know the answer to any question asked by the UPSC Board.
Can I pass the UPSC exam in the first attempt?
Yes, of course, it is possible to pass the UPSC Exam on the first attempt. Every year, there are toppers who not only clear the exam, but also secure All India rank in their first attempt. If they can do it, you can also. To achieve that, the aspirants have to follow the right strategy, the right study materials and work hard.
Read more about the List of IAS First Attempt Winners from the linked article.
The candidates can also go through the success stories of few IAS Toppers who cleared the exam in their first attempt from the links below:
| UPSC 2018 AIR 1 Kanishak Kataria | UPSC 2018 AIR 5 Srushti Jayant Deshmukh |
| UPSC 2017 AIR 9 Saumya Sharma | UPSC 2016 AIR 2 Anmol Sher Singh Bedi |
| UPSC 2006 AIR 48 Govind Jaiswal | UPSC 2014 AIR 34 Arunraj |
Obviously, it is not a cakewalk to clear the UPSC Exam in one go. It needs the aspirant to be consistent throughout the preparation as it is not a one month or two-month journey, but it is a two-year-long process – one year for preparation before the exam and the journey of one year during different stages of the exam. Therefore, the aspirants need such commitment and hard work during the entire process of the exam in order to clear the exam on the first attempt.
Other relevant Links:
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