How to Start IAS Preparation at Home for 2020?

The UPSC civil services exam 2020 will commence in the month of May next year. The 2020 prelims exam is scheduled to be held on 31^st May. The UPSC mains 2019 exam were conducted from 20 September 2019 – 28 September. If you are planning to take the IAS exam next year, the most important thing to remember is to have a detailed time table or IAS preparation schedule to follow. This exam is not for the faint-hearted and you will need to invest a lot of time and energy towards it.

In this article, you will get a few handy tips and tricks to follow if you are to clear the IAS exam next year and land your dream job.

Tips to start IAS Preparation at Home

The following tips are given to start IAS preparation:

#1: Make a time table

First of all, get the UPSC 2019 schedule (you can download the same from our notifications segment), print it out and stick it on the wall of your room. Mark the dates in red and then chart out a preparation schedule. For this, you have to go through the UPSC syllabus in detail and then prepare a timetable accordingly. You can start with the preparation for both the prelims and the mains together. When you make an IAS time table, you should write down everything. That is, how many hours you should study every day (depending on whether you are working or not), how many hours you should spend on the weekends, after how many days you can take a day’s break, etc. You should also be able to chalk out how much of the syllabus you can cover within a stipulated time. For example, you could say, ‘I will cover ancient history for prelims this week’, and so on. After making a study plan, you should stick to it. Otherwise, there would be no point!

#2: Keep a tab on Current Affairs

This is one of the most important segments of the IAS syllabus. In the civil services exam, most questions asked in both the prelims and the mains exams are directly linked to current affairs. Even the questions that are subject-related (such as those from history, geography, economy, etc.) would be linked to any current event/happening that affected the nation or world politically, socially, or in any other manner. Your best bet to be on top of the current affairs segment for the IAS exam is to read the daily newspaper. Experts recommend ‘The Hindu’ as the ideal newspaper for IAS preparation. In case you don’t know how to go about extracting the exam-worthy news from the newspapers, you can watch the BYJU’S video news analysis which we put up on our channel on YouTube every day. These video lectures will give you a detailed analysis of the daily news important for the IAS exam. You will also be given model UPSC prelims and mains questions.

#3: Solve sample UPSC question papers

In the UPSC exam, the competition is intense. You need to perform to your very best if you are to get a good rank in the exam. For this, merely covering the syllabus is not enough. You have to get sufficient exam practice. This holds good for both the prelims and the mains. In the prelims, although the papers are objective in nature (only MCQs), there is negative marking for incorrect answers. This makes the exam tricky. Also, you will need to develop a good speed if you are to finish the papers. The only way to learn how to work around the negative marking to your advantage and to increase your answering speed is by practicing model question papers. Even for the mains exam, where you will be writing descriptive answers, speed is the key. You will have to up your writing speed while being able to give well-explained, crisp and neat answers. Your answers ought to be well-thought out, organised, give what is precisely asked, presented neatly and also substantiated with facts and figures if need be. Achieving all this takes answer writing practice. So, you should enrol for a good prelims and mains test series which would not only give you adequate practice, but also give you the right feedback on your answers so that you can make the necessary course correction.

#4: Choose your optional subject wisely

They say we are the choices we make. The same goes true for your optional subject as well! The optional subject accounts for 500 marks in the mains exam and can typically make or break your IAS dream. So, take care to choose a subject that you are comfortable with. In fact, there are certain factors to be taken onto consideration before fixing on an optional. You can learn all about selecting the right optional from the video lecture which we have posted below:

#5: Don’t worry, just do what it takes

Preparing for the UPSC exam is not a small task. Sometimes, you can feel bogged down by the enormity of the exam (and the syllabus). But don’t lose hope. It is extremely important for you to be positive throughout the journey. Remember the path could be laden with thorns but the fruit is always sweet. Just stick it out till you make it. It is worth it!

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