UPSC 2018 – 6 Months Preparation Strategy

UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2018 is scheduled to be held on 3^rd June, 2018 (Sunday).The official notification will be published around 7^th February, 2018. The competition is tough and there is a lot to cover. Therefore, we bring to you a step wise preparation strategy for UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2018 to put you ahead. This strategy is brought to you by Oliveboard, an online exam preparation platform for government and banking jobs.

1.      Understand the exam pattern: UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam consists of 2 papers. Both the papers contain objective type questions. Marks obtained in only GS Paper-I are considered for selection in mains examination. The majority of your focus should be on preparing for GS Paper-I but at the same time GS Paper-II should not be ignored. Following table shows the pattern of Prelims exam.

Paper Name	No. of Questions	Maximum marks	Time	Negative marking	Remarks
GS Paper-I	100	200	2 hours	1/3rd	–
GS Paper-II (CSAT)	80	200	2 hours	1/3rd	Qualifying in nature (33 %)

2.      Understand the Syllabus: The detailed syllabus of UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2018 will be given in the upcoming official notification. You might want to note down the syllabus or take a printout. Syllabus is one of the most important document when it comes to starting your preparation. It gives an idea of important areas and topics. Syllabus says a lot about the type of questions UPSC is expecting to ask in Preliminary exam. Meanwhile you can get syllabus from last year UPSC notification.

3.      Right preparation resources: Without right resources , you cannot expect your preparation to move in right direction. UPSC Civil Services Exam 2018 requires intensive study so that you may gain required knowledge and right perspective. Here is the list of most popular books and other resources required for your preparation. These preparation resources are highly recommended by previous year toppers. 

1.      A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum.

2.      Certificate Physical and Human Geography by G.C Leong.

3.      Book on Indian Polity by Laxmikanth.

4.      Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania.

5.      Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh.

6.      India Year book 2018.

7.      General Studies Paper-II manual by TMH.

8.      Economic Survey 2018.

9.      Useful online resources such as websites. Click here for 10 best websites for Civil Services 2018.

10.  Environment for Civil Services prelims and mains by Khullar and Rao.

4.      Make your own Study Plan: Every aspirant has a different routine. Some are preparing full-time while some have jobs. So a well thought out study plan proves to be very effective. Keep in mind your strengths and weaknesses while making your own study plan. Follow a balanced approach. Do not plan to study all the subjects at once. Take 2 big subjects and complete their syllabus. Then follow with 2-3 more subjects. Make daily, weekly and monthly targets and abide by them. The syllabus of Prelims is the subset of Mains syllabus so the key is to prepare for both simultaneously. You should allocate proper practice time for GS Paper-II. Try to be efficient in time management.

5.      Test Series: Your study plan is ready by now and you have access to all the study resources. You have started well with your preparation but what about testing the level of your preparation? What about the mistakes which you might make in the real exam? What about the topics which you might have left unprepared? How about the preparation level of others? There are so many things which you will be able to know only if you start taking mock tests. No preparation is complete without proper practice and mock tests. 

The question arises “How can I enroll for a quality test series?”. Majority of aspirants are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities which do not have proper coaching and testing facilities. Even aspirants from Tier-1 cities do not want to waste their precious time in reaching test centers. Technology has the perfect answer for this problem. Online mock test series are equally effective as their offline counterparts with some added advantages.

1.      You can take the online mock test anytime and anywhere.

2.      You save your precious time which you can put to studies and revision.

3.      Questions in online test series are of high quality and prepared by experts.

4.      You get the quality and accurate solutions and can take the tests again.

5.      You get to know the improvement areas.

6.      Useful analytics which shows where you stand against thousands of other aspirants.

7.      Sectional tests, Video lessons, E-books.

Above are some of the features of a good online test series. Many of these features are missing in offline tests. Oliveboard is providing a high quality all India online mock test series for UPSC Civil Services Exam 2018 Prelims. With Oliveboard, you will get access to all the above features and much more. Try a Free All India test now.

6.      Understand the kind of questions UPSC focuses on: You should understand what UPSC expects from you in Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2018. You should understand the kind of questions UPSC is asking. The best way for this is to solve previous years papers of Civil Services Preliminary exam. This will also test your knowledge and you get some practice. You will also get to know the focus areas. Environment, Economics and Current Affairs have been the focus areas in recent years. The questions are getting more dynamic with every passing year.

We have prepared this strategy after taking valuable inputs from previous years aspirants and experts. You can kickstart your preparation by taking some vital inputs from this article. All the best!