UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) is India’s central agency which conducts recruitment exams for one of the most coveted government jobs across India. One of them being the Civil Services Examination. The notification of UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2017 was out in February, this year.
You can read the detailed notification here. According to UPSC, the Prelims exam is scheduled to be conducted on 18th June 2017. It is only after a gap of three years that UPSC is conducting Civil Services Prelims exam in the month of June, otherwise, since past 3 years, it was being conducted in the month of August.
Last minute tips for UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2017:
Before we move on to last minute tips for the UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2017, let us first go through a few facts about the same.
UPSC Civil Services Prelims exam consists of two papers:
Paper I – (GS): It is a General Studies paper of 200 marks and of 2 hours duration. It generally has questions based on:
- Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Public Policy, Right Issues, Political System, Panchayati Raj, etc;
- Indian and World Geography;
- History of India and Indian National Movement;
- Current events of national and international importance;
- Economic and Social Development;
- General issues on Environment Ecology.
Paper II – (CSAT): It is an aptitude based paper (Civil Services Aptitude Test) of 200 marks and of 2 hours duration. It tests the candidate on basic aptitude areas like:
- Logical Reasoning;
- General Mental Ability;
- Decision Making and Problem Solving;
- Reading Comprehension;
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills;
- Basic Numeracy.
Important things about UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2017:
- CSAT is a qualifying exam and you just have to score 33% in it to secure yourself a call for next stage of the exam. Your scores in this paper will not be carried forward to the next stage.
- GS is not just a qualifying paper. You have to qualify it (along with Paper II) to secure a seat in the Main exam, however, the marks you score in GS are also carried forward to make it to the final merit list.
- Both Paper I and Paper II of the UPSC Prelims are multiple choice question papers.
- Both Paper I and Paper II have a negative marking of 1/3.
With just last 2-3 days left for the examination, you should:
- Practice sample paper in an exam like environment. Practicing in an exam like environment gives you an actual idea of how panicky you will be there or how well you perform in pressure or what mistakes you may commit under pressure.
- Focus more on GS as CSAT is just a qualifying exam now. It is not that you can ignore CSAT all together but whatever you score in CSAT over 33% is not going to help you. The minimum cut off to qualify CSAT is 33% whereas the marks you obtain in GS are carried forward to make the final merit list.
- Devise a strategy according to your strengths and weaknesses. Since you must be preparing for the Prelims exam for quite some time now, you must be aware of your strong and weak areas. Make a note of them and strategize how you will go about the paper so that you don’t have to waste your time doing the same there.
- Keep yourself relaxed and calm while writing the paper. If you find a weak spot in the paper instead of panicking, it is always good that you focus on your strong areas first and then think and find a way to tackle the weak spot. Be confident of your preparations and concentrate on one thing at a time, do not let your brain divert you to the weak spot of the paper again and again.
- Keep yourself healthy a day before the exam by eating a healthy and simple diet, giving your mind and body a proper sleep and keeping your mind fresh on the exam day.
With all these things taken care of and the preparations that you have been doing, we are sure you will come out with flying colors and achieve success.
Stay tuned for more updates on the exam day.
Aspirants can visit here to know the UPSC Prelims 2017 answer key & exam analysis after the exam on 18th June 2017.
All the best.
