UPSC Prelims Strategy
This article will briefly overview how to prepare for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
•     Make your basics strong:
Read the NCERT books as they will provide the fundamental concepts. Also, brush up on your handwritten notes, which shall be at most 10 % of the content studied. Condensing the information indicates how well you have understood the topic. Ensure you follow only one book per subject and revise it repeatedly to cement the concepts in your mind. All the information you have encompassed should be in a single source.
•    Revision is the key to success: 
The UPSC preliminary examination is composed of questions which will have factual information as well as conceptual thinking. It is imperative to study and revise the Preliminary and General Studies Main syllabus in an integrated manner which is included in the preliminary syllabus. Using your weekends for revision can be a good option. Hence, keep revising while studying.
•    Previous year’s question Papers are your Bible: 
UPSC does not provide a detailed syllabus for the Preliminary exam like the Main examination, and as such, the uncertainty regarding the questions that are asked is very high. Students should review the previous year’s question papers and evaluate the weightage of different sections of the Preliminary syllabus and the nature of questions on each subject. Make sure to focus more and cover those topics asked more frequently and use the previous year’s questions as a reference to study the static and current affairs parts.
•    Consistently in current affairs and reading newspapers: 
It is interesting to note that as every day passes, the current affairs of each passing day pile on, and it would be a humongous task to complete all the current affairs before the preliminary examination. So, the best way of coping with this is to make reading your newspapers and informative magazines a daily ritual so that the current affairs do not heap. The mistake of picking up current affairs booklets to finish the year’s current affairs in a few weeks would throw your preparation into a toss. There will be an overload of information, making you anxious. So, the best methodology will be to revise the current affairs daily and brush them weekly and monthly. Integrate Current Affairs preparation and revision into your daily plan. Try to minimise the sources as too much information will simply cause more confusion.
•    Practice through mock tests: 
Join a Prelims Test series and follow its schedule religiously. Sync your preparation with the test schedule. After attempting the test, analyse it and find out the questions in which you need more conceptual understanding or other essential facts. Highlight these questions with a marker and revise them. Write additional information regarding the question in the question paper itself. It will help you to assess your preparation, minimise your errors and make you exam ready. Refrain from expecting direct questions from the test series. The test series should be taken only as a medium to get the feel of the examination and minimise your errors. The basic idea is to revise, make mistakes, revise better and finally make fewer mistakes in the actual Prelims exam. The candidates either attempt very few questions as they fear negative marking or carelessly attempt questions without knowing the answers.
•    Make your brain active most active during exam hours:
You should train your brain to function to its most total concentration and activity during the time slots of the examination, i.e., 9 am to 11 am and 2 pm to 4 pm. Use these time slots for your most productive study sessions.
•    Reach the venue well on time: Make sure you reach the venue 45 min to 1 hour before the scheduled time. Last-minute rush and anxiety to reach the venue could negatively impact your concentration.
•    Be confident: 
Nervousness before or during the exam will hurt your performance. If the paper looks challenging at first sight, do not get worried. Try to remain calm even if you feel the question paper is tough, as it will always be. The question paper is the same for every candidate. You should keep your mind attentive during the two hours of the examination and give your best. It is advisable to meditate before the start of the examination to avoid any distractions. Even if you have committed a mistake, calm down, drink water and get back on your track. Don't overthink it. Focus only on what you know and make an intelligent attempt at the paper. Focus only on what you know and thoughtfully attempt the paper.
•    Maintain the momentum going into the exam: 
Sometimes it can get overwhelming, but you must concentrate and study with the same steam. Breaking the momentum in the last few weeks of the preliminary examination might have adverse effects.
•    Do not leave the OMR sheet filling to the end: 
While filling OMR sheet, make sure to read out the number of question in your mind. They should not leave the entire OMR sheet to be filled at the end because a single mistake might ruin their whole attempt. It is advisable to fill the OMR sheet for the questions one is sure of and which are present on a single page immediately after covering that page. Also, it will give you an idea regarding how many more questions you must attempt to clear the cut-off comfortably and help you plan your paper better towards the end.  Focus only on what you know and make an intelligent attempt at the paper.
•    Read all the questions, even if you do not know anything about it:
There are always some questions with absurd options where you can apply the elimination technique and jump to an answer conclusively. Make sure to read at least once all questions and options.
•    Attempt the number of questions according to the need of the Question Paper.:  
 Refrain from going into the examination hall, making up your mind to attempt a minimum number of questions. Such an assessment can be done only after receiving the paper question paper. 
•    Practicing the CSAT: 
There are many instances where the candidate fails to clear the CSAT paper despite clearing the General Studies Preliminary Examination Paper 1. By attempting previous papers, you should gauge your efficiency in the CSAT.