UPPSC PCS Preparation – Tips and Strategies

UPPSC Preparation 2024

In this article, we will first try to understand the nature of the exam by referring to the exam-specific information such as the exam pattern, syllabus, study resources, etc. It is always beneficial to check the required sources of study to refer to as per the syllabus in advance. Best quality sources once combined with some of the best tips and strategies for the UPPSC preparation will surely enable the candidates in cracking the exam.

UPPSC Exam Pattern

The UPPSC PCS exam pattern is different for all three phases. Below is the detailed recruitment process including the three phases i.e.

• Preliminary Exam: UPPSC Prelims Exam is Objective Type and consists of two papers i.e. (a) General Studies-I and (b) General Studies-II. Marks obtained in paper 1 are considered for the declaration of result in Prelims while paper 2 is qualifying in nature.
• Main Exam: The Mains Exam is subjective in nature and consists of 8 papers consisting of Hindi, an Essay, 4 papers on General Studies, and 2 papers for Optional Subjects.
• Personal Interview: The Interview is the final stage and consists of 100 Marks.

UPPSC Syllabus, Study Material

A candidate must be aware of the UPPSC syllabus to be able to begin the exam preparation. The syllabus forms the basic foundation of the preparation for the exam that will help you to know the important topics that are needed to be covered from the exam point of view.

• Current Events of National and International Importance
• History of India and the Indian National Movement
• Indian Polity and Governance
• India and World Geography
• Economic and Social Development
• Environment & Ecology
• General Science

UPPSC PCS Syllabus	UPPSC Sources
Current events of national and international importance	Any Standard Newspaper and making notes out of it for revision purposes.
History of India and the Indian National Movement	Ancient History: NCERT Textbook (Old class 11 NCERT) by RS Sharma Medieval History: NCERT Textbook (Old class 12 NCERT) by Satish Chandra Modern History: NCERT Textbook and Spectrum by Rajiv Ahir as a Reference book
Indian Polity and Governance	NCERT Class 8-12 for basic understanding Reference Book: Indian Polity by Laxmikant
India and World Geography	Physical – NCERT Textbooks (Class 6-12) Human – NCERT Textbooks (Class 6-12) Map book by Oxford or Oriental Black Swan Reference Book: Certificate Physical and Human Geography by GC Leong
Economic and Social Development	NCERT Textbook (Class 9-12) Reference Book: Indian Economy By Ramesh Singh
Environment & Ecology	Reference Book: Environment by Shankar IAS Academy
General Science	NCERT Textbooks (Class 6- 10) Reference Book: General Science-Lucent

UPPSC Preparation Tips and Strategy

We have tried to incorporate all the important pointers from our experts and experiences of previous year toppers to give you some important pointers which will help you strategize your UPPSC preparation more effectively for the upcoming exam.

1) Equal Coverage of Syllabus

UPPSC PCS Syllabus consists of many topics and each topic needs to be given its due importance. Neglecting any part can impact your marks. A very common tendency observed among candidates is that they devote more time to subjects like History, Geography and tend to postpone their studies of subjects like Environment and Ecology, Science. This should be avoided at all costs and importance should be given to all subjects proportionately. 

2) Importance of Newspapers

Current affairs constitute a big chunk of UPPSC PCS Prelims. Developing a daily habit of reading the newspaper whether The Hindu or The Indian Express is important. Apart from the daily reading, one should make notes of important news which will help you in revising during exam times.

3) Previous Year Question Papers

Every aspirant should go through the UPPSC PCS Previous year question paper to understand the nature of the exam and the type of questions asked. This also helps in finding out the important portion of the syllabus from where questions are more frequently asked.

4) Sticking to One Source

In this online world, there is no dearth of reading material for UPPSC PCS, and it’s very common for aspirants to get swayed by them. This should be avoided by aspirants and they should instead focus on competing and revising the sources one has referred to in the beginning. The most important part is the Revision. Regular revision of what you read should be the target and not reading new things that come your way.

5) Practice Mock Tests

Practising UPPSC PCS Mock Tests has many benefits like self-analysis and identification of weak and strong areas:

• Completion of the syllabus in a timely manner.
• Checking preparation level
• Revision
• Minimizing silly mistakes
• Time management

Giving mock tests on a regular basis is thus very important, especially for clearing such highly competitive exams. 

6) Importance of General Studies 2

Paper 2 of UPPSC PCS is qualifying in nature and one has to secure 33% in this. Marks obtained in this paper are not taken into account in the preparation of the merit list after prelims. Because of this aspirants neglect this paper completely and every year many of them fail in Prelims despite clearing General Studies-I but failing in General Studies-II. 

This should be avoided especially for non-engineering background aspirants. Weekly devotion of a few hours is sufficient for this paper.