Hello,

In order to appear for UPSC, candidates need to attain 21 years and passed graduation in any discipline from a recognized university, one can apply even in the final year, there's no specific aggregate required in this case. When it comes to coaching centre, the question of a good coaching centre varies among states,so in order to provide you detailed information, you need to mention your city, anyway overall in India some of the best coaching centre are Vajiram and Ravi(Delhi), Vision IAS, Shankar IAS Academy(Chennai), Khan Study Group, Chanakya IAS Academy to name a few.


UPSC Civil Service Exam consists of three stages: Preliminary,Mains,Interview.

To give you a brief about the exam;

Preliminary consists of 200 Marks for each paper, you just need to score the required cut offs against your category, its numbers are not added in the list.It mainly consists of GS Paper-I with the following topic such as History of India and Indian national movement, Indian and World geography, Economic and social development- sustainable development, poverty,inclusion demographics, social sector initiatives etc,Indian polity and governance-constitution,political system,Current Events nationally and Internationally, General Science,General Issues on environmental ecology,biodiversity and climate change. you just need to score the required cut offs against your category.

And there's qualifying paper CSAT for which you need to score 33%, that is 66 Mark's out of 20which includes topics such as basic numeracy, comprehension, logical reasoning and analytical ability, general mental ability, decision making and problem solving, interpersonal skills including communication skills. Both consists of 200 marks, MCQs based. Prelims is mcq based, but still it requires knowledge coupled with speed in order to ace it, it's numbers are not added in the final list,


Coming to Mains it's more of a subjective type, one needs to write answer for Four General Studies Paper such as

GS-I includes Indian Heritage and Culture,History and Geography of the World and Society,
GS-II includes Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations,
GS-III includes Technology, Economic Development, Bio-Diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management,
GS-IV includes Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude
Two Optionals
One Essay,
Two Language Paper

So, overall there are nine papers , each pape is of 250 marks, total is 1750 marks followed by Personality Test of 275 marks.

The vital step towards preparation is to be well acquainted with UPSC Syllabus , learn it by heart, that's the most crucial step to crack this exam, to know what to read and what to skip.

Have an integrated approach towards preparation because nowadays what's happening is even in prelims, UPSC frame questions based on Mains syllabus,

Set targets on a daily,weekly and monthly basis to complete this extensive syllabus.

Newspaper Readind is equally important, start with The Hindu, or Indian Express on a regular basis to be updated as well as gaining knowledge which shall be highly useful to you in future exam preparation part. Put a more emphasis on editorial part, it will not only broaden your perspective but help a lot in answer writing,and make sure whatever opinion you form it should be well balanced. You can also make notes of this,it'll be very useful in answer writing.

Start with basics always when it comes to reading book, for each subject, you can do with NCERTs for this. This will build your foundation strong,as you progress, move on to other relevant books as mentioned below;

For Prelims, refer the following books:

History ;

NCERT Class XI and XII
India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra
For Indian Culture, refer art and culture by Nitin Singhania

Geography ;

NCERT Class VI to XII
GC Leong's Physical Geography
World Atlas

Economics ;

NCERT Class XI
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh

International Relations & Polity ;

NCERT XII Political Science with current affairs
Indian Polity by Laxmikanth

CSAT ;

Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by RS Agarwal
M Tyra's Quicker Maths

Coming to Mains Exam, you can refer the following books for four General Studies Paper;

GS I - For History , Class XI NCERT book with India's struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra,India after Independence by Bipan Chandra,History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra

For Geography refer World Geography and Geography of India by Majid Hussain, GC Leong's Physical and Human Geography with NCERT Class XI book.

For GS II - Polity and International Relations , refer Indian Polity by Lamikanth,India's Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri

For GS III - For Economics refer Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh, read ARC report along with Economic Survey and Fiscal Budget.

For GS IV - For Ethics refer a book named Lexicon by Niraj Kumar, also you can go through study material of IGNOU.

Remember to keep resources minimal always, read one book many a times instead of many a book one time, revision is the key here.

Start practicing answer writing in advance, even in a little way, Writing mains is a huge task, for nine paper it requires immense practice along with knowledge. There are many sites which provide questions on daily basis you can avail that. Try to give a holistic viewpoint while answer writing by providing political,economical and social aspect. You can also go through toppers answer sheet available in various UPSC exam sites.

Go through previous year question paper available on the official website of UPSC,in addition mock papers, and test series which are easily available from any of the sites exclusively dedicated to UPSC, you must practice these and evaluate your performance.

hi,

see upsc civil service is one of the most toughest exam in India , however every year numerous students apply for civil service exam , however only few are selected for mains exams, so the exam has two stage and you have to clear prelims to become eligible for mains.

eligibility criteria is candidates must passed bachelors course in any discipline from a recognized education board. the applicant must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on 1 August of the year of examination. age relaxation upto five years is prescribed for reserve category students.

now coming to preparation it depends on your ability and how quickly you grasp the syllabus and make correct attempt. however as for the success full candidates review you must atleast prepare for 1 year for upsc.

coaching center is good to study but you also need to give your 100% effort to become selected in the exam, you just not only depends on coaching notes, you have to make your self note and need to maintain a routine for studies.

some of the best upsc civil service coaching are as follows,

Shankar IAS Academy in Chennai

Plutus IAS  Coaching in Delhi

Vajiram and Ravi IAS Coaching in India

Analog IAS Institute

Karnataka Pre-University Certificate Examination

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