Hello,

First of all in order to appear for UPSC, you need to pass graduation in any discipline from a recognized university, you need to be 21 years old, and can appear even in the final year of graduation. When it comes to preparation, the most important step is to get acquainted with the syllabus which you can get from the official website of UPSC, this exam consists of three stages-

Preliminary: First Stage is MCQs based exam, it has two papers and each one consists of 200 marks, its numbers ain't added to final list, you just need to score the required cut offs against your category.

First is GS Paper-I which consists of 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.

Second Paper is CSAT which is qualifying by nature,you need to score merely 33% which is 66 marks out of 200, it includes following topics such as basic numeracy, comprehension, logical reasoning and analytical ability, general mental ability, decision making and problem solving, interpersonal skills including communication skills.

Mains: This is a second stage which it's more of a subjective type, you are required to write answers 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

In total there are nine papers in Mains, and each paper is of 250 marks, total adds up to 1750 marks.

Interview : The two stages are further followed by personality test of 275 marks.

Another equally vital step for UPSC is to read newspaper on a daily basis, you can choose between The Hindu or The Indian Express, this will also help you in your answer writing, put emphasis on editorials, national and international news of importance, science and technology, economics, developments and reforms pertaiing to law etc.

Next comes the study materials, read one book many a time rather than many book one time, start off with NCERT as this will build your base strong, and later proceed towards other standard books such as

For Prelims , you can 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.

For evaluating your progress as well as to get acquainted with the paper pattern, type of questions, important topics, you should go through previous year paper, that's available in the official website of UPSC.

Apply mock papers on regular basis, you can make a schedule of studying in the week days, and applying mock on weekends, this will help you know how much you're progressing and the areas that require improvement.

Practice answer writing in advance, writing mains is humongous task, hence daily practice is essential, you should consider going through previous year toppers's answer sheets, that's readily available online, this will give you an overview on how to present your answer by providing a holistic view in terms of political, social, economical etc.

Hi

To become an IAS officer you need to clear UPSC civil services examination.

Follow the below tips to prepare well for your UPSC  examination :-

To start your preparation  first of all go well through syllabus  , you can check the complete syllabus at
https://competition.careers360.com/articles/upsc-ias-syllabus

Top books which you can follow for UPSC examination preparation are listed below subject wise:-

HISTORY

*NCERT XI (Ancient & Medieval)
*NCERT XII (Modern Indian History)
*Facets of Indian Culture Spectrum
*From Plassey to Partition - A History of Modern India

Indian Art & Culture

*Indian Art & Culture - Nitin Singhania

Polity

*NCERT IX-XII
*Indian Polity M Laxmikanth

Geography

*NCERT VI X (Old Syllabus)
*NCERT XI, XII (New Syllabus)
*Certificate Physical Geography G C Leong
World Atlas

Economics

NCERT XI
*The Indian Economy Sanjiv Verma
*Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh
*Economic Development & Policies in India Jain & Ohri

Environment

*Class XII Biology (last 5 chapters)
*Environment by Shankar IAS Academy

International Relations

*NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics)
*Current Affairs ( read newspaper )

To get the complete list of books go through
https://competition.careers360.com/articles/books-for-upsc-ias

*Make a routine or a time table and try to religiously follow it , take short breaks in between your studies.

*Read newspaper daily and keep yourself updated with the current affairs

*Choose your optional subject wisely , choose the subject you have interest in.

*Make short notes for each subject, it  will help you in your revisions a lot as syllabus is wide

*Revise :- there's no point of preparing for the exam if you couldn't recall anything in the UPSC Examination so you should stress on revision as well.

*Solve previous year question papers and mock test papers ;- You should solve these , it will give you idea of types of questions asked and their difficulty level and will help you a lot.

*Also work on your communication skills and personality development as it plays an important role in your interview round

For more tips go through

https://competition.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-upsc-ias

Thankyou

UPSC Civil Services Exam

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