How To Prepare For UPSC 2024

UPSC Civil Services Exam

Why government job?
Why Civil Services?
Why IAS? Why IPS?
Ask yourself these questions.
Write down your answer or reason on a paper.
Now you are ready to begin the preparation

Exam Pattern

Preliminary stage (Objective Type)

Paper I – General Studies (200 marks) Duration : Two hours
Paper II – CSAT (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Paper-II will be a qualifying paper
Minimum qualifying marks are 33%.

Mains (Written and Interview)

Written/Subjective
7 + 2 = 9 Papers

Qualifying Papers – (25%)

Paper A: (One Indian Language) – 300 Marks
Paper B: English – 300 Marks

Interview – 275 marks

Tentative Schedule of CSE 2024*

Preliminary exam – June 2024
Mains exam – September/October 2024

Interview – January/February 2025

Your Dream comes True sometime in April 2025!

Preparation Approach for 2024

In Class 12th
College going student
Working Aspirant

The Beginning

Do a little research on your own about booklist, pattern and rigors of the exam.
Watch toppers’ interviews on StudyIQ.
Make a conducive environment for studying
Get the books/resources and let the fun begin!

Optional Selection

Anthropology? Sociology? History? Public Adm.? Literature?
Factors to be taken into consideration –

Background /graduation
Interest
Availability of material nearby you/online
Guidance by seniors in that subject
Select an Optional by January 2023

Benefits of Early Optional Selection

Learn at better pace
Read all the suggested ‘books’ and not just notes.
More time to revise
Optional syllabus of most subjects is static (less CA)

SYLLABUS

Paper I – (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Current events of national and international importance.
History of India and Indian National Movement.
Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
General Science

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Comprehension
Interpersonal skills including communication skills
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
Decision making and problem solving
General mental ability
Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level),
Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)
Books – TMH , RS Agarwal, Arihant

For Current Affairs

Current events of National and International Importance.

THE HINDU
Yojana magazine
India Year Book**
Any one monthly current affairs magazines/videos
UPSC IQ – Monthly magazine by StudyIQ

Strategy for Current Affairs

Focus more on Polity related CA
Science and tech, Defence
Art and Culture
IR
Newspaper – start making a habit of reading editorials

English Medium

The Hindu – vast coverage of international news
The Indian Express – in depth coverage of national issues

Hindi Medium

Navbharat times
Dainik Bhaskar

Vocabulary
Current affairs
Structuring essays – Editorials

BOOKLIST for PRELIMS

History
History of India and Indian National Movement.

Old NCERT for Ancient class 11
NCERT 11,12 (New)
Class 6-8 NCERTS for Medieval(Themes of World History)
TN board books 6-12 class
Spectrum – A brief history of Modern India
Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence

Geography
Indian and World Geography -Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

NCERT 6-10 – all world geography topics
NCERT – 11,12
G C Leong – Physical Geography
Geography of India by Majid Husssain
Oxford Atlas – While reading news –> make/add to notes
Maps

Polity
Indian Polity and Governance-

NCERT 11,12
Laxmikanth – Indian Polity

Economy
Economic and Social Development — Sustainable Development, Poverty, lnclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.

NCERT 11,12
Indian Economy – by Ramesh Singh (for reference)
Sanjiv Verma’s – The Indian Economy (for basic understanding)
Any good Coaching class notes**
Latest Economic Survey Summary/Study IQ Videos

Environment
General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization

Biology NCERT 12 (Only Environment chapters)
Shankar IAS
DR Khullar
Dr.Ravi Agrahari’s book

General Science

NCERTs 6-10
Science Reporter
Book by Dr.Ravi Agrahari
Stress will be on Current affairs

BOOKLIST for MAINS

**Books/sources mentioned in prelims booklist are not mentioned again
GS 1- General Studies-I : Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society

Nitin Singhania for Art and Culture
CCRT website/news articles
World History- Norman Lowe** / Study IQ world History series
Post-Independence-
NCERT 12 (Politics In India after Independence);
9,10 (India and Contemporary World); India Since Independence

**If you have a lot of time then –

India after Gandhi by RC GUHA (Summary on my Telegram channel)
Society – NCERT 12 (Indian Society)

GS 2 – General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations

Polity – DD Basu
Governance book by Laxmikanth
Study IQ smart course for Governance
Yojana magazine
2^nd ARC report (summary)
IR – 12^TH NCERT
(Contemporary world politics + News analysis)

GS 3 – General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

Science Reporter magazine
News about new developments in science, Nobel prize
Data/rankings from various reports
StudyIQ videos
Disaster management – IGNOU notes
Internal Security – Book by Ashok kumar

GS 4 – General Studies IV:

Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

Lexicon by Chronicle
Book by G.Subba Rao
Case studies

Essay

Practice key Topics Beforehand like

Social issues,
Pollution,
Women empowerment
Energy related issues
Digital India
4^th Industrial revolution

Optional paper 1
Optional paper 2
English – Practice previous papers
Language – Practice previous papers

Time Table

3 year Timetable

Notes
Make your own notes always

Benefits of making Notes –

Concise – easy to carry
Easier to revise
Things you write down will stick in your memory better

Do not make notes of Current affairs*

Practice

Knowledge gained by reading is put to test in a limited period of time.
So practice in a simulated environment – time / environment
Join any test series (online/offline) – evaluate which topics are you weak in.
Mains – answer writing – multiple platforms available (UPSCIQ)

Other Sources

RSTV – Desh Deshantar/topic specific debates
Down to earth magazine
Livemint , BBC and AIR audio news
PIB updates
Study IQ videos for Current affairs/ Daily MCQ series
Social media accounts of various Ministries,UN organizations for info on different reports/new policies

Daily Routine 2021

1 hours for newspaper and Current affairs
+
2 GS subjects for 1.5 hours each
Or
1 GS subject for 3 hours

Daily Routine 2022

1.5 hours for newspaper and Current affairs
+
2 GS subjects for 1.5 hours each every
Or
1 GS subject for 3.5 hours

Daily Routine 2023

1.5 hours for newspaper and Current affairs
+
2 GS subjects for 2 hours each every
Or
1 GS subject for 4 hours

How to Avoid Burnout!

Today, the human brain is exposed to tonnes of information – almost drowned in the digital stream of information.
It is easy to feel as if the day is getting wasted doing too many things.
Fix a time for digital devices