How to Prepare for IAS Exams

The Indian Administrative Service, which is popularly referred to as the IAS, is one of the most prestigious career options for youngsters. However, becoming an IAS officer is not easy since lakhs of people take the exam and very few are selected. However, if you put in hard work and have the right strategy, you would surely make it through. So, these are a few tips that might help you to clear the IAS examination:

Exam Preparation Tips for IAS

Do it smartly

Most of us are of the impression that to become an IAS officer, it's important to work hard. We believe that we need to study 10 hours or more, every day. But for desired results, all that a person needs to do is to walk the smart way which means that you need to read selectively and do a thorough revision, make short notes, learn time management, take mock tests etc.

Start early

After deciding to appear in the exam, preparations for the same should start early. In order to get an idea about the type of questions being asked, solved papers of past years should be referred to. It is also necessary to be updated in all fields, for instance History, Economy, Polity, etc and getting the best books for the same.

Routine work

A person needs to develop some kind of routine, which would help him to focus for long hours and cover the entire syllabus within the available time. A routine chart also helps in developing a concentrated approach for Mains as well as in preparing for most scoring parts of IAS Prelims syllabus.

One at a time

The exam comprises many subjects, thus, students often commit the mistake of reading all the subjects simultaneously. What they actually need to do is stop this multi-tasking and pick one subject at a time. Multi-tasking might lead to confusion, loss of concentration and lower output. It is also important to not to refer to more books than are absolutely required.

Unit test

Remember the school days when the teacher used to have unit tests in every 15 days in order to prepare us for the final exams? We need to evaluate ourselves in the same way, by taking our own mock tests after completing a particular section in a topic; in order to prepare ourselves for the final battle.

Score it up

As mentioned above, it is smart work that will help you crack the exam. In IAS Prelims, some sections are easier to score than others and students should always aim to cover these sections first. For example, Maps is one of the topics that can fetch good marks with less effort.

Short notes

Making short notes has always been a smart way to study and has always helped in revising quickly. These notes can be in the form of flash cards or micro notes on subjects like current affairs, GK, as well as other GS and optional topics.

Read, Read & Read

The more a student reads for his IAS, the more it will be beneficial for him. Reading a lot is the key to score. The students should make it a habit of reading newspapers, the latest economic survey, all NCERT text books and good supplementary books for IAS available.

The right guidance

In order to save valuable time and attempts, students should seek quality guidance from the best coaching institutes. These institutes provide coaching in all subjects. To know which books to read, coaching to join and what strategy to adopt for IAS preparation, IAS toppers, fellow aspirants and those who have reached the interview stage should be approached.

Get, set, go

Lastly, the student should always believe in himself, and be confident enough. He should have fun while preparing for IAS and hope for results to be fruitful.



Last Updated on : January 4, 2019