How to Start UPSC Preparation from Scratch?

If you don’t know anything about UPSC and want to start the preparation from scratch then this article will be quite helpful to you. 

This will cover the UPSC Exam Pattern, UPSC Syllabus and, how to start preparing for UPSC exams from Scratch. 

First, you need to know what this exam is all about, and what it covers. UPSC conducts competitive exams every year for various job posts. 

In which, Civil Services exams are for posts like IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, etc.

Second, you should know about the exam eligibility criteria. You should have a college degree from any recognized university. 

Educational Requirement for IAS Preparation 

• A degree from a Central, State, or Deemed university
• Any bachelor’s degree received through correspondence or distance education
• Any bachelor’s degree from an open university
• A qualification recognized by the Government of India as being equivalent to one of the above
• Final-year student can appear in the exam

The other factor is the age limit but this depends on the candidate’s caste category. Age limit differs as per category, below is the list 

Age Limit and attempt limits:

Category	Age Limit	Attempts
General	32 Years	Up to 6 attempts
OBC	35 Years	Up to 9 attempts
SC/ST Candidate	37 Years	No attempt to cap till the age limit
Physically Disabled	42 Years	General & OBC- 9 attempts SC/ST – No attempt caping till the age limit

If you are eligible as per the above table then you are good to go for UPSC Preparation. 

If you wish to prepare for IAS then you need to qualify for all 3 exams which are conducted every year by UPSC. 

The 1st exam is Prelims, in which there are two papers. GS and CSAT. This exam is objective. You will be asked 100 questions in Paper I and 80 Questions in Paper II.

To write the paper, you are given two hours for each paper and both papers have the value of 400 marks. This exam works as a qualifier for the UPSC Mains exam.

UPSC Prelims

Prelims Exam(s)	Total No of Questions	Total Duration	Total Marks
UPSC Preliminary Paper I	100	2 Hrs	200
UPSC Preliminary Paper II	80	2 Hrs	200

Negative marking is applicable and 1/3rd marks are deducted for each wrong answer. 

Also, read – How to Calculate Prelims Score with Negative marking

Special Note – Prelims Paper II is qualifying in nature and you need to score 33% to pass the exam. Paper I marks are used for cut-offs. Both exams are objective. 

List of Books for UPSC Prelims of UPSC CSE: 

Subject	UPSC Booklist
Economics	Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh. Economic Development & Policies in India – Jain & OhriNCERT XI
Indian Polity	Indian Polity – M LaxmikanthNCERT IX-XII
CSAT	Tata McGraw Hill CSAT ManualCSAT II – ArihantVerbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R S Aggarwal
International Relations	NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics)Current Affairs
History	India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan ChandraFacets of Indian Culture – SpectrumNCERT XI (Ancient & Medieval)NCERT XII (Modern Indian History)
Geography	Certificate Physical Geography – G C LeongNCERT VI – X (Old Syllabus)NCERT XI, XII (New Syllabus)World Atlas

UPSC Mains 

This exam has 9 papers with two optional paper(s). This exam is essay-based and you are supposed to write an essay like the answer to these papers. You could select two papers as an optional paper. 

Special Note – Paper A and Paper B are qualifying only and you need to score just 25% in these two papers. 

Paper	Subject	Duration	Total marks
Paper-A	Compulsory Indian language	180 Minutes	300 Marks
Paper-B	English	180 Minutes	300 Marks
Paper-I	Essay	180 Minutes	250 Marks
Paper-II	General Studies-I	180 Minutes	250 Marks
Paper-III	General Studies-II	180 Minutes	250 Marks
Paper-IV	General Studies-III	180 Minutes	250 Marks
Paper-V	General Studies-IV	180 Minutes	250 Marks
Paper-VI	Optional-I	180 Minutes	250 Marks
Paper-VII	Optional-II	180 Minutes	250 Marks

Optional Subject List 

Agriculture	Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science	Anthropology	Botany	Chemistry
Civil Engineering	Commerce and Accountancy	Economics	Electrical Engineering	Geography
Geology	History	Law	Management	Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering	Medical Science	Philosophy	Physics	Political Science and International Relations
Psychology	Public Administration	Sociology	Statistics	Zoology

Other than the above subjects, you could also choose your literature as optional subjects. Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.

List of books for UPSC Mains

Subject	IAS booklist
History, Indian Heritage & Culture[General Studies Paper 1]	An Introduction to Indian Art Part 1: Textbook in Fine Arts for Class XIIndia’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra India after Independence by Bipan ChandraHistory of Medieval India by Satish ChandraAncient India by R.S Sharma
Geography[General Studies Paper 1]	Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary
Polity & International Relations[General Studies Paper 2]	Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth, Introduction to the Constitution of India by DD Basu, India’s Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri,
Economy[GS Paper 3]	Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh
Ethics[GS Paper 4]	Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary

These books are mandatory to start the UPSC preparation from scratch and under no circumstances, you should avoid NCERT books. Apart from this, you will need more study material sources to complete your preparation. 

List of useful study materials which you need other than UPSC books.

UPSC Interview – The final stage of UPSC preparation

Once you qualify in both the exams then you are called for UPSC Interview. This Interview is mostly to check your character, your thought process, your decision-making ability, and your wit. 

Interviews generally last for 30 minutes but it’s totally up to the interviewer. Interview scores are also added to your final cut-off list. This interview has a total of 275 marks. 

Strategy for UPSC preparation from Scratch: How to start your UPSC preparation

Now you are equipped with enough information to start for the UPSC Civil Services Exam. Further, let’s see how you should approach exam preparation. If you follow these below points then you will be on the way the kick start your UPSC Preparation. 

Previous Year Question papers – This is a must to do before you start IAS exam preparation. You must read the previous year’s questions. 

By doing this, you get to know the previous year’s questions and you also understand the pattern. 

Make a study plan – Since you know now what to read then it’s easy to make a plan. Essentially, planning is an integral part of your preparation. Without laying a successful plan, it’s very hard to move further in your studies. 

Study No more than 5-6 hrs – It’s a myth in our society that you need to study for at least 16-18 hrs to clear the IAS exam. However, it’s incorrect. You should have a focused approach. 

News Paper – Without newspaper reading, you are going to have a lot of difficulty in completing your preparation. At least, you need to read the newspaper daily and you should make notes from it for revision purposes. 

Essay Writing Practice – Essay writing is a must and everyone should start practising essay writing from day 1. You should start writing 1 essay every day for a successful result. Moreover, you should learn concise writing.

Less is More – You need to be very precise because too much information is available online and you easily get distracted. Therefore, don’t get confused and rely on a trusted source for information.

Selection of IAS Coaching Center

Once you decide that you need to prepare for UPSC exams then the other questions which arise are the need for the UPSC coaching Centre. Assess this and if you plan to take the coaching then you should start as early as possible. 

Decide the city

 In my personal experience, I’ve seen many UPSC aspirants confused in deciding the city. Many want to go to Delhi or Allahabad. In my opinion, every city is good. If you are still confused then please read this article-

Read – Best Cities for IAS preparation in India. 

I hope this article answers how to start UPSC preparation and if you have more queries then you could ask me on WhatsApp.

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