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UPSC is a well known examination body famous for conducting Civil Services Exam every year. The complexity of its syllabus makes it one of the toughest examinations of the country. Every aspirant of UPSC finds the difficulty in gauging precise and exact syllabus of exam. The problem gets even more amplified when it comes to the paper of Essay which is given under Paper-1 of Mains stage. As far as weightage is concerned, the paper of Essay stands at par with all other papers of Mains Stage. However, unlike other papers, there is no well defined syllabus of Essay. 

Amid many ups and downs around COVID 19 Pandemic, finally UPSC conducted its UPSC Prelims 2020 on October 4th 2020 (Sunday). As the time gap between Mains and Prelims is very less, a fine idea about expected Marks in Prelims is going to be nucleus of preparation strategy.

UPSC conducted its Prelims Examination 2020 on 4th October 2020. Prelims stage is a vital part of UPSC Civil Services Examination as it decides who will play the final match of Mains. Doesn’t matter how well you are prepared, if you miss it, the cycle starts right from the scratch.

UPSC Civil Services examination has the most challenging exam status due to the extensive syllabus. Each step demands the conceptual depth of the subjects. Syllabus of Prelims and Mains overlap in many areas. The art of getting maximum marks and utilizing the best of available resources in a limited time is the only way that can ensure success in this exam. What we call it – ‘minimum input & maximum output’. In this context, the pre-cum-mains integrated approach is considered to be the best method for the preparation of the examination. Before we know how to find the best results from an integrated approach, we should understand why this method is the best?

Since the Prelims Exam also regarded as an elimination step, the cutoff of the exam always remains a topic of hot discussion and speculations. Many of the aspirants remain in constant panic after the exam about the cutoff as they play on margin. Usually, UPSC clears aspirants 12 to 13 times of vacancy for writing Mains Exam, however cutoff of the prelims exam also varies as per difficulty level of the paper. Thus, the overall cutoff is decided by the UPSC depending upon the requirement.

Before starting the preparation of IAS Exam, it is important for every aspirant to read and understand the syllabus and exam pattern of civil services examination. One needs to understand the pattern thoroughly and internalize the preparation of UPSC Civil Services Examination. Once this is done, the students should start the journey by adopting two habits.

UPSC exams are already the toughest exam. And, to make it more difficult UPSC introduced a negative marking scheme in UPSC Prelims in 2007 and since then it has been part of the marking pattern. Negative marking implies to deduction of marks in lieu of wrong answer given by the candidate. Most of the aspirants find it difficult to crack competitive examination just because of Negative Marking in examination. However, negative marking in UPSC Prelims Exam is applicable only for Prelims and not in Mains and Interview.

While attempting the paper, students often move for guesswork to secure better marks in UPSC prelims exam. This brings them in the vicious cycle of ‘Negative Marking’ in UPSC Civil Services Prelims Examination. More guessing, more chances of negative marking. The situation becomes tougher in the examination hall as candidates have to choose between two closer options. And it’s a toss. Even after attempting significant number of correct questions, sometimes it is difficult to be confident to cross cutoff marks.