Role of PYQs in acing UPSC Mains Examination

As we know that the UPSC prelims examination is over and it’s time to gear up for the next battle which is UPSC Mains Examination. This stage of the selection process is most crucial and in fact the deciding factor whether you will get the service of your choice and for that matter whether you will make it to the list or not.

Before jumping into the preparation mode one should get hold of the two most important paddles that will help you in sailing through this examination. Those two paddles are the syllabus and the previous year question papers. When you see the syllabus as given on the official website, it might be daunting for some to see that the syllabus in itself runs for a good 2-3 pages (excluding optional). At this moment PYQs will be your guiding light. The syllabus will draw the arena for you and the PYQs will help you draw the core area for your preparation. Not only this but there are various other points that make practicing PYQs important, some of them are listed below:

Advantages of solving PYQs:

• Helps the candidate in doing a SWOT analysis
• Studying the contents of the chapter is not enough for any student. Going through the same content, again and again, helps but only to a certain level. In mains practicing PYQs show you the mirror and help you in gauging your preparation. This process will let you know your weak areas so that you can fill the gaps in your preparation.
• Helps in analyzing the important parts of the syllabus
• The syllabus for the UPSC CSE exam contains several topics. In addition to this, every topic has many sections. Additionally, each section has plenty of information related to it. However, not all these are important. Previous Year Question papers contain segments from the vital parts of the topics. Thus it helps the aspirant understand the critical regions of the syllabus.

Boosts Confidence

Previous year question papers provide the candidates with a chance to practice questions that might come in the exam hall. This gives a sense of confidence to the students. They feel that since they have answered these so they can easily perform well in the final test as well. This is extremely important for the aspirants because it drives them into the tough atmosphere of the UPSC Mains examination.

Predicting similar topics

Most of the exams have some questions that are common or similar to the previous year question papers. Aspirants can gain knowledge about these by preparing the solutions from last year papers. Sometimes, the students can gain knowledge about the questions that get repeated or with some other dimensions. On other occasions, they can know about similar types of questions. Both of these are extremely beneficial for the candidates. When analyzed closely you will find that there are certain themes that are the favourite spots for UPSC. Like the Revolt of 1857 was asked in 2016 again it was asked in 2018, in geography every year 1-2 questions are related to either climate change or disaster management.

Keeping the above points in mind GS SCORE has come up with an initiative named ‘Mains PYQ Explained’ which will reduce your burden of doing everything on your own and will help you in making your preparation more efficient. T

he features of this course are:

1. In-depth analysis of past 6 year papers

2. It will also include-

• Model answers
• Concept explanation
• Analyzing probable questions from the similar topics

3. In-depth discussion of Important themes from the syllabus

4. Trend analysis of questions asked

As said by George S. Patton Jr.-“He who sweats more in training bleeds less in battle”. So prepare yourself to do all that you can to achieve the dream that shines in your eyes.