Importance of Understanding UPSC Syllabus
Union Public Service Commission releases UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services Exam every year. The syllabus is released online along with the official notification. Candidates willing to take the exam can download the syllabus from the official website of UPSC.
To download the syllabus candidates have to click on the download icon. It includes the topics of those subjects which are important from the exam point of view. To get good marks in the exam candidates must study all the subjects mentioned in it.
The syllabus is divided into two parts that are the syllabus for prelims and the mains syllabus. The examination for civil services examination is conducted in three phases prelims, mains, and interview.
Candidates have to qualify all three stages to be shortlisted for the vacant posts. In case any candidate fails to qualify at any stage of the examination, then he/she will be debarred from the recruitment process. To qualify the prelims and mains examination candidates must analyze the syllabus properly to devise a better study plan.
It is very important to have an understanding of the syllabus. It will help in devising a nice preparation strategy. Without having proper knowledge of the syllabus, it is difficult to The competition in this examination is very high. Hence a good study plan is required to ace the exam. Candidates can take the printout of the syllabus and keep the hard copy of it to keep a check on the preparation level.
UPSC Prelims Syllabus
As discussed above the syllabus comprises UPSC Prelims Syllabus and the mains syllabus. The prelims exam is the first stage of the civil services examination. It is conducted for two papers namely General Studies Paper I and CSAT.
CSAT is the acronym for the Civil Services Aptitude Test. To pass General Studies Paper I, candidates must qualify the cutoff decided by the concerned authorities. On the other hand, CSAT is a qualifying paper wherein a minimum of 33% marks is required. Candidates who meet the mentioned criteria become eligible for appearing in the main examination.
After qualifying main examination shortlisted candidates are called for appearing the interview. The prelims and mains syllabus are integrated. The topics and subjects that are mentioned for the prelims exam are important for the main exam as well.
Hence candidates should prepare for each subject in such a way that it covers the aspects of both prelims and the main examination. This could be one approach to studying for the exam as it varies from candidate to candidate. Candidates can make their preparation plan according to their convenience but they should make sure that they are moving in the right direction. In case their plan is not working they can change their schedule as per their need.
The subjects that are incorporated in the prelims syllabus are Current affairs, Geography, Indian Polity, Governance, Indian History, Economics, General Science, and Environmental Studies. For current affairs, candidates should focus on the latest developments related to India as well as International affairs, science, and technology, environment, agriculture, politics, economics, etc. Indian History includes the topics of ancient, medieval, and modern history of India.
In Geography, candidates have to study Indian as well as World Geography. For Polity, the important topics are Articles, Amendments, Directive Principles of the State Policy, etc. Environment and Ecology includes topics based on Biodiversity, Resource management, Ecosystem, etc.