How to Prepare for UPSC Mains Exam

PREPARING FOR MAINS – THE SELFLEARN WAY

The UPSC Civil Services Mains is the second leg of the three-stage examination process, and perhaps the most important one too. With roughly 86 percent weightage of marks in the final merit list preparation, this is what makes or breaks your selection.

The UPSC Mains examination pattern underwent a sea change in 2013. The current pattern has retained General English, Compulsory Indian Language (Click here for list of Indian Languages) and Essay along with one Optional Paper (Click here for List of Optional subjects). Further, UPSC also introduced 4 papers of General Studies (Please refer to the SYLLABUS page to get a detailed overview of the marking pattern).

Additionally, UPSC also did away with the old format of separate answer sheets and introduced question paper cum answer booklet with a fixed space for writing the answers adhering to the given word limit.

We have followed the same approach of preparation as we did with the Prelims exam strategy and continue the tabular format, so that your movement is seamless.

The main topics have been divided into what to read, where to read and questions asked from previous years from the given area. This would give you a holistic dissection of the topic and hence how to best devise and adapt your strategy and approach for  preparation. We have divided each head into the most microelement with great detail that would help you in understanding the content of a subject in its entirety.

We hope that you would find the Selflearn approach highly beneficial for your preparation.