UKPSC Exam strategy by Rahul shah Rank 10

Rahul shah qualified ukpsc exam 2012 in his very first attempt due to his hard work , determination and God grace.He was associated with SAMVEG IAS during his UKPSC MAINS WRITTING PRACTICE.On request of samveg ias he has pen down his strategy for preparation of ukpsc exam.He has written in depth for each and every part of syllabus and has described simply “how to prepare for UKPSC/UTTARAKHAND PCS exam in effective way .

SAMVEG IAS thanks RAHUL SHAH for sharing his view/strategy  about preparation and his answer booklet .

My brief introduction :

 Name : Rahul Shah

 Education Qualification :  B.tech Electronics and Communication Engg.  from College of Technology, GBPUAT, Pantnagar. completed in 2013.

Work Experience :  Worked for 6 months in IBM Gurgoan.

Mains Marks.  

                      Final Result : Selected for Dy. Collector Post.

 I started my preparation from March, 2014 for upsc exam and started preparing for UK pcs  prelim in september after failing in UPSC prelim that year. UPSC and state pcs prelim exam both are different in many ways. No one can completely rely on UPSC preparation to clear State Pcs prelim. What i did was tried to solve questions from previous years and memorizing factual portions of syllabus which are frequently asked.

       Strategy for Mains

            This is the most important part of the entire preparation. Here, the focus has to be on revision and answer writing. Your mains performance depends not on what you know but what you are able to reproduce in the examination hall.  PCS exam pattern have 2 marks, 5 marks, 8 marks and 16 marks questions. There is need to learn how much time you need to pay on each question from different section. This can only be learned by practice and right Strategy based on your own strengths and Weakness. I used to solve 16 marker question first then 8 markers then 2 marker then 5 marks question. I opted this strategy after my test series feedback from Mishra Sir (Samveg IAS). I will recommend you to join  test series before mains so that you can get used to the pressure, writing speed and right strategy which suits you.

Paper Wise Strategy and Book list (UKPSC/UKPCS exam strategy by RAHUL SHAH)

 Paper 1:   Language Paper and Essay :

    HINDI : हिन्दी व्याकरण : Dr vasudevnandan prasad (bharti bhavan publication) and also I used to read  paripatra, g.o in Hindi, notification in hindi, Karyalaya jyaap. Etc. on govt website to get idea of format.  Please read the info provided in http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/hi/ol_clause  for राजभाषा संबंधी प्रावधान and http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/hi/computer_and_it_related for computerization of hindi.

   English :   None.

   Essay : Topics for essay are already specified in syllabus, start collecting news, articles, facts from different sources and use them in essay paper.  There is no separate book to prepare rather use your GS knowledge to write comprehensive essay. Write at least 4-6 essay before mains. Please get them checked so that you can improve over the time. This section is most easy to prepare in  language paper. It is crucial to get better rank as many get disqualified due to failing in this paper.

         Sources : Read Yojana articles and  speeches by president and vice president on various issues. This will help in learning essay writing skills.  Links : http://vicepresidentofindia.nic.in/speeches-Interviews ; http://presidentofindia.nic.in/speeches.htm

Paper 2 : History of India,  National movement, Culture and Society.  

         Syllabus of GS papers provided in so much details which  is like index page of book. Try to cover every single line provided in syllabus. There is no special weightage of Modern history here, All topics of ancient medieval and uttarakhand History can be asked in 16 marker.  Revise all topics, notes and deduce which topic can be asked in 2 marks, 5 Marks, Marks and 16 marks. Like there are only 10-12 topic which can be asked for 16 Marks. Try to frame questions and solve them. Writing practice very much important here.

NCERT is most reliable source to prepare this paper.

 Question like :  

   These questions  are directly from ncert.  Many of these are directly picked from ncert questions provided in ending of each chapter.

Such as : Question 5 from old ncert is directly asked as 8 mark question  ( question 29 mains paper 2012 exam)

Solution question 29: ncert medieval India old (page 198-199)

Question 30 can be solved  : Old ncert modern india page number

  Best way to prepare this paper is read revise NCERT  and write and practice questions.

 Books and other sources : Old ncert ancient , medical and modern ( class 11-12), Nios notes class 12 on Indian history and Culture  Link: IMPACT OF BRITISH RULE ON INDIA: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL (1757-1857) (389 KB)

• RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL AWKENING IN COLONIAL INDIA (398 KB)
• POPULAR RESISTANCE TO THE BRITISH RULE (298 KB)
• INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT (254 KB)
•  Modern Indian history can also be prepared from spectrum book.
• Uttarakhand History :  http://elearning.uou.ac.in/mod/resource/view.php?id=229 Material on uttarakhand history provided by Uttarakhand open University. Course BAHI 302 . This book cover complete history of uttarakhand from Ancient time to formation of state , Art and Culture of state. You can also read few important chapter from Prariksha Vaani.

Paper 3 : Indian Polity, Social Justice and International Relations.

First i covered Class 11-12 ncert and till revised Laxmikant book. These two sources completed the static part of Indian Polity; However this paper also demands knowledge of topics likes Health, Education, Administrative Systems  in India and social welfare. These topics are dynamic as well as static. For static portion I mainly relied on handouts of vision ias on topics like health, education, Employment. Few Topics like Administrative system i covered from B.L fadia book on Public Administration.  International Relations static portion can be covered from any standard book. Read selectively the topic mentioned in syllabus.

 I also enrolled for Uttarakhand Mains test series from Samveg Ias Dehradun. These tests helped me to understand the depth and breadth of this paper. Crucial part of this paper is to manage between static and Current affair linked topics.

I will recommended all aspirants to practice as much as possible. Improve time management and skill to manage words limits in 2 marker, 5, 8 and 16 marker questions. Resist temptation to write more in 2 and 5 marker questions.

Topicwise booklist and Sources.

Paper 4 : India and World Geography

Topicwise booklist and sources to cover this paper

Revise these books few times and Practice question and Also prepare flora and fauna of Uttarakhand from official websites of different districts.  For example.http://nainital.nic.in/pages/show/130-flora-fauna . Topics like forests, horticulture, Organic Farming are very important from uttarakhand Point of view. Please prepare them well.

Paper 5 : Economic and Social development.

Topic wise list of book and sources

Few topic like migration, Inequality between Hills and Plains, Tourism and Agriculture are important for Uttarakhand mains. Issues which are important for development of uttarakhand need to prepared well. I also used Planning commission report on Uttarakhand http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/stateplan/sdr/sdr_uttarakhand1909.pdf . This is very useful to get facts and figures and development status related to Uttarakhand.

Paper 6 : General Science and technology

This paper is most tricky to prepare. Last year commission asked many 11-12 level and Graduate level science questions like Dark and Light Photosynthesis , Methods of Salts preparation , classification of chromosomes based on centromere etc. These topics are tough to cover. Only way to get good marks is read all topic mentioned in syllabus in detail using 11-12 ncert and internet. Covering only 9-10th class level science will not suffice for level of question.  Topic related to computer and IT can be covered from lucent book on ncert. Environment portion can be prepared from Shankar IAS book on Environment. Space and Defence can be covered from newspapers and website(ISRO and DRDO official webpage) Please cover each word written in syllabus. Anything can asked in this paper. Pay more attention to static portion.

Paper 7 : General Aptitude and Ethics

For Ethics I referred only one book Lexicon and covered few topic from Igou Ethics course booklet.Please solve few case study before exam and get them reviewed. Ethics is only 80 marks in total but question can be asked for 2,5,8 and 16 marker. Be ready and memorize concise points to fit them 2 and 5 marker. There will be 2 case study for 16+16 marks. These questions will most easy to attempt if you already have enough practice in advance.

General Aptitude and Maths

Only thing I can suggest is  Practice as many question possible. Try to solve all questions in systematic way. Write all steps. Use diagram and write  formula in answer.

Books: Quantitative Aptitude : Rajesh Verma /R.S aggarwal, Class 9-10 NCERT

During my ukpsc  mains  preparation i have written many test at Samveg ias coaching institute dehradun uttarakhand.

I am sharing few of my answer booklet that i have written DURING MY WRITTING  practice at samveg ias.

Rahul shah économy answer booklet

Economy test paper

Rahul shah geography answer booklet

Rahul shah science and technology answer booklet

Good luck everyone. I hope you all prepare hard and make to next list of PCS exam. For any further query you can always  inbox me @ FB . https://www.facebook.com/ShahRahul9106

Sign out

Rahul