How to Write Answers in UPSC Civil Service Mains
The Union Public Service Commission conducts the UPSC exam in three stages namely, Civil services Preliminary Exam, Civil Services Main Exam and Interview. For appearing Civil services Mains Exam, one has to clear the Civil services preliminary examination. The Prelims exam will be held on 18th June 2017, whereas the Mains exam is scheduled to be held on 28th October 2017. The most common mistake made by candidates is that they don’t start preparing for the Civil Services Mains until the prelims get over. So, candidates don’t get enough time to practice writing skills and like this they scoreless in the descriptive type papers in the Mains exam. Hence, the solution to scoring more in Mains is to master in writing skills.
Here are some tips for answer writing skills in Mains:
- First, try to understand what the question is asking. You should write your answer according to the question asked rather than writing things irrespective of the topic. Writing indefinite points only to achieve the word count won’t help you to score more.
- While writing answers in UPSC exam, make sure to write a balanced answer. Try to finish the answer on a positive note so that the evaluator will consider that you are an optimistic person, which is a must have trait of any administrator.
- Pick out the main points on a subject and try to give your opinion. Try to present the pros and cons of the given situation using the “hows” and the “whys”. So, the evaluator gets the feeling that you are a critical analyst
- Divide your time judiciously while attempting the answers. Because even if you write a perfect answer, you cannot get more than the maximum mark allotted to it.
- It is important to give “examples” to prove your point. This is quite specific.
- Break an issue into its constituent parts. Look in depth at each part using supporting arguments and evidence for and against as well as how these interrelate to one another.
Keep in mind these above mentioned points while writing answer in the Mains exam. Subscribe to Byju’s YouTube video channel to prepare with engaging video lectures-
About Author ( For This Post ) : Arpita Das enjoys inspiring others through her writing and blogging. After her engineering, she has chosen to work with many students and to explore the opportunities of creating a better future in the field of digital education. She has been able to motivate many with her passion towards education in Byju’s-the Learning App. Since when she started her career she has written articles and blogs. If you wish to discuss any related concepts or ideas feel free to drop an email at
Email_id: arpita.das@byjus.com
SSC to UPSC
What a smashing article! Thanks for writing it and for sharing it with us.English is not my native language, that said the article content was so lucid and easy to understand I enjoyed reading every paragraph.