How Many Questions to Attempt in UPSC Mains

Introduction

The UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exams are among the most prestigious and challenging competitive exams in India. The UPSC conducts various exams, including the Civil Services Examination, Engineering Services Examination, Combined Defence Services Examination, Indian Forest Service Examination, and others. The Civil Services Examination, which is also referred to as the UPSC exam, is the most sought-after among these exams. It is conducted in three stages - Preliminary, Main, and Personality Test (Interview). The exam is designed to assess a candidate's overall aptitude, general knowledge, and analytical skills.

The General Cutoffs for the UPSC exams vary every year depending on the number of vacancies, the number of candidates appearing for the exam, and the difficulty level of the question paper. The cutoffs for the Preliminary exam are usually set low, as it is only a qualifying exam. The cutoffs for the Main exam and the Personality Test are set higher. In recent years, the cutoffs for the UPSC exams have been relatively stable. For example, in the 2020 Civil Services Examination, the cutoff for the Preliminary exam was 98 marks out of 200 for the General category, while the cutoff for the Main exam was 720 out of 1750 marks. The final cutoff for the General category was 961 out of 2025 marks.

Main Content

Accuracy is a must in every exam, even though, if you fail to attempt all the questions but give the correct and thorough answers that are accurate, it increases your chance to get a higher rank in the UPSC Mains.

Number of Questions a Candidate Must Attempt

The UPSC Mains evaluation is 1750 points. There are a total of 9 papers in the UPSC exam, and each paper evaluates to 250 points. Intellectually speaking, a candidate must score a minimum of 200 points in every paper, to become eligible to clear the Mains exam.

Guidelines to Attempt Questions

1. The way of presenting your answers is determining and crucial. The proper usage of bullet points and diagrams, where, how, and when to use them. These terms a candidate must keep in mind while attempting the questions.

2. Writing in paragraphs by using main headings and subheadings is an intellectual approach, and trying to highlight the keywords.

3. The more the answer is readable for the reviewer, the more the chances are to score good and reasonable marks.

4. A candidate should already target and plan their time to write the targeted number of questions in a fixed time.

5. If you are facing time concessions, it is often a brilliant idea to provide an average answer for all the questions instead of writing lengthy answers for just a few questions.

6. Try to divide the time into minutes for each question, and give equal minutes to every question. If an answer requires more time and effort, it will be suggested to write an average answer, and move to the next question.

7. If you can handle scoring an average of five to six marks, it can stretch your score up to 100 to 120, which is excellent.

The UPSC Mains exam requires a stable understanding of the questions and similarly when it is presented by writing in the exam. Therefore, one should not get into arguments, ideas, and feelings like a response, one must answer in proper language with high accuracy. Going over the board the requirement of a clear answer can lead to misconception and misunderstanding. Moreover, it will help save your time and effort. And the remaining time can be utilised for answering the rest of the questions.

A Candidate must keep in mind that all the questions are divided into equal marks and he or she must give equal time to each question.

Conclusion

The Civil Services exams are conducted every year by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). It consists of mainly three rounds: Prelims, Mains, and Interview (Personality Test) rounds. An aspirant will only be eligible for the Personality Test round when he or she must have already qualified for the UPSC Mains examination. The UPSC falls under the toughest category of Civil Services exams in India. Thousands of candidates sit in this exam, and only about 1000 candidates make it through the Mains and get a chance to appear in the Interview or Personality Test Round.

It entirely depends on a candidate how many questions he or she can attempt or must attempt. Lastly, its complete decision depends on the time constraints and the required speed of a candidate in the UPSC examination. It is a must and an excellent strategy to take the time constraints into consideration carefully. An applicant must go through all the written directions, prescribed at the beginning of the exam paper. It is because UPSC may modify the directions and guidelines according to the question paper.