Dear Aspirants,
All of you have by now seen the UPSC CSE Prelims 2023 paper and many of you, like me, are shocked by the level and format of paper this year. For those of you who would have attempted this paper, coming days are going to be filled with anxiety regarding cutoff etc. For or those new aspirants who want to prepare for UPSC CSE Prelims 2024, this year paper can both dishearten you or fill you with excitement regarding the gauntlet thrown at aspirants by the UPSC.
If we do a subject-wise analysis of this year paper in classical sense, it can be summarized as follows:
| Subjects | Numbers of Questions |
| Polity and Governance | 18 |
| Economic and Social development | 16 |
| History and art & Culture | 13 |
| Geography | 18 |
| Environment | 14 |
| Science and Technology | 9 |
| International relations | 10 |
| Sports and Awards | 2 |
| Total | 100 |
As far as Types of questions are concerned, this year paper can be summarized as follows:
| Types of Questions | Numbers of Questions |
| One liner | 28 |
| 2-statements type | 7 |
| 3-statements type | 20 |
| 4-statements type | 6 |
| Pair type | 8 |
| Assertion-Reasoning type | 18 |
| Non-statement, multiple items type | 13 |
| Total | 100 |
You always have to remember one thing is that prelims is just an elimination stage and going by trend of cutoff in last few years, you only have to mark around 45-50 questions correctly to clear this stage. But this year paper is a stark reminder that for that to happen, you need a very smart preparation strategy rather than relying on conventional sources. If a candidate follows the conventional strategy of reading standard reference books of history, geography, polity, environment and routine coaching material, he/she will find him/her self in a tough spot in examination hall.
At IAS34.com our focus is not to send you on a wild goose chase of new sources, books etc. but to mould your strategy in such a manner that you will extract maximum return out of existing sources.
We will discuss few questions to illustrate our point, UPSC asked a question on number of countries with which Ukraine touches its land border, there are two approach to tackle this question, one is that you have a blueprint of eastern Europe in your mind which can be done but its futile because you are not sure that next year question will be from same region. Smart approach would be to follow operation Ganga where many ministers are getting deputed by prime minister to bring back our citizens from Ukraine. Its much easy to remember which country airport are used by our minister to rescue our kids rather than mugging the exact map of eastern Europe.
Another question is asked regarding an old law like POTA, these are the questions which can be termed as based upon political memory, so rather than mugging every old and repealed law, you have to find out how current political debates are shaped by events of past, for example POTA is preceded by TADA and followed by UAPA which is in news in recent times.
Further if you probe this year science section you will find that answering question of sci-tech will require you more than just superficial information about basic terminology or concepts. Even answering terms like Microsatellite DNA will require your in-depth knowledge about fundamental concepts.
To give a simple analogy, your foundation of UPSC preparation should be like a tree roots, both anchored in depth with enough branching.
A New Initiative for CSE Prelims 2024
We have discussed these few questions just to give you a glimpse of how just reorienting your strategy can fetch you more return. You have to remember that prelims are just about smart preparation and rational calculations and we intend to teach you that through our new initiative. After declaration of 2023 prelims result, we intend to launch a new programme which will help you prepare holistically rather than in fragmented approach divided between current affairs and static portion. Our programme will contain periodic test specifically catered to new pattern, followed by video discussion where we will teach you how to cross the cut-off barrier in prelims. Apart from that we will provide personalized mentoring to handhold your preparation. Through our in-depth analysis of current events and by linking it with the static portion, we intend to bridge the gap between your preparation and UPSC expectations.
Best wishes and see you soon.
Suggested Reading:
I failed in Prelims: This is What I did to Clear UPSC Very Next Year
How to Crack UPSC without Coaching
How to Choose Optional for UPSC CSE
How to Begin UPSC Preparation: A definitive Guide
Ya we need new strategy
Thank you sir
Sir It would be great help if you could guide for 2024 Prelims , however little insights very helpful