How To Crack The IAS Exam After Failing In The First Attempt?

Failures are hard to digest. Especially when one dream to become an IAS officer and spent one whole year for it, failing to clear the UPSC exam will obviously give immense pain and disappointment. If you have taken IAS coaching in Delhi, the so-called Mecca for IAS Preparation, then the disappointment will probably be more profound. There is a saying “When things get tough, the tough get going” and so must you. You must understand that every year about 1 million people sit for the UPSC exam and maximum dreams of becoming IAS officer. But only .01% achieves the dream. Also besides Delhi, thousands of candidates take IAS coaching in Chandigarh and other major cities of India. So you must not lose heart and keep the dream alive. Here are some tips for cracking the IAS exam in the second attempt:

If you didn’t do well in the preliminary
Go through the syllabus again
It has been observed that maximum candidates who fail in their first attempt are unaware of the nitty-gritty of the UPSC Civil Service syllabus. It’s extremely important to go through the syllabus and check which portions you couldn’t perform well in the preliminary examinations. One advice will be to study for your UPSC exam keeping the syllabus open in front of you.

Analyze your performance
Analyzing the performance of your preliminary examination is an absolute necessity in order to prevent yourself from repeating the same mistakes again. You must study those parts properly from where you failed to answer substantial amount of questions.

Introspect the process of your preparation
Many a candidate usually take the UPSC exam too casually, especially in their first attempt. IAS exam is not for faint-hearted casual people. You must give it a serious thought again and if you are convinced that you want to try again, then it’s an absolute necessity to give 100% commitment to the UPSC Civil Service exam. If you feel like your past strategy had huge loopholes then don’t hesitate to change it.

Take coaching if you feel lost
Sometimes the little bit of guidance is all it takes to come back to the right path. You can take IAS coaching in Jaipur if living nearby or can choose to go to any big city for IAS coaching. Coaching centers provide ready-made materials and make you aware of the best practices of an IAS preparation.

Take as many tests as possible
Taking multiple numbers of tests is a must for cracking the preliminary examination. If you can take 30-40 tests seriously before your preliminary examination, then you have a high chance of scoring good marks.

Highlight important parts in newspapers using highlighter
It is difficult to remember things one read in newspapers however seriously one reads it. Besides making notes of the important facets, you can also highlight the important parts using the highlighter. This will help in drawing your attention when you are going through these parts again.
If you didn’t clear the Civil Service Main examination

Don’t go through multiple books for the same subject
Always remember, IAS exam doesn’t want masters in a particular field, they just want someone who is well aware of the surroundings, fairly knowledgeable and analytical by nature. So just concentrate on the must-read 10-12 books and see to it that you go through each and every part of those thoroughly.

Revision is the key to success
Lack of proper revision is one of the major reasons why candidates fail to clear the main exam. You must revise all the topics at least twice to get a good grip on those topics. The revision will also help to clear those parts which you didn’t understand while reading it for the first attempt,

Practice answer writing as much as possible
Writing answers to different types of questions is a must for getting good marks in Mains exam. It has been seen that those candidates who sit for the Mains exam before proper answer writing practice, fumbles in the examination hall and put forward his/her views in an unorganized way.

Try to attempt all the questions in a proper manner in your mock tests
Candidates normally fail to attempt all the questions in the stipulated time period. In order to attempt all the questions successfully, you need to give as many mock tests as possible in exam like environment. Giving mock tests will help you in time management as well as doing an assessment of your preparation.

Give equal importance to all the papers
To clear the Civil Service Mains examination, you need to get good marks on each and every paper. It’s of no use if you score excellent marks in one paper and do poorly in the paper. Work more on the papers in which you are weak but don’t ignore the other papers.  You can task UPSC coaching to score well in mains.

Try to write answers in point format and be creative with your answers
Barring essay writing, if possible try to write your answers in the point format. Writing in point format helps in to save time, give more points and make the answers look precise. It’s highly advisable to incorporate flow charts, graphs, and other diagrams wherever possible in your answers. These acts as a good supporting material for your answers.

The main difference between a successful candidate and an unsuccessful candidate is a successful candidate knows how to utilize his/her time efficiently and knows what to read and what not to read. You must know that UPSC exam doesn’t want perfection, rather it calls for creativity, innovativeness, perseverance, and smartness. If you can channel whatever knowledge you have gained during your IAS preparation in a proper way in the answer sheets, then success in the IAS exam is just around the corner. So just have a positive outlook, stay composed, happy and work hard to reach the coveted destination.

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IAS Coaching in Delhi, IAS Coaching in Jaipur, IAS Coaching in Chandigarh