Mastering UPSC Prelims: Insights from Topper Shivam Yadav

Mr. Shivam Yadav’s journey to securing rank 21 in the UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) 2022 is a testament to the power of strategic preparation and meticulous planning. Like many aspirants, Shivam embarked on this challenging path with determination and self-discipline, ultimately emerging victorious in his very first attempt. 

Shivam Yadav hails from Madhya Pradesh and stayed at home during his UPSC prelims preparation. He graduated from Jiwaji University, Gwalior in the same year as his first attempt. His optional was PSIR (Political Science and International Relations) and scored 195 marks in the Personality Test.

One of the standout aspects of Shivam’s UPSC prelims preparation was his decision to undertake self-study. With the help of the right resources and a clear plan, he navigated through the vast syllabus with confidence. Shivam’s approach underscores the importance of resource management and focused study. 

Before analysing the subject-specific approach followed by Shivam, it is important to note that he used to study 7-8 hours daily without breaking it into specific shifts. 

Let’s delve into the intricacies of his UPSC Prelims strategy, unravelling the tactics that propelled him towards success –

Subject-specific Approach

Shivam’s meticulous approach towards each subject reveals a nuanced understanding of the exam’s demands. His strategy was to minimise the resources and maximise the rounds of revision for UPSC prelims. 

• Polity – He relied on the trusted resource of Laxmikanth, complementing it with insights from his optional subject, Political Science and International Relations (PSIR). His understanding of optional helped him immensely in dealing with philosophical questions that are asked in the Polity section of the Prelims exam.
• History – For history, he relied only on one source with multiple revisions. For Modern Indian History, he studied one book – Spectrum and similarly for Ancient-Medieval and Art & Culture, he completed Tamil Nadu Board books and Nitin Sangwanrespectively.
• Environment and Geography –  He prepared both these subjects together. For these, he chose 11th and 12th Ncerts along with very minimal and selective reading from other standard sources. For the environment, he mostly relied on current affairs.
• Economy – Shivam had Economy in his classes 11 and 12 as well. Therefore, his prior background and understanding helped him cover the economy well. He referred only to NCERT textbooks. A good understanding of all the basic concepts was enough for him to deal with Prelims level questions.
• Science and Technology – Due to the dynamic nature of the subject, he referred to current affairs and yearly documents like VISION IAS PT 365.

By streamlining his resources, Shivam ensured comprehensive coverage while optimizing his study time.

[READ QUICK REVISION MATERIAL]

Current Affairs Mastery

A critical component of UPSC preparation is current affairs. For covering current affairs, Shivam employed a strategic approach. This approach involved selective reading of the news item that is aligned with the syllabus of the exam. The political part of the news was ignored and out of all the news items, only those which have a direct correlation with the syllabus of the exam were followed. By aligning current affairs with the exam syllabus, he maximized his retention while minimizing extraneous information overload.

• Sources for Current Affairs Preparation – Shivam limited his current affairs resources to Newspaper and Annual Current Affairs magazines. For Newspaper, he used to religiously follow The Hindu and for annual magazines, he followed annual magazines like PT 365 VISION IAS documents.
• Effective Utilisation of Current Affairs – Initially, he started with all sources of news like two newspapers (The Hindu and The Indian Express), Yojana, Kurukshetra etc but soon he realised that it is futile to read so many sources together without retaining any of them. Therefore, he referred to only one Newspaper – The Hindu throughout his preparation. He religiously follows the Hindu and even today after selection, his habit of reading the paper is intact. According to him, along with the Hindu Newspaper, students can follow Daily News Analysis by VisionIAS.
• Message to the Aspirants – Shivam pointed out that the aspirant must not burden himself or herself with too many resources. For UPSC prelims, there is already a huge static portion that students need to cover and if multiple sources for current affairs are also added then it will bring difficulty in aspirants UPSC prelims preparation. A good UPSC prelims strategy is always a sustainable one that can be followed throughout the preparation. 

His reliance on a single newspaper, coupled with revision through Annual Current Affairs magazine exemplifies an efficient strategy tailored for success.

Test-taking Techniques

Attempting UPSC mock tests and analysis of Previous Year Questions of UPSC paper is extremely important. In total, Shivam gave 12-15 test papers starting with sectional to full-length test papers. 

• Time Management – The strategy for mock test practice for general studies was to attempt the whole paper in less than 1 hour 30 minutes so that an added advantage of 30 minutes could be exploited during the final exam. 
• Strategy for CSAT – For CSAT, he referred to the practice of the last 10 years UPSC PYQs. For CSAT practice, he used to give himself 1 hour 45 minutes (15 minutes less than the final exam). Also, his focus was never on section-based attempts rather he used to attempt all sections – Comprehensions, Maths and Reasoning portion. 
• Analysis of PYQs – Shivam analysed the last 10 years’ UPSC Prelims PYQs. This helped him to understand the nature of the exam, the type of questions and the subject matter from where most questions were coming. Accordingly, he formed his strategy for the exam. 
• The dilemma of how many Questions to Attempt – He never adopted any strategy for fixing the number of questions that he needed to attempt in the paper. Rather, it was only on the nature of the paper that the number of questions that needed to be attempted was decided. In his mock tests, he used to attempt, on average, 90-95 questions, however, in the final exam, he attempted only 79-80 questions.

His adaptive approach, characterized by a focus on accuracy rather than mere attempts, reflects a deep understanding of the examination’s nuances.  

Tackling UPSC Prelims Exam Environment

For Shivam, calmness along with time management is a key to success in the final exam. In the exam, it is a usual case that a candidate is sure of only 25-30 questions and the rest questions need to be marked based on intelligent guesswork and scientific elimination techniques.

He had a habit of attempting all such questions in which he knew the answers or he was able to eliminate at least two options out of four options. In eliminating the options, the knowledge from various resources which were consulted during UPSC prelims preparation helps. Keeping track of time in the final exam is a crucial part of effectively attempting the UPSC prelims exam.

To summarise, from maintaining a calm demeanour during the examination to prioritizing multiple revisions over excessive content accumulation, his approach epitomizes a balanced blend of diligence and pragmatism. By focusing on the quality of study over its quantity, Shivam exemplifies the timeless principle of ‘less is more’ in UPSC preparation.

In essence, Shivam Yadav’s journey from Gwalior to the hallowed ranks of the UPSC toppers is a demonstration of the transformative power of dedication, resilience, and strategic planning. As aspirants begin their own UPSC odyssey, Shivam’s insights serve as guiding beacons, illuminating the path towards success in one of the nation’s most esteemed examinations.