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How to Start Preparing for UPSC Prelims

UPSC Civil Services Prelims is a screening exam of two objective-type papers — General Studies Paper I and the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) — held on a single day, and its marks are used only to decide who sits the Mains, not to rank anyone. Your first month should therefore go into reading widely and steadily, not into memorising for a score you will never carry forward. Here is what the exam tests, and a realistic way to begin.

The pattern, exactly as UPSC sets it

According to UPSC's 2026 Civil Services Examination notice, the Preliminary Examination has two compulsory papers of 200 marks each, both objective type (multiple-choice), both of two hours' duration, and both set in Hindi and English. General Studies Paper I covers current events, Indian history and the national movement, Indian and world geography, polity and governance, economic and social development, environment and ecology, and general science. Paper II — the CSAT — covers comprehension, interpersonal and communication skills, logical reasoning and analytical ability, decision-making, general mental ability, and basic numeracy and data interpretation up to Class X level.

Paper II is qualifying: a candidate needs a minimum of 33% to clear it, and marks scored above that do not count towards the Mains cut-off or final rank. Paper I is the one that decides who is shortlisted for Mains, against qualifying marks the Commission determines — the notice does not publish this figure in advance, so there is no fixed number to aim for beyond doing as well as you reasonably can. Both papers carry negative marking: a wrong answer costs one-third of that question's marks, marking more than one option for a question is treated as a wrong answer, and an unattempted question costs nothing. It is compulsory to sit both papers — skipping one disqualifies the candidate. The Commission also runs an official window after the exam in which candidates can raise a representation on a question or its answer key before the key is finalised (more on this in a separate guide on disputed keys).

What "screening only" means for you

Because Prelims marks do not count towards your final rank, one practical way to think about your first month is as building broad, current, reasonably reliable coverage of the syllabus listed above, rather than chasing depth in any single topic. On this reading, the first month's job is coverage and comprehension, not polishing answers to a mark scheme that will not travel with you.

Suggested first-month steps

  1. Read the syllabus line by line and keep it visible. Every topic you study should map to one of the headings above. If it does not, it is optional reading, not preparation.
  2. Start with NCERT textbooks for the base subjects — history, geography, polity, economics, and science — from the middle-school and senior-secondary levels. Start there for a first pass.
  3. Read a daily newspaper or a reliable government news source for current events, and note only what connects to governance, the economy, environment, science, or India's place in the world. Skip commentary you cannot verify.
  4. Do a short CSAT session most days — comprehension and basic numeracy and reasoning — so that Class X-level maths and logic stay familiar rather than becoming a last-month scramble.
  5. Attempt a small set of past-year questions every week, not to score yourself yet, but to see how UPSC phrases questions on a topic you have just read. This tells you what "reading for Prelims" should feel like.
  6. Keep one running notebook (paper or digital) where every new fact, date, or scheme goes in your own words, as one way to revisit material actively rather than only re-reading it.

Building the habit

A month in, you should have a first pass through the core NCERT material, a working current-events habit, and a feel for the question style from past papers — not a finished syllabus. UPSC Prelims covers a wide syllabus read over many months, so pace this first month at a level you can sustain into the following ones.

Practise past Prelims questions on PrepKar as you build this habit.

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