The two papers
- Paper 1 — General Studies — 100 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours. Cut-off varies (87 to 99 for General in recent years).
- Paper 2 — CSAT — 80 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours. Qualifying at 33% — but failing CSAT means your GS does not count.
Negative-marking math
Each wrong answer costs 1/3 of the marks for that question. On a 2-mark question that is 0.66 negative. The break-even rule: if you can eliminate at least 2 of the 4 options, guess. If you can eliminate only 1, skip.
The 6-month plan
- Months 1 to 2 — NCERTs (6 to 12) for History, Geography, Polity, Economy.
- Month 3 — current affairs daily, start solving topic-wise UPSC Prelims questions.
- Months 4 to 5 — full mocks every weekend on the real interface.
- Month 6 — only previous-year papers and CSAT speed drills.
Practise on the real UPSC interface
UPSC Prelims is OMR-based but most coaching tests are not, so candidates land in the hall and waste 8 minutes orienting. Wrexa Edge's UPSC simulator matches the question booklet flow and review panel — take it free.
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