UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2018 paper analysis by an expert

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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2018 on June 3 at various test centres across the country. The exam was conducted in two parts with Paper-I being conducted in the morning and Paper-II conducted in the afternoon.

Candidates need to clear the 66 marks cut-off in Paper-II, after which based on their Paper-I scores they are selected for the mains.

This year too, UPSC lived up to its reputation among students of being the 'unpredictable service commission'.

General Studies paper:

In GS Paper-I, the areas from which questions are usually asked was different for many questions.

Traditional topics like polity, which were asked conceptually in 2017, were this time asked with a much different focus in mind. Some questions such as the one on National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) also tested allied knowledge of students. Conceptual questions also saw an innovation in the form of a paragraph-based question on Internet-of-things.

The dominance of environment-based questions ebbed as this year we saw around 14 environment- based questions, the same as polity, which stood at 24.

So, the questions were better distributed across topics and subtopics this time around. This played a positive role as candidates were not rewarded or punished based on his/her individual strength or weaknesses.

There were several changes in GS Paper-II. Candidates are expected to clear this hump before their scores in Paper-I are checked and some who went in fully unprepared were in for a surprise.

There were no verbal logic questions and only twenty-six reading comprehension-based questions were asked. Data interpretation and analytical reasoning had eleven questions each. Those candidates who could use question selection strategies could significantly ease the solving process.

Cut-off marks:

Broadly speaking, the level of difficulty has increased, and this will influence the cut-off marks as well. There could be some 2-3 points drop from 105.3 marks, which was the cut-off for Prelims 2017, but it is difficult to say as there are some questions in Paper-I where many answer keys could be wrong.

The most important thing for candidates, especially in a year where the prelims exam was of this nature, is to take a short break and resume studies for mains 2018 with gusto.

Answer keys:

Speculation regarding answer keys should not lead to 'analysis paralysis' for candidates as for October 28, the date of the mains exam, will be here before we know it!

About UPSC Civil Services examination:

The UPSC conducts the civil services examination for recruitment to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other central services and posts in accordance with the rules published by the Department of Personnel and Training in the gazette of India extraordinary.

UPSC selection procedure:

As of now, the UPSC conducts the Civil Services Examination (CSE), popularly known as IAS (Indian Administrative Service) exam, in two phases namely- UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains.

The prelims exam comprises objective-type questions, while the questions asked in mains need descriptive and essay-type answering.

Also, the selection of candidate is made well before the commencement of the foundation course.

About UPSC:

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is an organisation that works under the central government to recruit staff for various posts in the various ministries and departments, and in subordinate offices. The commission also conducts examinations for the recruitment in various departments of the state.

Source India Today