(Getting Started) Minimize Negative Marking and Maximize Your UPSC CSE Prelims Score

Students Taking UPSC CSE Prelims0

As the UPSC Civil Services Examination Prelims are approaching, a lot of the aspirants are worried about their performance. Among preparation worries, the unpredictable nature of UPSC, along with the negative marking involved, also leads to anxiety in many. 

What is a good attempt? How much does one absolutely need to score to crack prelims? These are questions that worry the best students out there. In this article, we try to ease the pressure a bit on aspiring Civil Servants.

How Much Must You Score To Qualify?

Take a look at the upsc preliminary cutoffs for the past 5 years –

Last 5 Years Cut-Off For UPSC CSE Preliminary Exams

As you will notice, the cut-off ranges from 95 to 115 (with a slight deviation in 2016). It is always best to consider the upper limit as no matter what, you do not want to fall behind. Thus, your target should always be scoring 120+. That is a safe score, and unless the paper set by UPSC is dead easy, which is improbable, you should be able to sail through to the mains exam with a 120+ score.

How Many Questions Should You Attempt?

Keep in mind that the preliminary exam is qualifying in nature. So, you only need to worry about crossing the 120 marks. Now, in order to do that, you need to understand your accuracy.

What is “accuracy”?

Your accuracy is the percentage of questions you answer correctly over the total number of questions attempted. In order to determine your accuracy, you must take at least 20+ mock tests during the last 90 days before your preliminary exams. The most accurate percentage will be calculated at the final stage of your prelims preparation, which will be the last 60-90 days before the prelims exam. Your scores in mock tests over the years will only help you reach this state through proper analysis.

Calculating Your Accuracy

Suppose, on an average, in a mock test, you attempt about 80 questions. And you usually end up with 65 correct answers. That puts your accuracy at roughly 81%. Thus, to score a 120, you must attempt around 75 questions. The process is further illustrated in the image below –

Once you have analysed your accuracy percentage, simply put it in this equation and find out your targeted attempts –

What Not To Do?

Here are a couple of things you should most definitely not do if you want to qualify –

• Your accuracy will not drastically change on the day of the exam – stick to what you know. Do not give yourself undue credit or criticism.
• Do not make uninformed guesses. Intelligent guesswork is a part of cracking the paper. But randomly marking answers just because of a gut feeling will most definitely be your downfall.
• Do not force yourself to attempt any more than you have to. You might think it gives you a better chance at qualifying, however, all it will do is rack up your negative marks and drag down your score.
• Do not panic. It is okay to fall short by 20-30 questions of your targeted attempts. That is where intelligent guesswork and option elimination comes to play. UPSC sets papers where an aspirant will not know more than 30-40 answers with 100% surity. The rest of it will be dependent on how cool you can stay in such a stressful situation, and use your logical reasoning to answer to the best of your abilities. That is the test they want you to take.

By keeping these few tricks and tips in mind, you should be able to clear your preliminary exam with flying colors and get further towards achieving your IAS dream.

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