Question . How to do Prelims PYQ analysis?

Here, I am explaining what worked for me, you can give it a try and see if it works for you as well. This exercise consists of 3 stages actually.

Stage 1 (Most Important)

❇️ Pick official Question paper for a particular year after 2013 (not the topic wise questions but the official question paper). Keep the official answer key for the same with you. (Not the detailed explanations but only answer key)
❇️ Go through individual questions starting question number 1. Read a question, use your logic, arrive at an answer and match with the answer key immediately. Keep on doing this for all 100 questions.
❇️ After going through 2-3 years' question papers, you should start to have certain realizations including but not limited to:-
📍There are certain patterns in the answers which are repeating year after year. E.g. Statements with data are often incorrect.
📍Certain type of questions are being asked repetitively. (General Science, BioTech).
📍There are certain sections in the paper where you were unable to answer some questions back to back. E.g Ancient and Medieval History in my case. This realization is very important because if prepares you to deal with similar situation in the actual exam.

❇️ After going through few more papers, you should be able to establish better interlinkages between questions across different years. You may recall that similar question was asked some 2-3 years back and it had similar answer.
❇️ The more you go through question papers, the more you realise, discover and develop the so called elimination skills for Prelims.
❇️ Try to finish analysing all the question papers starting 2013 in a shorter period (2 or 3 papers a day) so that you are in a better position to be able to recall previous learning and apply the same. Our mind has finite capacity to recall things, so the sooner you do it, the better. Just keep the frequency optimal because overwhelming mind in one go can be counterproductive as well.

You may be wondering, why I did not suggest answer keys with detailed solutions or the topic wise questions?
The reason is, when we emphasise upon reading the solutions, we tend to lose the broad picture here. Since our mind is preoccupied with learning the micro details of a particular question, we tend to lose sight of the repetitive patterns. Thus, its better to utilize our limited focus to establish interlinkages.

Stage 2

❇️ Pick topic-wise or subject-wise questions and repeat the same process as mentioned above.
📍This would give you a better idea about the priority areas from where UPSC is asking the questions.
📍This would also help you realize how differential patterns emerge in different sections. E.g. Questions with 4-5 statements are often from S&T section.

Stage 3

❇️ Take a sigh of relief because this is what most people do in the name of PYQ analysis i.e., read solutions to individual questions post 2013.
📍Some topics or questions get repeated in the exam, so this exercise will help you deal with similar questions/ topics if repeated in the exam.

For questions asked before 2013, you don't have to focus on establishing interlinkages as most of them are factual questions. Just read a question, know the right answer and move on. If time permits, you can read detailed solutions, else you can skip it.

I will explain a bit more on the PYQ aspect in the upcoming post.

Credit Truly Stubborn

IFoS Mains 2023 Marksheet Released:
https://upsconline.nic.in/marksheet/exam/marksheet_system/

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