In 2007, a change was made in the UPSC Civil Services Examination pattern of giving negative marking at the Prelims exam. The negative marking was launched to annihilate the bad habit of guessing the aspirants’ answers in the exam. There is no other alternative for clearing the exam other than answering the question based upon the knowledge gained while preparing for the exam.
The Civil Services Examination consists of 3 stages: the Prelims exam, Mains exam, and interview round. Prelims are one of the filtering phases for thousands of aspirants in these three stages. Negative marking in UPSC prelims exams plays a crucial role in decaying the performance of the aspirants in the Prelims exams.
UPSC Prelims Exam Consists of Two Papers: General Studies Paper 1 (100 Questions of 2 marks each), General Studies Paper 2 (80 Questions).
UPSC Prelims Paper 1 and Paper 2 are objective-based and have various methods of giving right answers and wrong answers. Each correct answer gives the positive 2 marks, and for each wrong answer, the student gets a negative 1/3 rd mark. The 1/3rd of a wrong answer is a negative mark deducted from the total marks. This 1/3rd is one-third of the set marks to a certain question.
Today, we will see How to Reduce Negative Marks in UPSC Prelims. But before that, if you want to clear the UPSC in the first attempt, consider joining a good IAS coaching institute. Join a coaching institute that provides mentorship to their students along with good study material, test series, and expert faculty. One such IAS coaching in Jaipur is The Thought Tree. Now, let’s see tips to Reduce Negative Marks in UPSC Prelims.
Tips on How to Reduce Negative Marks in UPSC Prelims
- While preparing the topics for the UPSC exam, don’t leave out any topic. It is advised to the aspirants to be well versed with all the topics to the fullest extent. Avoid leaving any part of the topic. Guessing while answering the questions asked in the exam is not a good idea while preparing for an important exam such as UPSC. Keep in mind to remember all the comprehensive data of the topics while giving answers to the difficult questions.
- While giving the exam, pay more attention to the questions you can answer right away. There will be some trick questions, so put them aside and clear off all the simple questions at the start. Time management plays a vital role in the UPSC exam. Don’t waste your precious time on every question. As there might be a case wherein you might give more time to questions that will lead to giving the wrong answer to the simple questions.
- Take as many mock tests as you can, as it will help give you an idea of how to cope with the stress in the exam and not end up making errors. UPSC Prelims test series will help be well acquainted with the paper.
- After attempting the mock test, check where you made mistakes, work on them and make sure not to repeat them in the future. Keep practicing more, study the topic thoroughly, and don’t make mistakes with each test. Make it a habit to get a higher score than before and less negative marking with every test.
- Before attempting the question, have a pencil or a pen to highlight the important words. This will certainly help you to get a better understanding of the question, and thus you will not be making any mistakes.
- Don’t attempt to answer questions that you don’t know anything about. Because then you will make random guesses and get a negative marking. You will not get any marks if you don’t answer a certain question. Although if you do, your marks will be subtracted from your correct answers if you give the wrong answer to a certain question.
Final Word
So, to wrap this topic up, I hope that all these tips for reducing negative marks in the prelims exam will help you in clearing the prelims exam.
All these tips will help avoid the negative marking and also in being confident while appearing for the UPSC Prelims exam. UPSC Prelims is a tough nut to crack, but you will be able to clear the exam in the first attempt itself with enough practice. Hence, it is important to have a good plan and a clear strategy on how to give the exam without getting a negative marking.
Also, these tips can help you get a high score in the UPSC exam. Don’t make random guesses just to answer a question without knowing anything about the topic.
