3 IAS Officers Share Tips On How Smart Revision Helped Them Crack UPSC CSE

Three IAS officers share their tried-and-tested revision techniques for UPSC CSE aspirants who are looking for tips to prepare well for the examination.

By Shivani Gupta

October 21, 2023

Every year, thousands of aspirants write one of the most competitive examinations UPSC, but only a few make it to the final list with a good score. IAS officers say smart revision is the ultimate key to managing a good score.

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These IAS officers share revision techniques that aspirants could adopt.

A typical day for an aspirant: IAS Officer Naveen Kumar Chandra clinched an All India Rank of 490 in the Civil Service Examination (CSE) 2017. He says aspirants should revise at least 15 to 20 days’ worth of current affairs daily, and each day, they must also pick one subject from the general studies paper to revise thoroughly.

Minimum syllabus, maximum revision: IAS Akshita Gupta secured an All India Rank of 69 in UPSC 2020. She scored 299 out of 500 in her optional subject of medical science because of smart revision.

“The revision gap causes a loss of memory. Since the syllabus is vast, one should revise topics frequently so as not to get overwhelmed. I scored well in my optional because I used to revise daily. Smart revision is the ultimate key,” she says.

Akshita suggests jotting down important facts about every topic in a clean thin register. This helps to revise a day before the exam and retain facts about almost every topic.

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“When you start your day, revise what you learnt the previous day. It is not time-consuming and also helps you retain knowledge. Keep your syllabus minimum, but revision maximum,” says the IAS officer.

Read-revise-rectify-repeat: IAS Himanshu Gupta who cleared the UPSC thrice, most recently in 2020 with an All India Rank of 139, without resorting to any formal coaching, advises aspirants to read less and revise more.

He says that unless one revises enough times, any sort of preparation for the UPSC CSE is pointless. “Keep your sources fixed and ensure you follow a simple technique of read-revise-rectify-repeat. This will ensure you are well prepared to tackle the examination,” he says.

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Edited by Pranita Bhat

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