Success Story: Tips and Strategies from the UPSC Toppers

Updated: Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 21:45 [IST]

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) administers the UPSC Civil Services Test to select applicants for different Grade-A positions in government institutions. Each year, around ten lakh applicants enroll for the UPSC CSE. To excel in the IAS Test, aspirants must emphasise a thorough mastery of the UPSC curriculum. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination is among the most demanded and hardest to achieve. To successfully prepare for the examination, it is critical to thoroughly understand the UPSC syllabus.

Success Story: Tips from the UPSC Toppers

People who plan to take the exam should begin revising right once to improve their preparedness and success. The Civil Services examination is divided into three stages: preliminary, mains, and interview. Applicants who pass all 3 phases will be considered for positions such as IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, and others. The UPSC test ranks among the most prestigious, demanding, and tough examinations in the nation, with a lot of people applying each year. The UPSC 2023 test is expected to fill a total of 1105 vacancies across all posts released by the Commission.

Just time and effort will not suffice to clear the UPSC exam. UPSC hopefuls would benefit much from combining hard work with intelligent play. For productive outcomes, those who want to begin their preparation at home must have an excellent plan and implement it flawlessly. A thorough preparation technique relieves stress and displays your peak potential. Here are some successful approaches culled from interviews and blogs written by UPSC toppers to assist you to crack the exam on your first try.

Expert Advice and Preparation Tips from UPSC Toppers of Different Years

Shubham Kumar AIR-1 (2020-21)

He advises UPSC aspirants to trust in themselves, form a friend network of fellow candidates to keep encouraged and for good peer influence, take practice examinations regularly, choose additional courses wisely, and stop reading new books during revision time.

Kanishak Kataria AIR-1 (2018-19)

He resolved to pass this exam, or in other words, he possessed sufficient motivation. Moreover, he had recognised his deficiencies and strengths before beginning his UPSC preparation to design an approach that would succeed him. He also discusses extracting critical info from the vast quantity of information accessible through marketplaces and online.

Jagrati Awasthi: AIR 2 (2019-2020)

She advised them to work hard and believe in yourselves. Aspirants will benefit from this. She studied for 12 to 14 hours and prepared online and her hard work just paid off.

Ankita Agarwal AIR 2 (2020- 2021 )

Ankita Agarwal stated that she learned through self-study and coaching. She considers both of them to be extremely relevant in a candidate's life. Ankita broke UPSC stereotypes by harmonizing her preparations. She kept notes and read a newspaper and monthly magazines to stay up to date on current events.

Mamta Yadav AIR-5 (2021-22 )

She says to the aspirants that the Most essential thing is that your optional subject be something you enjoy reading. If the subject somehow doesn't interest you, it will be difficult to retain your interest over time. Choosing an optional from your graduating stream can help because you've already spent 3 or 4 hours learning it.

Praveen Kumar AIR-7 (2021-22 )

He discovered the issue during his initial two efforts to be him following someone else's plan. It didn't seem to work for him. He proposes that everyone develop their plan based on their unique strengths and mental capacity.

SHRESTHA ANUPAM AIR 19 (2018-2019 )

He advises applicants to practice several test papers before their prelims; this is a very efficient method for achieving excellence in the prelims. It will also aid in the evaluation of your accuracy and quickness. He also notes that if the paper is too difficult, your plan should be to take fewer questions and equalize the overall accuracy so that bad responses do not keep you behind.

Meera K AIR 6 (2019-2020 )

"My recommendation to UPSC hopefuls is to develop your success approach." You can benefit from mentors, toppers, or coaching institutes. But, do not mindlessly adopt or mimic any strategy. "Know your talents and weaknesses, and create your own individualised study schedule," Meera said.

Few UPSC Test Preparation Tips

The most crucial thing to complete before making this selection is to research every area of IAS preparation, from the test sequence to the curriculum to past year's question papers.

Going from textbook to textbook during exam preparation will only lead to misconceptions; instead, select a few publications and materials and try to stick to them as much as practicable.

Always have a feasible and realizable study plan in place when preparing for the UPSC CSE. Creating a schedule and staying abreast of your goals may also be beneficial.

It is critical to select the correct Optional Subject to pass this exam. You should carefully select your optional based on your academic record, expertise, and enthusiasm in the subject, curriculum, availability of appropriate materials, and tutoring classes.

If you don't plan on getting coaching, the right method to clear the UPSC exam is to examine online videos. If you are concerned with these lectures or find them hard to understand, the best thing you can do is go to a near coaching centre and receive the list of books and other necessary information. It will assist you in obtaining the optimal material combination.

Developing a routine of writing daily can help you reach a final resolution to your IAS journey. You can give some of your time to expressing your views and ideas on current events, as well as essays on significant events and occurring.

Rather, revise and practice your weak areas to strengthen them and your strong sections to enhance them. Studying specific concepts right well before an exam, given that you have little time to gather in-depth understanding or exercise, might result in regressive gating, which occurs when new learning interferes with the retention of previously achieved skill.