Upsc ias paper 2017 analysis

In the past few years the trend of UPSC Prelims has been towards factual instead of conceptual questions and towards more and more current affairs than static portion. That trend still continues but unlike last year when there were a disproportionately large no of Current Affairs and factual questions, this year there was renewed focus on conceptual and applied questions. Also, the questions tested knowledge across varied dimensions. The paper was definitely more difficult than last year. And consequently, the cut off also is going to come down.

As usual the IAS Prelims exam surprised many people who went in the exam hall expecting the paper to conform to set patterns. The paper seemed very easy at first glance, but it was not so easy because options were very close plus in some questions like and in some questions very specific details were asked. As usual UPSC maintains its reputation of being Unpredictable Service Commission by asking tricky questions which not only tested conceptual understanding but also factual information. And that makes Prelims a roll of dice for many. Many students who had mugged up Current Affairs modules in the hope of getting a high no of Current Affair Questions were stumped by UPSC because there were far fewer questions from Current Affairs as compared to last year. It also highlights the fact that clearing the UPSC CSE Pre requires not only extensive reading, but also an eye for detail.

Surprisingly some of the sections which used to be bread and butter of UPSC have lost favour with UPSC and they were given a cold shoulder as in the previous few years.

UPSC Prelims (IAS) Exam Analysis 2017 - Section Wise (Paper 1 GS)

Geography: In Geography, around 70% of the questions revolve around maps. Hence, it is pretty easy for anyone who is well-cognisant with the world and India map. However, some of these questions are tricky and can fool aspirants if not thought out properly. The other miniscule number of questions from this section are from predictable and traditional geography topics like monsoon and irrigation in agriculture. Very little of physical geography was asked this time.

Environment: The focus on Environment is still there with 15 Questions in total. Most of the Questions revolved around Current Affairs especially those which have potential public health and environmental impact. So, environmental news becomes an important source of reference for aspirants.

History & Art & Culture: History was more on the usual lines. There were 6 Questions from Modern History and 6 from Ancient History & Art & Culture. history portion (ancient and modern) largely factual and less of conceptual. In comparison to Modern History the ancient portion was not so difficult in general since they were mostly factual, however, art and culture was covered largely which has always been very diverse. Also, UPSC has a penchant for picking anything from anywhere in Art & Culture and that makes this section very difficult to prepare. The best bet is to read NCERTs well and understanding Art & Culture with an eye for facts.

Economy: The questions on economy were mostly factual and related to Current Affairs. In all there were around 7-8 questions from Economy. Also, the weightage has not changed from last year. Economics questions were not easy. Unlike previous years questions, this year's questions were not conceptual but factual too. As expected, UPSC asked current affairs of 2012-2016 in economics.

Polity: 22 Questions were asked from Polity. And this as the most scoring section because most of the questions were direct. Some of the questions which were conceptual were not that difficult if one understands the basics of Polity well. So here the NCERTs become important to understand the basic philosophy of the Indian Polity and Constitutional Structure. For anyone to have a decent chance at clearing this year’s prelims, this was the section to bank upon.

Science & Technology: There were only 4 questions from General Science and they were application based. The questions from tech were mostly Current Affairs based and overlapped with Environment & Biodiversity. Overall this section has lost its favour with UPSC and we believe that there is no need to prepare for General Science separately anymore. For Technology, thorough grip on Current Affairs would save the day.

Current Affairs: Govt schemes, laws and policies have become a section in themselves, carrying at least 14 questions. If you combine CA questions this no goes up to 27. But this paper was a lot more balanced than last year in which CA dominated the whole paper.  With this focus on govt schemes, PIB becomes an important source of preparation. The question on National Nutrition Mission was lifted straight from a press release of PIB.

UPSC Pre (IAS Prelims) Expected Cut Off 2017

Cut Off: Based on our analysis, and the fact that the paper was significantly tougher than last year we believe that the Cut Off would be around 105+/-5 marks for the general category.

Edit: Based on my discussion with students and friends who appeared, and a deeper analysis of the paper, I am revising my Cut Off prediction downward to 105+/-5 marks.

While having a general idea about cut off is good, there is no point in engaging in endless speculation for days on end. Whatever you could have done you have done. Also, there is hardly any time to waste and after taking a day or two off you should immediately start preparing for Mains.