Exam Pattern:       I. Prelims(Objective)      II. Mains(Subjective)   III. Interview

Prelims:

Prelims consists of two papers.

Paper I - General Studies

Paper II - CSAT(Civil Service Aptitude Test)

The questions pattern in both the above papers is Choose the correct answer type.

Prelims Paper I:

This paper covers a wide range of topics such as History, Geography, Economy, Polity, Environment Science, General Science, Science and Technology and Current Affairs.

While preparing for General Studies one could focus on both Prelims and Mains parts as they both go hand-in-hand.

Preperation plan what I have deviced is:

i. Finish reading all the NCERT books (from VIII to XII) for the above mentioned subjects, it lays the foundation (If somebody doesn't feel comfortable with any of the above mentioned topics, then they could start with VI standard books)

ii. Choose any one of the subjects which one feels comfortable, let's take History(I am comfortable reading History), as one already has a broad idea after reading NCERT books, now it is time move further, so read Spectrum Series - A brief note of Modern History(read it twice) then, go for Bipin Chandra's book - India's Struggle For Independence and if futher interested you could read Modern Indian History by Mohammad Tarique (he is one of the Civil Service trainers and also in his book one could find more inclination towards muslims so one could easily understand the politics during that period). Have a copy of India's Struggle For Freedom(a very small book) by P.N. Chopra - it has all the events year-wise like a gist, it could be used as a reference to recollect the flow of events.

iii. Then, I chose Polity -- Indian Polity by Laxmikant is a good book to start to understand Polity clearly. Read this book atleast twice to get a clear picture. Then, go for a little advanced book - Introduction to the Constitution of India by D.D. Basu. One must for sure have The Constitution of Indian by P.M Bakshi (It serves like a chutney for Idli), any coaching centre, anywhere in India would start teaching Indian Polity from this book and they also instruct students to carry this book to the class.

iv. Let's look at Economy now -- Economy is something where most of the students find it difficult to understand the number of terms. Hence first read 'The Indian Economy by Sanjiv Verma'(a very small book which explains terms with examples), then once comfortable with the terms go for Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh.

v. Geography(a dreadful subject for me): For Physical Geography go for 'Certificate Physical and Human Geography' by GOHCHENGLEONG and for Indian and World Geography, read Indian and World Geography by Majid Hussain.

vi. For Environment Science read any of the Coaching centre's material that would be more than enough. You could find these materials in most of the Stationary Shops or Xerox shops located near the Civils Coaching Centres in any city. ( For instance, I get all the materials of Vajiram and Ravi, one of the best coaching centres in Delhi from a local stationary shop in Hyderabad)

vii. NCERT books would be enough for General Science

viii. For Science and Technology and Current Affairs, one must read The Hindu newspaper regularly.

Apart from the above subscribe for Yojana and Kurukshetra Monthly Magazines released by Government which give a very good explanation of various Government's policies. Also, subscribe any of the magazines among Pratiyogita Darpan or Civils Chronicle etc.. I prefer Pratiyogita Darpan as it has a detialed analysis of the important news from last month's newspapers.

Prelims Paper II:

It tests one's ability in Comprehension, Verbal, Quants and Logical Ability. One could go for any of the aptitude coaching centres material say TIME, Career Launcher, IMS, Byjus. If somebody has CAT materials, then those will be more than enough. I don't think one requires coaching for Paper II. Focus on Grammar, Vocab and Reading Comprehension part in Verbal. In Qunats be thorough with basics of different topics such as trignometry, Geometry, Progressions, Statistics, Time, Speed and Distance, Time and Work, Probability, Permuatations Combinations etc to name a few.

MAINS:

If one completes all the above mentioned reading for General Studies, then Mains Gerneral Studies papers would be a cake walk for them.

PAPER-I

Essay: Candidates will be required to write an essay on a specific topic. The choice of subjects will be given.
They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.

PAPER-II

General Studies- I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

PAPER-III

General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.

PAPER-IV

General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.

PAPER-V

General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude.

This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society. Questions may utilise the case study approach to determine these aspects.

Paper-VI
Optional Subject

Note: Also, one could try to get the notes from any of the best coaching centres of Delhi.

Vajiram and Ravi is one of the best coaching centres in Delhi.

Interview:

One must know more about their own state and also the issues prevailing there.