How to Prepare for BPSC 2021 Exam from Scratch? A Beginner’s Guide!
The BPSC Exam is around the corner, and so with little time left, you must be in a dilemma to prepare for the exam. As a BPSC aspirant, you must leave no stone unturned in your BPSC preparation as there is a tough competition for this exam. Every year lakhs of aspirants appear for this exam with the dream of securing a reputed job that provides a handsome package. Hence, it becomes extremely crucial that you prepare for this exam with full focus and dedication so that you stand out from your competitors and crack this exam easily.
Talking about beginners then you must be confused to figure out the proper approach to your preparation. Now, preparing for such high-level competitive exams can be overwhelming especially if you are new to it. So, through this blog, I will share some effective preparation strategies and tips that will help you to ace your BPSC Exam in no time.
Beginner’s Guide to Preparing for BPSC 2021 Exam
Your first step in starting your preparation should be to get aware of your exam pattern and syllabus. I will provide you a thorough Exam pattern for your BPSC Exam 2021 below.
There are three main stages to BPSC Exam i.e. Prelims, Mains, and Interview
Prelims Round
In this round, candidates have to prepare for questions related to general studies. The duration of the exam will be of 2 hours, the total marks is 150 and the questions asked will be of objective type.
Mains Round
The mains round consists of 4 papers i.e. Hindi, General studies-1, General studies-2, and optional paper. Note that candidates will be given a choice to choose any 1 optional paper out of 34. The marks allotted to each paper will be 300 except for Hindi subject it will be 100. The duration of the papers will be of 3 hours each. In this round, candidates have to write answers meaning this paper will be of descriptive type.
Interview Round
The interview round will be conducted to test the knowledge of candidates as well as to access if the candidate is suitable for the desired position or not. The total marks given to the interview round for the BPSC exam would be 120.
How to prepare for BPSC Prelims Paper?
BPSC Prelims paper is your gateway to further stages of the examination. So you must study for this paper with full concentration. I am going to share the important general studies topics for your Prelims paper below.
- General Science
- Events of national and international importance
- History of Bihar and Indian History
- Geography
- Geography of Bihar
- Indian Polity and Economy
- Changes in the economy of Bihar post-independence
- Indian National Movement and the Role of Bihar
- General Mental Ability
Pay attention to national and international events by reading newspapers and magazines on a daily basis. Furthermore, you need to be aware of the happenings related to Bihar state as this exam majorly focuses on questions related to Bihar so you need to prep up accordingly. If you need proper guidance and approach to prepare for this paper then you can also take the help of the BPSC GS course online to get an added advantage on your preparation.
How to Prepare for BPSC Mains Exam?
As you must know that the BPSC mains exam consists of 4 papers, let’s first discuss the preparation strategy for the Hindi paper in detail.
Hindi
The most important thing that you should remember is that the Hindi paper is qualifying in nature. It means that you need to score at least 30 marks out of 100 to qualify in the mains paper. However, this section is not that tough as the level of questions asked in the paper is of secondary school.
Take a look at the marks distribution below
Essay: 30 Marks
Grammar: 30 Marks
Syntax: 25 Marks
Summarisation: 15 Marks
General Studies (I & II)
I am going to share the BPSC Preparation strategy for both GS- I & II in this section. The most important thing that you need to know is that this section can be scoring however you need to develop good answer writing skills. As you must know that the mains paper is descriptive, you need to write answers in a way that impresses the examiner and sets you apart from the other candidates.
So how are you going to approach the answers in your mains paper? Well, it’s pretty simple. Whenever you write your answers, firstly, decide the structure. Generally, the structure goes like this- Introduction, Main Body, and conclusion.
Open your introduction para with a general idea about the issues related to your question. Then justify/provide a solution to the problem in your main body, while you do this, you need to provide certain facts, figures or data that can make your justification strong. Lastly, end your answer with a conclusion (mostly on a positive note)
Remember that, you need to avoid filing your paper with bookish answers and rather provide your own point of view. This will help you a lot as the examiner will know that you have a proper understanding of the question.
If you are still unsure about approaching the answers in the right way then I suggest you opt for a BPSC online course as that will be helpful for you in your preparation.
Coming to the topics that you need to study for your GS-I & II, take a look at the important topics below
General Studies- I
- Indian Culture
- Modern History of India
- Contemporary events of national and international importance
- Statistical Analysis, diagrams, and graphs
General Studies- II
- Indian (and Bihar) Polity
- Indian (and Bihar) Economy
- Indian (and Bihar) Geography
- Role and impact of Science and Technology in the development of India (and Bihar)
When starting your BPSC preparation for General studies, pay special attention to cultural and historical topics of India and especially Bihar. Along with this, Indian polity, Geography, Economy, and the role of science and technology in Indian development account for maximum marks. So prepare for these sections accordingly.
Optional Paper
The selection of optional paper completely depends on you however make sure to choose the subject that you are interested in and familiar with. This will make your preparation easy for you.
Now, Coming to the Books required to prepare for the exam, take a look at some of the useful books below.
What are the Best Study Materials for BPSC 2021 Exam?
Referring to the correct books for your BPSC preparation is very necessary as that can be a game-changer for you. There are too many books out there and chances are that you might end up studying from the wrong books. So I am providing a list of the best books that you must refer to for your BPSC 2021 Exam.
Subject
Reference Books
- Medieval History
- Satish Chandra
- Modern History
- Bipin Chandra
- Indian Polity
- M. Laxmikanth
- Geography
- Majid Hussain
- Economy
- Ramesh Singh
- Science
- Lucent Publication
- Newspaper (For general studies)
- The Hindu & The Indian Express
- Magazines (For General Studies)
- Yojana, Kurukshetra & Down to Earth
- NCERT (All Subjects)
- NCERT Class 6- Class 12
Additional BPSC Preparation Tips for All Papers
- Read and Understand your syllabus beforehand.
- Make a study schedule as that will be effective for keeping a track of your learning as well as staying organized till the day of your BPSC exam.
- Dedicate some time to self-study and make handwritten notes as that will be helpful for your understanding.
- Refer to the books which I mentioned above and focus more on the NCERTs to make your base concepts strong. Do not refer to multiple books as that might confuse you.
- Practice previous years question papers and solve mock tests regularly
- Take help from BPSC online course if required as online courses are an excellent way to study from your home and get real-time guidance from experienced and skilled teachers.
Final Thoughts!
Clearing your BPSC 2021 exam with flying colors will only come into reality if you go the extra mile by dedicating sheer determination and hard work. I have provided the complete preparation strategy and tips for beginners to ace your exam from scratch. Follow the tips and excel in your BPSC preparation easily. All the best!
