Marks secured by 1st rankers in

Civil Services Exam & the

subjects they excelled in

Indian Administrative Services is by far one of the most coveted career choices in India and
why not! The prestige and perks an IAS gets to live is unparalleled, while the duties carried
out by these officers is at par too. But the tri-staged Civil Services Examination, for the
selection of Civil Administrators, comprises of a vast syllabus, with multiple subjects to gain
knowledge from. A basic understanding of this entire curriculum in lieu of the UPSC’s
syllabus for Civil Services Examination is crucial, and it even makes sense, for, an able
administrator must recognise his surroundings in both, the historical and practical depth.
But, what if we tell you that it is nowhere a necessity that you must equally excel in every
dimension of the given curriculum and it is acceptable if you perform a little weaker in
certain paper or stage of the exam, for, it is your strength in other subjects that can balance
the entire result.

Well, yes, it is a very practical fact!

To start off, let us start with the patent line, ‘a dedicated preparation in the right direction
will always reap success’

It is true!
Civil Services demands an individual, who is capable and intelligent enough to disentangle
the wires of a complicated and diverse society like ours. Civil Services Examination tests
candidates on the similar lines and hence knowledge of the entire given syllabus is
important to understand what all you may have to encounter in your duty as a Civil Servant.
Even your answers are not expected to be of school/graduate level but that in an
Administrator perspective. So, nothing changes in your preparation pattern! Rather,
improve on what you have been preparing until now and let the results shout out the hard-
work you’ve put in!

Purpose of writing this article for you people today is to help you all understand that it is not
at all important for you to excel in all the subject and all the stages, rather the idea is to
make you recognize your strength areas and encourage you work on your strength even
more, for eg, if you have good hold on the GS part of the syllabus, or for the matter you are
good at only GS paper 2 subject, you must make sure that you fetch maximum marks from
that one area, and even if you get average marks in other subjects, you will get edge with
that one strength. Let’s have a look at few examples here to help you understand the fact
better.

Must Read - Inspirational Stories of Civil Servants who lived up to their Jobs

We acknowledge that you are working really hard for the Civil Services Exam and being an
academy having 25 years of experience with the students of same calibre and interest, we
totally understand how tough it is for students to balance between normal life and studying
for India’s toughest examination. But honestly, every topper has a weak point! And so even
if you lack at something, do not worry, you will still do a great job, only if you are dedicated
towards your strengths.

If you look at past 5-year IAS exam toppers, and notice the pattern in which they succeeded,
you will understand it better.

Name Marks Secured Marks Secured Total Marks Rank & Year
in the Mains in the Secured
Personality
Test
Anudeep 950 176 1126 (55.60%) AIR 1, CSE 2017
Durishetty
Nandini KR 927 193 1120 (55.31%) AIR 1, CSE 2016
Tina Dabi 868 195 1063 (52.49%) AIR 1, CSE 2015
Ira Singhal 920 162 1082 (53.43%) AIR 1, CSE 2014
Gaurav 769 206 975 (48.15%) AIR 1, CSE 2013
Agarwal

This will seem to be a simple mark sheet of these toppers to you, but this does not depict
the entire picture!
 Marks obtained by Anudeep Durishetty (CSE 2017 topper) in
the personality test were 176, which is much lesser than most
toppers and yet his aggregate is higher than the most. The real
catch is in the marks he had scored in the Civil Services Mains
exam, i.e., 950, which clearly state his command over the
subjects asked in written paper.

Now if you look at the marks of

Gaurav Agarwal (CSE 2013 topper),
he had scored 769 in Mains, which
Anudeep Durishetty is way too lesser than other
(AIR 1, CSE 2017) candidates with rank 1 and his
aggregate summed up at 48.15%. However, Gaurav’s confidence
and mental preparedness for the Personality Test got him Rank 1
in the Civil Services Exam, where he got maximum marks, i.e.,
206. Gaurav Agarwal
(AIR 1, CSE 2013)

But, do you understand the pattern?

It was their individual strength in respective stages of the

exam that secured them a dream rank!

#Tip – A true mentor at this stage is must to hold your hand

throughout the journey of your Civil Services Exam
Preparation! Click here for guidance!

Nandini KR Now even if you look at their individual scores in different

(AIR 1, CSE 2016) stages and for different year, all these candidates definitely
performed better than other contenders, which is why Rank 1 knocked on their doors.
Nandini KR’s 55.31% was an unbeaten score in past 4 years, until Anudeep surpassed her
with a bare minimum difference. There may be a marginal difference in their individual
scores, but it clearly says that where Anudeep had a strong hand on the Mains Papers,
Nandini KR, alike Gaurav Agarwal had a stronger hand in the Interviews.

If you look at the scores of Tina Dabi (AIR 1, CSE 2015) & Ira
Singhal (AIR 1, CSE 2014), they both too have variable strengths
in each stage.
Hence, it totally depends upon
your academic and mental
preparedness for the Civil
Services, along with the
performance in each stage of the
Mains and Interview stage, which
gets totalled for an aggregated
score. And, as I stated earlier, Ira Singhal
(AIR 1, CSE 2014)
there is even a chance that you
may score well in one paper of the Mains Examination, say GS
Tina Dabi
(AIR 1, CSE 2015)
paper 1 or the Ethics Paper and not equally well in any one of the other 6 papers.

Concluding the point, the idea is to help you to understand that you simply cannot rely on a
single paper to raise the bars of your final score, for it is a collective score that will increase
your final marks, but a little here and there in certain stage or paper will not snatch away
the chances of you making it to the top.

Strengthen your core’s knowledge base and play with the subjects that you have a
stronger hold on, and you will be unstoppable.!! Access your preparation at regular intervals
and perfect every inch of it!

We believe in you! It’s your turn now!