Begin your test preparation early.

Check the current year’s schedule for the dates of the preliminary exams. Several months of preparation should be done to ensure that you are ready for the variety of questions that may be asked.

Read the newspaper every day.

Stay informed about current events from the local to the international level. Focus on the economic and political sections without worrying about the entertainment news as much.

Have booklist

Take expert advice to make booklist for you, So that you can start your journey. But don't change books with time, revise and repeat as many times as you can.

Friend circle

Make friends in your college those who are aspiring to become an IAS Officer after the graduation. You can even team up as a community and share some valuable notes and thoughts with each other. Meet your seniors, to have broader understanding of things.

Use your holidays properly

Don't waste your time and complete your major portion of your syllabus in your semester holiday.

Use your resouces to fullest

Utilize your resources like use of your college internet and library for your preparation, which can help you a lot as things are changes. Nowadays you need not to move to other places for the sake of preparation. Use your free time in the library by reading the daily newspaper, magazines, and books which is related to IAS Preparation. Read as many books as possible which are more inclined to your IAS Preparation Syllabus.

NCERT

NCERTS are basic foundations and the whole preparation starts with your school NCERT’s.  who have cleared this exam acknowledged that NCERT is the best source to build your fundamental knowledge for this examination.

Notes making

Develop notes making skill. Yours notes should be crisp and concise so that you can revise easily multiple times especially before exam.

Study a variety of subjects.

The IAS exams cover a broad range of topics. You need to be well versed in a number of subjects to be successful. Here are a few focus areas included in the Preliminary Papers:

• Geography: both Indian and World Geography are important areas.
• History: knowledge of key events and social movements is required.
• Polity: the structure of the Indian Constitution, judicial processes, and international relations are all included.
• Economics: micro and macro aspects of the Indian economy should be understood.
• Environmental Science: Climate, agricultural issues, and pollution should be studied in depth.
• Arts and Culture: historical and contemporary study of Indian music, dance, literature, architecture, and painting are all covered during the exam.

Previous years' exam questions and pattern.

Previous Year papers are most important thing to start your preparation. You need to have with the previous year papers and pattern of exam.

Improve your language and communication skills.

Although the mains can be taken in a number of languages, preliminary papers are given in Hindi and English. It is important for aspirants to be well studied in Hindi and English.

Take practice tests.

Find practice tests online to prepare yourself for the time limits and formatting of the test. When you take a practice test, try to make the environment like the one you will experience on test day.

• Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed.
• Set a timer.
• Take the entire test in one sitting.
• Review the answers when you are finished to learn from your mistakes

Read as many books as you can find. Because the IAS exams cover so many varied topics, reading books on almost any subject can be helpful.

• Review book lists from previous toppers.
• Read classic literature.
• Study non-fiction books of various topics such as historical biographies