IAS exam has been cleared by many without any coaching and can be cleared by many more in their first attempt without any coaching. While this effort has been done by many candidates it is surely not an easy job. Lakhs of students compete against each other for a few thousand seats. Even though clearing this exam successfully is very difficult, a lot of candidates are attracted to the job due to its perks, power and respect. While there are a lot of students who can’t clear the exam even after taking help from best coaching institutes for years, there are also students who have cleared it in their first attempt with their smart study strategy. It can be said that success of candidate in the IAS exam fully depends on the level of their consistency and hard work. Coaching is helpful in preparation, but committed students can do without it with their hard work.
Union Public Service Commission commonly known as UPSC is the organizer of this examination. The exam consists of a screening test called the CSAT. Only upon clearing this exam the successful candidates are allowed to appear for the main exam. Every year lakhs of student try securing their seat in this exam. To cater to their needs, a large number of coaching institutes have come up that help them in preparing for the exam, make them aware about exam pattern and guide them on every possible step. While some of the premier coaching institutes have excellent facilities, there are some substandard institutions too, it’s tough to judge which one you should join. Getting coached for this examination has both its share of benefits as well as shortcomings.
Coaching institutes provide a competitive environment that helps the students in honing their skills further. On the other hand self-study allows candidates to pay more attention to their individual strength and weaknesses. It all depends on the mental framework of the candidates and how desperately he/she wants to be an IAS officer. Students have been seen who have cleared these examinations in their first attempt without taking any coaching, they might have took guidance from the people who had an experience of appearing for the same. This shows that coaching isn’t essential for success in this exam, but it can be an add-on to your preparation. It certainly has its benefits.
For cracking this examination a detailed plan has to be developed. The most important thing is consistency and smart study as the syllabus of this exam is quite vast. All you need to do is to choose subjects wisely, the one that you like to study. This is one aspect of preparation where coaching institutes are helpful. Students may have difficulties in making a plan and sticking to it when they are doing so individually, but again this is not a rocket science. The presence of other students can help as the candidates will have some guidelines on how to prepare, while doing you can take help from your friends preparing for the same. There is no doubt that a coaching institute helps a lot in getting candidates ready for exam, but it has been seen that students can clear it without any coaching experience, all they need is a well prepared study plan, strong desire and commitment for their dream. There are Premier coaching institutes that have qualified teaching personnel, who help resolve the doubts of the students thus saving them a lot of their time. Coaching institutes also provide brief notes and lectures on important topics that allow the students to revise quicker. This is not something an individual cannot do, you can prepare your own notes of important topics, so that you can have a glance of all important sections before exam.
So while coaching institutes can make exam preparation a bit easy for the candidates, they aren’t an absolute necessity for all. The real things necessary for clearing the IAS exam is a combination of regularity, perseverance and hard work. Students who don’t want to join a conventional coaching class but are in need of help, can opt for postal coaching, or take guidance from people in the same field.
