Akshay Agrawal was pursuing a prosperous career in Singapore when he decided to return to India in 2018 to follow a long-held dream — becoming an IAS officer.

That leap of faith paid off. In his very first attempt, Akshay cleared the UPSC exam with flying colours, securing All India Rank 43.

Akshay credits his success to setting clear goals, staying determined, creating comprehensive revision plans, and avoiding distractions.

He says, “Understanding the syllabus is crucial. And you can only truly grasp it by doing two things: reading the syllabus and studying the previous question papers as much as you can.”

This strategy helped him understand the scope and intent behind the questions.

By reviewing 20 to 25 years of previous year questions PYQs, Akshay identified patterns, historical relevance, and evolving trends in key topics. This allowed him to anticipate which topics might reappear in future exams.

His approach involved solving PYQs immediately after studying each subject, reinforcing his understanding through repetition. He gradually transitioned from solving subject-wise questions to full-length papers.

PYQs also helped Akshay identify ‘hot topics’, enabling more focused study.He would update his notes with additional insights gained from PYQs.

Revisiting solved PYQs became a core part of his revision strategy, helping him reinforce concepts and pinpoint areas that needed more work.

Akshay suggests solving a minimum of 5,000 questions before the prelims.This benchmark gave him both practice and confidence — and he believes it could do the same for other aspirants.