Cracking UPSC is hard and no one understands this better than IAS officer Devyani Yadav.

She cleared the UPSC CSE in her fifth attempt with an All India Rank (AIR) of 11.

An alumnus of BITS Pilani (Goa), Devyani worked at a private job where she realised her aptitude was most suited for government service.

In 2015 and 2016 she failed to clear the prelims. In 2017, she made progress and reached the interview stage but did not find her name in the final list. In 2018, her fourth attempt, she secured an AIR of 222 and was allotted to the Central Audit Department. She was undergoing probation when she appeared for the exam again in 2019.

Swipe to know how she got an AIR of 11.

“When I attempted the exam for the fifth time I was on probation. My work took up a lot of time throughout the week. However, I ensured that I put in double the effort during the weekends. Planning the schedule also helped in covering the syllabus efficiently.”

Quality over Quantity

Notes must be put down in your own words. The notes should only have details that need to be revised at a later stage. Use technology to your advantage while making notes – there are plenty of applications that make it easy to store details.

Devise your note-making strategy

Devyani recommends solving a minimum of 40 tests before attempting the exam. “The more mocks you attempt the better your understanding will be.”

Mock tests as self-evaluation tools

“Being able to read and understand exactly what is being asked of you is crucial to doing well in the exam. For example, a simple true or false question might be misread leading to a loss of marks.

Sharpen your reading skills