CUT-OFF/SOURCE/STRATEGY/ANALYSIS: GENERAL STUDIES PRELIMS 2022 PAPER-by Team Apti Plus

7th June, 2022 Prelims

CUT-OFF/SOURCE/STRATEGY/ANALYSIS: GENERAL STUDIES PRELIMS 2022 PAPER-by Team Apti Plus

Dear Friends,

UPSC conducted the Prelims for CSE 2022 on 5^th June 2022. The questions can be said to be of moderate to difficult level. Hence, expectation is that UPSC Prelims 2022 Expected Cutoff would remain low in the range of 92+/-2.

Many questions were of the type ‘either you know or you don’t’. Hence, this was a kind of paper where it was more important for a candidate to judge which question to leave rather than which one to attempt. UPSC asked pair-based questions in a new way which made the use of elimination technique difficult.

The questions from polity were easy to moderate. If concepts are clear, one would not have found difficulty in solving them.
The questions from the environment section were moderate to difficult. This time more direct questions were asked.
Questions from Science and Technology were difficult. New and emerging technologies were stressed upon.
Economy questions were difficult as compared to the last year. Most of these were conceptual in nature and needed a thorough understanding of the topic.
The questions from history were moderate to difficult. The medieval part got more focus.
The questions from IR/IO weredifficult. They had linkage to current affairs.
Many questions this year can be traced to current affairs. Topics which have been frequently been in news have been asked and these can be sourced from newspapers like Hindu, Times of India, Indian Express etc.

After taking the prelims examination in the most taxing circumstances, aspirants now must be unsettled by the darkness of uncertainty around the score that would sail them through to the next stage. But remember prelims is just the qualifying phase of CSE. The real battle begins now. Anyone scoring 80+ should take two days’ rest, refresh their mind and get into Mains mode.

Aspirants who failed to attempt the paper as per their expectations should remain calm and composed and take a few days break. Thereafter, do a diligent SWOT analysis of the syllabus, preparation, time schedule etc and think and plan accordingly with a new strategy. Do not try to imitate or blindly copy others and neither be influenced in a wrong way, rather get inspired.Do not settle for less and do not be afraid of failures.

The strategy should be:

Read standard books, grasp basic concepts, focus on fundamentals of current affairs, read the newspaper thoroughly, be aware and observant and focus on quality rather than quantity.

Subject-wise analysis

SUBJECT	NUMBER OF QUESTIONS
Polity & Governance	10
Environment	10
Science and Technology	9
Economy	14
History	16
Geography	13
IR/IO	4
Current Affairs	24

Year	Polity	Environment	S&T	Economy	History	Geography	Current Affairs
2014	11	17	13	10	17	12	20
2015	13	10	7	13	14	14	29
2016	7	18	8	18	15	7	27
2017	22	11	4	8	14	7	34
2018	13	13	7	16	15	8	28
2019	15	11	7	14	17	14	22
2020	14	11	10	14	19	13	19
2021	14	15	12	15	20	10	14