Open In App Sign In

Quora uses cookies to improve your experience. Read more

Which study material is best for UPSC civil service?

Ad by Amazon India

Bill payments on Amazon.

Pay your bills now via Amazon.in and get assured offers worth Rs. 200. Try now!

Learn More

10 Answers

Manuj Jindal, Working as an Assistant Collector (Trainee), IAS Officer

Answered Jan 5, 2019 · Author has 126 answers and 3.6m answer views

I keep getting this question again and again because there are so many reading materials out there for UPSC,
so it has become very difficult to choose. There are two ways to approach this:

1. Materials you must study

2. Online Sources

3. Practice materials

4. Additional materials you can read to really up your preparation (these will lead to a vast base of
knowledge)

Materials you MUST study:

1. Prelims

a. Environment (highly scoring)

i. Shankar IAS Green Book.

ii. NCERT Ecology book (selective topics not given in Shankar)

iii. GK Today Environment Notes (read after Shankar)

iv. Make sure you know about the main bodies in environment and main funds such as UNFCCC,
GCF etc.

v. Make a complete list of the important National Parks, Reserve Areas and Wild Life
Sanctuaries in India (I had made these as given below). Remember, you need to only
remember the main ones. No need to memorize, just use a map of India to place them and
then you will remember where each was and its main characteristics very easily.

vi. If you want, you can refer to my notes.

Open In App Sign In
 Open In App Sign In

a. Polity (highly scoring)

i. Laxmikanth without any doubt is the bible — know it inside out

ii. 110+ in GS 2 written by me for clarity of polity/Laxmikanth

 Open In App Sign In

i. Do a lot of mock tests in Polity

a. Geography

i. NCERT Physical Geography and as told above

ii. Oxford Atlas Maps — sit down and STUDY the map of India well. Specially the physical map of
India. Also, do a thorough study of each Continent, major cities and physical features such as
mountain ranges, plateaus etc.

iii. There is a good Vajiram document with major landforms of the world available online. Read
that for prelims.

iv. Understanding maps is a must as 2–4 questions will come directly from maps and locations
of various important features.

b. History & Culture

 i. Don’t stretch yourself with History too much. It is not easy to answer history questions and it
Open In App Sign In
takes a LOT of effort. So devise your time strategically for history.

ii. Ancient: NCERT old and new

iii. Medieval: NCERT (old first and then if time permits new) is enough

iv. Modern: Spectrum History of Modern India, Bipan Chandra India’s Freedom Struggle (blue-
yellow book),

v. Culture: NCERT Fine Arts Book from class 12th, GK Today Culture Notes, CCRT online — go
through once, Archaeological Survey of India website, After doing this read Nitin Singhania. In
culture, read it in tandem with Ancient history, it will become easier to study. Then, remember
the major art forms of India.

vi. NCERT New Books on History – Themes in Indian History Part I and II, NCERT Old History
books from Class VI – XII.

vii. Remember that the weightage of ancient culture and history and freedom struggle has been
relatively more than medieval history. So devote your time accordingly.

c. Economics (highly scoring)

i. Focus on basics

ii. NCERT books from class XI and XII (not all details to be read). I personally don’t like Ramesh
Singh, too heavy! Focus on basics — use KHAN Academy videos on Youtube to understand
Econ Micro and Macro fundamentals

iii. Remember that from economics micro, UPSC asks questions based on fundamentals and
some on basic current affairs. Nothing too deep is needed.

d. Current Affairs

i. As usual, selective newspaper reading. Learn how to read a newspaper in a smart way. I have
shown in another answer.

ii. Also, use current affairs magazines. I personally prefer GK Today as it is comprehensive for
prelims.

iii. Know at least 1.5 years (max 2 years) of current affairs.

iv. To maximize on marks here, do quick background reads on important current affairs. For
example, if there is a news about ASEAN countries’ members coming to India for Republic
day, read about formation of ASEAN, it’s first meeting, India’s membership status etc.

e. S&T

i. Do this last. Focus on purely current (from CA magazines). Will be enough.

1. Mains

a. GS 1
 i. Same as above for History and Geography but with a more analytical approach and with a
Open In App Sign In
focus on how to present yourself on the paper.

ii. Unlike prelims, now focus on revision for the overall concepts (not facts) and just remember
major facts/events etc. you can quote to substantiate your point in the answers.

iii. Focus on diagrams, flow charts (but DO NOT over do it)

iv. Socio — use NCERTs properly

b. GS 2

i. Laxmikanth for some static portion is useful however the entire book is not necessary at all!
In mains, lot of the topics are not covered hence you have to be very careful while reading
Laxmikanth for mains (to ensure you don’t waste time). I personally read it only thrice (7–8
hours total — revision) and that too selected chapters.

ii. You can refer to my book as well (110+ in GS 2, on amazon). My main aim to launch it was to
cover this critical gap for GS 2 in mains and also to provide a comprehensive answer writing
approach you can follow. (with over 100 solved answers). I am not trying to sell, but I sincerely
do believe it will be helpful for the aspirants as I have put a lot of hard work into it.[1]

c. GS 3

i. Yojana magazine, selectively read Kurukshetra for rural development and agriculture

ii. NITI Aayog reports’ gist

iii. Economic Survey

iv. ARCs, 12th Five year plan (I know it ended in 2017, but there is still some really useful content
there which is even relevant till 2020).

v. Make sure you do some basic reading (conceptual from the internet) on issues like
unemployment, development policy making in India, sustainable development, budget main
features, agricultural policy and such others given in the syllabus. This will help you to form
points on major issues, solutions etc. in each of those topics.[2]

d. GS 4

i. Here two things are important:

ii. Static Answers — good amount of reading the basics of ethics through coaching material.
Form your fundamentals on conceptual topics given in the syllabus. Remember the main
definitions of topics such as probity, integrity etc. to save time in exam.

iii. Case Studies — a lot of case study practice available in some coachings (do at least 100 case
studies)

e. Essay Writing

i. Essay writing is a GAME CHANGER. In many cases it can lead to a rank of top 50 with an extra
5–10 marks.
 ii. Subscribe to a good test series where checking is done with some effort from the faculty.
Open In App Sign In
Without this, it is really difficult to evaluate yourself. I also got my copies checked from a lot of
friends who were good at writing and they provided some critical feedback which helped me.
So, keep pestering those you know can write well!

iii. Look at the toppers’ test copies to get a good idea on essay writing as well.

iv. I am writing a comprehensive e-book on essay writing, and will try to bring out an e-book
soon.

v. Write, Write, Write! (Minimum 1 set of essay per week after prelims and 1 set per 2 weeks/1
month in year prior to prelims)

f. Optional

i. I cannot suggest books for all the optionals. However, if anyone is interested in learning about
management optional, they can refer to my blog or other answers here.

2. Practice materials

a. MOCK TESTS

b. TOPPERS’ COPIES

c. Self-writing per day (2–3 questions, timed) from Insights etc.

3. ONLINE SOURCES

a. For ANSWER WRITING: Insights on India (I preferred it over IAS Baba)

b. For Current Affairs: VISION magazine or GK Today (or any other you prefer)

c. I did not read EPW and don’t recommend it

d. YOJANA

e. Kurukshetra

f. Some specific articles from the Diplomat for IR and IDSA as well

g. ARCs

h. 12th FYP and NITI Aayog Reports

i. Law Commission Reports (selective on major issues such as Euthanasia, adoption etc.)

4. Additional materials you can read to really up your preparation (these will lead to a vast base of
knowledge)

a. History: TN course books are decent but only if you really want to, Lucent for quick revision is
good but please don’t read it as a primary source at all.

b. Polity: I don’t recommend anything except a few articles you can read from various publications

c. Environment: A few selected chapters in NCERT bio books. Specially, chapters on evolution,
natural selection, organisms etc.
 d. Geography: Majid Hussain is an additional read Open In App Sign In

e. Economics: Ramesh Singh to clarify some topics but I recommend not doing so but googling (or
youtubing) the topics you don’t understand from NCERT

Footnotes
[1] Can you tell us about your GS-2 and GS-3 Mains strategy for the UPSC?
[2] Can you tell us about your GS-2 and GS-3 Mains strategy for the UPSC?

72.6k views · View 952 Upvoters · View Sharers

RELATED QUESTIONS (MORE ANSWERS BELOW)

Where can I get the best IAS study material from?

45,895 Views

Which coaching provides the best study material for UPSC preparation at home?
1,389 Views

Which coaching provides the best postal coaching and study material for civil services?
8,571 Views

Which coaching institute provides best study materials for UPSC General Studies for prelims and
Mains?
4,312 Views

What are the best study material for IAS preparation?

15,144 Views

OTHER ANSWERS

Rohan Sharma, works at Indian Air Force (2014-present)

Answered Jun 6, 2017

Get a reputed Coaching notes. They are easily available in market at very reasonable price.

Make your own notes for current affairs from preferably from The Hindu newspaper. According to Civil
services Pandits it's the best newspaper to make current affair notes from.

Watch loksabha TV, Daily news analysis and of course I will suggest you to use quora for the topics that
interests you.

As now a days civil exams are more of what you analyse and not what you read. So be practical, read, watch,
analyse amend most important Debate!

Best of luck buddy!

1.8k views · View 6 Upvoters

Sponsored by Novartis UNHIDE
Open In App Sign In
Looking for the right treatment for psoriasis?
Early treatment will help you to deal with your disease better. To know more consult your
dermatologist.

Learn More

Rajeev Parmar, Cleared UPSC CS Mains 2011/2012

Answered Jul 17, 2019 · Author has 425 answers and 259.4k answer views

So much has been written on this and I see people recommending big list of books. There is a general
tendency among people to think that more you study more you score. But to succeed it has to be ‘the more
relevant you study, the more you score’. Actually both ways of studying are good but the second option, where
you study the relevant content and filter out the irrelevant one will keep you focussed, more confident and
efficient.

Those who understand my point can make use of following online resources, whereby the content creators,
based on their extensive experience have already filtered d...
Continue Reading

Amar Shree, UPSC and other Career Counselor

Answered Jan 18, 2019 · Author has 259 answers and 60.2k answer views

As per my preparation I followed these steps + books

1. Watched videos of NCERT (listed below) and after watching I have gone through NCERT books.
(Free video classes FREE CBSE NCERT Videos Physics Chemistry Maths Biology English Grammar
NEET , Examrace: Number 1 Competitive and Scholastic Exam Preparation Resource Website-
Translation in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Sindhi, Tamil, Telgu -
Examrace , NCERT Official youtube channel)

2. All advised me to follow these books Polity laxmikanth, geography - GC leong , history- Bipin chandra
or old NCERT books, Environment- Sankar I...

Continue Reading

Sponsored by Target Test Prep

Earn an impressive GMAT score with an all access 5 day trial.

After using Target Test Prep for one month, I scored a 770 on the gmat.

Learn More

RELATED QUESTIONS (MORE ANSWERS BELOW)

Is it necessary to buy a particular Coaching Institute's Study material for UPSC civil Open exam?Sign In
In App
service
1,373 Views

Which institute's study material is best for preparation of ias?

44,636 Views

Which is more useful for UPSC preparation: study materials from Delhi coaching centres or the
handwritten notes of students?
29,020 Views

Is there any website where I can get IAS study materials for free?
7,615 Views

Which coaching offers best study material for UPSC preparations?

8,040 Views

OTHER ANSWERS

Sachin Kumar, former IAS Officer at Indian Administrative Service

Answered Nov 14, 2017

Originally Answered: What are the best study materials for the civil service exam (UPSC)?
Study Material availability may differ according to your optional subject in mains but for Pre and GS papers of
mains you must follow Unacademy APP, daily Newspaper,NCERT,Magazines like Yojana etc.

676 views · View 1 Upvoter

RELATED QUESTIONS

Where can I get the best IAS study material from?

45,895 Views

Which coaching provides the best study material for UPSC preparation at home?
1,389 Views

Which coaching provides the best postal coaching and study material for civil services?
8,571 Views

Which coaching institute provides best study materials for UPSC General Studies for prelims and
Mains?
4,312 Views

What are the best study material for IAS preparation?

15,144 Views
Is it necessary to buy a particular Coaching Institute's Study material for UPSC civil Open
service exam?Sign In
In App
1,373 Views

Which institute's study material is best for preparation of ias?

44,636 Views

Which is more useful for UPSC preparation: study materials from Delhi coaching centres or the
handwritten notes of students?
29,020 Views

Is there any website where I can get IAS study materials for free?
7,615 Views

Which coaching offers best study material for UPSC preparations?

8,040 Views

What is the best online site for UPSC study material?

8,251 Views

How should I start my preparation for the IAS exam?

2,521,895 Views

Is there any free website for preparation for the UPSC?

8,173 Views

Where should I buy IAS hand-written notes?

11,904 Views

Where do I buy study material for civil services in Delhi?

1,000 Views

About · Careers · Privacy · Terms · Contact