India, being an IAS is a dream of lakhs of people but the only a handful of them can achieve it. The level of competition in the UPSC exam is huge but is it too huge that 99.9% of applicants get failed in it! Well, this exam is tough it’s true but most of the time candidate’ own mistakes dragged them towards failure.

The number of candidates who cleared the UPSC exam and the number of aspirants who applied for this exam always force me to think that why so many candidates could not clear this exam. When few candidates get success in their first attempt then why few others could not crack it after 2-4 attempts too. Through this post, we will try to find the answer to this question.

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Why IAS Aspirants Fail in UPSC Exam?

As we mentioned that only .1% of IAS aspirants get success in this prestigious and difficult exam. That doesn’t mean that this .1 % of students have some extraordinary skills. But yes they are different and smarter than those other aspirants who could not achieve success in this exam.   

In competitive exams like Bank or UPSC or any other, we all made mistakes. Many times IAS aspirants identify their mistakes and don’t repeat it second times. And most of the times they make another mistake in order to correct the first one. You will be surprised to know that these mistake or we should say reasons for failure in UPSC exam are most common.  

Here we have compiles a list of 9 reasons behind the failure of IAS aspirants in UPSC exam. Let’s have a look at them.

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  • Easy Syllabus is a tarp

If you have applied for IAS Exam labs for the very first time and you feel that syllabus of Prelims is not too difficult so let me warn you that the syllabus of UPSC for IAS exam is like an iceberg.  The syllabus for IAS prelims is endless. If you are delaying your preparation after looking at the syllabus then you are not going to get success in UPSC Prelim exam.

  • Wrong Optional Subject, a common mistake

Many IAS aspirants choose the wrong optional subject. They keep trying to mug it up but when that subject is not liked by your mind then all your efforts will be in vain. Most of the aspirants follow a weird way to choose their optional subjects for Mains, they pick the subjects’ of previous years’ toppers as their optional subjects. Or they look at the statics and pick one of the most popular from them. If you will play this guessing game then you will never get success in this exam. Pick those optional subjects which excite you to get success in IAS exam.  take help from NCERT books to have a clear basic understanding of the subject and then move to advanced books.

  • Lack of Conceptual Understating with Subjects

An IAS exam aspirant is mostly surrounded by books. All the well-known publisher in the country releases their best books with advanced knowledge in it.  But in order to read all these latest books students usually forget to brush up their basic skills. IAS aspirants need to understand that this exam is not only about the bookish knowledge, in this exam, but your approach is also checked. The essays of the Main exam are all about your conceptual understanding with the subject and to get it you will have to read NCERT Books.

  • Ignorance of NCERT BOOKS

As I have mentioned above, conceptual knowledge is must get success in IAS Mains exam and NCERT book are best for that. Manu aspirants ignore these books and give preference to other books by some well-known authors. These other books enhance your knowledge but the base of your subject will be developed by NCERT books only. NCERT book should not be the only study material for your IAS preparation but yes, it must include them in your study material.   

  • Lack of Revision

There is no doubt that the syllabus of IAS exams is vast. That’s why most of the applicants keep studying for it till the last minute. In order to keep stuffing something new in their mind, they don’t revise what they have learned so far.  It is one of the biggest reasons for failure in IAS exams. If you keep learning new things and do not revise it then you will never come to know about your negative points. No matter how small your mistakes are in exam their effects will be bigger and revision is the only way to find out the mistake and correct them.

  • Lack of Proper Planning and Guidance

Exams like IAS where the competition level is too high that the binary numbers can also change your result, the planning for preparation of the exam plays an important role. Lack of planning is another reason for the failure in the UPSC IAS exam. Many students make a subject more difficult for them, their focal point hence they could not score well in others. A few students make a plan and don’t stick to it so fail to get success in this exam. Planning is not about making a timetable but in the context of IAS exam, it should be like making a plan to prepare so and so topics within a defined time. So make it and do stick to it.

  • No Mock Test or test series

Mock test series are very much available on the various sites on the internet at free of cost or at a very nominal fee. When you appear in these tests you actually test your knowledge. Here you will find out your weakness and strengths. The other and most important benefit of these mock tests is that they help you in time management.  

  • Lack of Passion  

Before choosing IAS as your career option, first, think why you want to do it? for you or for your parents or for any other reason. It may sound odd to you but the fact is your passion motivates you most to get success in any exam. if you are not motivated and appearing in the exam to please someone then it’s going to be tough for you to get success in it. Many good things are associated with IAS post, the fame, money, respect, and comfortable life and if you are appearing in IAS exam because of any one of them then you are not a wrong track. Your passion should be to clear the exam rest all will come in your life after the success in this exam.

  • No to Notes Making

A common habit in the IAS exam aspirants, they love to read and highlight the important points. In order to save their time they avoid writing much and when in the exam they will have to write long essays, they could not catch up with the time hence result doesn’t come in their favor. Not making can help the IAS aspirants in two ways;  notes making helps them to enhance their pace of writing and what they write is easy to remember for a long time and easy to revise at the eleventh hour of examination. To develop the habit of notes making to get success in IAS exam.