Essay-writing for UPSC Civil Services Exam
WHAT IS THE ESSAY PAPER IN UPSC MAIN EXAM ALL ABOUT?
- One of the 9 papers that a student has to attempt as a part of the UPSC CSE Main Examination is the Essay paper which is worth 250 marks.
- The student is expected to write 2 essays, each for 125 marks, by selecting a topic in each of the 2 sets of topics provided.
- Duration for completing the paper is 3 hours and within these 3 hours, a student is expected to write 2 essays – each comprising of about 1200 words.
- There is no particular set of topics or subjects that is provided as the syllabus for the essay paper. Candidates are expected to cover the various aspects related to a topic in a generalized manner while keeping close to the topic of the essay by arranging the ideas in an orderly manner and writing effectively and concisely.
WRITING A GOOD ESSAY IN UPSC MAINS
An essay can be thought of as a piece of writing, outlining the writer’s perspective – and the various qualities that will set apart a good essay in UPSC Mains are:
- Using simple yet effective and accurate language
- Clear and concise representation of thoughts and ideas
- Coherent and connected structuring of concepts covered
- Appropriate usage of relevant examples, statistics, quotes, etc.,
- Connection with the relevant events or situations prevailing in the country
- Presentation of a neutral and balanced position and ideology
- Coverage of multiple dimensions while linking them logically
- Display of intelligible and reasonable solutions to problems if any.
INTRODUCING THE 2-YEARS INTEGRATED COURSE
It is important to to focus on the Essay paper because it is actually quite possible to score more than 150 marks in the essay paper, whereas, usually candidates struggle to score more than 100 marks in the General Studies papers even after spending the maximum amount of time on preparation for the GS subjects.
There are also various instances where toppers in the General Studies papers and Optional subject papers obtain low marks in their Essay paper and miss out on their chances of clearing the exam. This goes on to show that the Essay paper is not just about having knowledge, rather it’s about various aspects such as representing the ideas and effectively expressing them.
Sometimes, the Essay paper can also act as a major factor in deciding the overall performance of the candidate when unconventional topics are provided. For example, the Essay paper of the UPSC Civil Services Main Exam 2021 shocked most aspirants when both the set of topics provided were focused on Philosophical essays. You can go thorough the video of analysis of the Essay Paper for UPSC 2021 covered by Legacy IAS Academy to understand what is required of a candidate in the Essay paper.
About the essay Guidance Program provided at Legacy IAS Academy
The ‘Essay Guidance Programme’ will aid the aspirants to excel in presentation skills and maximize their score in the Essay Paper of UPSC Mains. Writing an essay is an arduous task unless you have an excellent command of structuring and presenting the content according to the demand of the topic. Legacy IAS provides you the best Essay guidance to maximize your score for UPSC CSE Main and eventually getting a place in the UPSC rank list.
Key Features of the Essay Guidance Programme are:
- 4 Orientation Sessions in Offline + Live-and-Interactive Online modes
- 8 Essay Tests conducted in both Offline and Online modes
- Personalized one-to-one feedback by Mr. Sagar B A and Mr. Pavan Kant
- Comprehensive Discussion sessions to clarify doubts regarding Essay paper
- Value-added material for supplementing the requisite knowledge base for Essay-writing
- Post-test analysis of each topic with Knowledge-transfer sessions with expert faculties
- Extensive Coverage of 45 most important and probable topics for Mains
- Time-bound evaluation of Essay papers by the expert faculty themselves
- 360 degree coverage of Essay writing for the entire range of topics on:
- Social issues
- Philosophical topics
- Women and Children related issues
- Environmental issues
- Science & Technology related issues
- Economic issues and concepts
- International & Geopolitical developments
- Ethical issues.
Fee Structure for Essay course
The Total Fee amount for the Essay Course is Rs. 10,000. The course includes:
- 4 Orientation Sessions
- 8 Essay Tests
- Personalized one-to-one feedback by Mr. Sagar B A and Mr. Pavan Kant
- Comprehensive Discussion sessions
- Value-added material etc.
FAQs - Essay Writing for UPSC Exam
As a part of the Essay Guidance Programme you be benefitted from:
- 4 Orientation Sessions in Offline + Live-and-Interactive Online modes
- 8 Essay Tests conducted in both Offline and Online modes
- Personalized one-to-one feedback by Mr. Sagar B A and Mr. Pavan Kant
- Comprehensive Discussion sessions to clarify doubts regarding Essay paper
- Value-added material for supplementing the requisite knowledge base for Essay-writing
- Post-test analysis of each topic with Knowledge-transfer sessions with expert faculties
- Extensive Coverage of 45 most important and probable topics for Mains
- Time-bound evaluation of Essay papers by the expert faculty themselves
- 360 degree coverage of Essay writing for the entire range of topics on:
- Social issues
- Philosophical topics
- Women and Children related issues
- Environmental issues
- Science & Technology related issues
- Economic issues and concepts
- International & Geopolitical developments
- Ethical issues.
Along with these, from your end you can:
- Practice (A LOT) while paying attention to the feedbacks provided to improve your Essay-writing skills
- Even with the best of content, without proper structure your essay will look clumsy – so you should work on structuring your Essay with the help of our mentors
- In advance, you can prepare a quotes, statistics, case studies, examples etc., since most of the topics seems to revolve around similar subjects such as Social issues, Philosophical topics, Women and Children related issues, Environmental issues etc.
- Work on covering all the major perspectives and approaches to a topic like social, economic, political, cultural, legal, international etc.
- Develop a positive and neutral mindset to give a positive conclusion/solution and avoid controversial ideas naturally.
The most appropriate time to take up the Essay course would be around the months of August/September (Before the Prelims exam) or July (After the Prelims exam).
It is important to to focus on the Essay paper early on because it is actually quite possible to score more than 150 marks in the essay paper, whereas, usually candidates struggle to score more than 100 marks in the General Studies papers even after spending the maximum amount of time on preparation for the GS subjects.
You can look into Legacy IAS Academy’s Foundation Course – Legacy IAS Academy’s flagship programme which provides a comprehensive physical classroom + online platform to holistically foster aspirants through all three primary stages of the UPSC Civil Services Exam, viz., Preliminary exam, Main exam, and the Interview.
In case you are opting for Optional Subjects such as Mathematics, Management, Science subjects such as Physics, Zoology etc., Engineering subjects, Literature subjects etc., are not available at the institute – you can take up the Prelims-cum-Mains Course.
If you are NOT taking up either the Foundation Course or the Prelims-cum-Mains course, then you can take up –
Prelims Course for UPSC 2022 – conducted from February 2022 and extend till the end of May 2022 and designed to focus completely on getting the students past the first stage of the exam.
Optional Subject Programme (OSP) – under which the Optional Subject will be covered in 3 hour classes held on Saturdays and Sundays during the 5 months from September 2022 to February 2023 including 5 Full-length Tests along with Daily Answer writing practice.
You can also enroll for the YAGA UPSC CSE MAIN TEST SERIES 2022
| S.NO | Nature of Tests | Number of Tests |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sectional | 8 |
| 2 | Full Length | 8 |
| 3 | Essay | 5 |
| – | Total Tests | 21 |
| – | Mains Test Series Price | INR 13,000 |