Government examinations do not specify the complete syllabus often. It makes it difficult to know what to prepare for—government exams like SSC CGL, SSC CPO, UPSC, RRB, IBPS, etc. have some topics that may overlap with each other and the knowledge of such areas allows students to prepare for multiple exams at once and know how to use it to their strengths.
Why must a student read the syllabus of government examinations?
In exams like UPSC, we often see that students believe that Ancient and Medieval History holds weightage in the prelims and mains levels of the exam. The truth is ancient and medieval history is primarily asked about at the prelims level. This can be easily solved with the right approach to the syllabus. The same issue also arises when students prepare for General Studies for SSC and Banking, though the syllabus is similar, some distinct topics and their weightage make a difference in the examination pattern.
How should one read the syllabus?
Here is how many successful aspirants use the syllabus to up their preparation:
- Take the printout of the syllabus from the trusted sources or jot down the topics with their weightage. Do a casual reading of the syllabus and understand the key areas to prepare for the exam. Many aspirants state that a physical syllabus copy allows them to be conscious of the key areas and exam patterns.
- Make sure to bifurcate the topics into subtopics and write down the sources to refer to for each topic making it easy to navigate through the subject areas and jot down the necessary topics in the sequence of priority.
- Aspirants who analyze the question papers, especially the previous year's papers have a better understanding of the syllabus. Analyze the PYQ questions to understand the trend and the key focus zones.
How does Syllabus make a difference in the preparation?
1. Understand the marks distribution
The students who analyze the previous year's papers and analyze the syllabus of the exam easily comprehend the marks distribution of the topics, especially in subjects like science, history, and economics.
2. Grasp on the trend and syllabus change
SSC CGL 2017 shows how keeping up with the annual exam trends and syllabus is crucial. Competitive exams keep evolving. Track the syllabus of the already conducted exam to stay up to date with the evolving key areas like current affairs, statistics, appointments, etc.
3. Preparing for multiple exams at once
Some aspirants prepare for multiple exams like SSC, IBPS, RRB, State public services, and Civil services. Make sure to learn and understand the syllabus to focus more on the subjects and topics overlapping with other exams, and focus later on the topics specific to a single exam.
Conclusion
The Syllabus is the road map of a preparation journey. As a student preparing for a government exam, it helps to kick start the preparation. The students often neglect the syllabus which can prove to be the biggest mistake. Make a proper plan, and a timetable, and concentrate on every topic in the syllabus.
Given the importance of certain topics for certain exams, we at Asian Online have curated topic wise practice packages which have clear cut topics laid out and practice questions along with solutions for each and every crucial topic for the exam.
