KAS Mains: Improve your answer writing skills

The Karnataka Gazetted Probationers Mains exam commonly known as the KAS Mains exam is scheduled to be held from February 13 to 16. Candidates from across the state will be taking the second stage of the exam which is descriptive in nature, in order to be recruited as Grade A or B officers in the Karnataka Administrative Service. With the exam pattern changed, where the number of papers has been reduced to 5 from the previous 7, the total marks allocated to the Mains exam has come down to 1250 marks from the previous 1750 marks.

With Optional papers having been removed from the exam, the syllabus has been cut down drastically. However, it is the Mains exam which is going to be the deciding factor as it will play a crucial role in determining whether you make it to the final list or not since the Interview marks has been slashed from the previous 200 to the current 50. So, it all comes down to how much you score in the Mains exam.

With just a few more days to go, here are certain aspects to consider before taking up the exam.

Practice answer writing: Since the Mains exam is subjective, it is good to practice before you go ahead with the actual exam itself. It may be too late to take up a Test Series but you stand to gain by attempting to answer a few question papers. Rather than attempting previous year's question papers, a good idea would be to take up practice question papers or mock tests from a reputed coaching institute. The reason being that it will give you a fair idea of the changes with respect to the rules, laws, programmes, schemes, statistics and demographics. (The last exam was held in 2017 to fill the vacancies for 2015-Gazetted Probationers).

Importance of feedback: Apart from getting an idea about writing the exam, it is important to get some idea on how you fare with respect to others. Considering the volume of the syllabus, it is difficult to cover each topic. Hence, it is not a matter of whether you know everything or know more than others but whether you are able to reproduce what you know in a manner better than others.

Consider having your answers in papers such as Ethics evaluated by an experienced faculty who will be able to give a few pointers on how to improve. This analytical feedback will help you enhance your answer writing to score more marks.

Read and revise: Make sure to cover the static topics. Cultural Heritage of India, Geography of Karnataka or even Ethics for that matter will not change year on year. Hence, you may expect a few repetitions from important topics. Make sure to stick to the syllabus in the last few days and cover it topic by topic followed by revision. This is especially required for a paper on Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude.

Focus: The last few days before the exam is crucial. So, focus on keeping yourself oriented towards the exam and giving your best. Do not be overcome by anxiety or fear as this will hamper your progress and preparation. Take a few deep breaths and get back to studies. Every other distraction can wait.

Consider the exam as your playing field. You are here to win but nobody’s stopping you from having some fun along the way. So, be cheerful and don’t lose hope.

(The author is a faculty at a coaching institute for Civil Services Exams)