IAS Labs by Aptness.ai

72 Seconds per Question: UPSC Prelims Time Management

By IAS Labs by Aptness.ai · 5 min read ·

100 questions. 120 minutes. That’s 72 seconds a question, and a wrong answer takes marks away. In Prelims, how you use time and when you guess can matter as much as what you know.

Prelims 72-Second Drill setup: choose 5 or 10 questions, marked +2 right and −0.66 wrong.
The Prelims 72-Second Drill, marked the way Prelims is.

Where your 72 seconds go

  • ~20 secRead the question and every statement carefully
  • ~30 secRule out the options you know are wrong
  • ~20 secDecide, or skip and move on

Statement questions (“How many of the above are correct?”) eat more time. Save it on the quick one-line factual questions.

Guess or skip? The maths, simply

What you knowChance of being rightAverage marks from guessing
Nothing, pure guess among 41 in 4about 0
One option ruled out1 in 3about +0.23
Two options ruled out1 in 2about +0.67

Practise it: the 72-Second Drill

Every question runs on a 72-second clock. After you pick an answer, you say how sure you are: sure, 50-50 or a guess. Over time you’ll see whether your “sure” answers are really right, and when your guesses pay off.

A real Prelims statement question on the 72-second clock, with an option picked and the buttons Sure, 50-50 and Guess.
A real Prelims question on the clock. After you pick, say how sure you are.
"Well played": 5.3 out of 10, with 3 right, 1 wrong and 1 skipped at 51 seconds a question, and "sure" answers 100% right.
After the round: your marks with negative marking, and how your 'sure' answers really did.

For Mains: Decode the question

Many Mains marks are lost by misreading the question, not by not knowing the answer. Decode gives you 20 seconds to read a question, then asks what it really wants:

  • DiscussLook at the issue from several sides, with reasons
  • Critically examineWeigh both sides, then give your judgement
  • CommentGive your view, backed by facts and examples
  • ExamineGo deep into causes and effects

You also pick the word limit: 150 words for a 10-mark question, 250 for a 15-mark one.

Play the paper in two rounds

  1. Round 1 (about 75 minutes): answer every question you are sure of. Mark the 50-50s, skip the rest without a fight.
  2. Round 2 (about 35 minutes): go back to the marked 50-50s. Cut options, then decide.
  3. Last 10 minutes: check the answer sheet matches your choices. Don’t start new hard questions now.

One hard question early on shouldn’t eat the time of five easy ones later. Two rounds stop that from happening.

A trick for statement questions

In “Which of the statements given above is/are correct?” questions, you rarely need to know every statement. If you are sure statement 2 is wrong, cut every option that includes it. Often that leaves one or two options, and you know from the table above that a guess between two is worth it.

Mains timing, at a glance

  • 3 hours, 20 questionsEach GS paper is 250 marks, so you get about 9 minutes a question.
  • 10-mark questionsAbout 7 minutes for 150 words.
  • 15-mark questionsAbout 11 minutes for 250 words.
  • Don't skipA short answer to every question usually scores more than perfect answers to a few.

Mistakes to avoid

Don'tLeave 20 questions untouched out of fear, or spend 4 minutes stuck on one.
DoCut options, guess when you have cut at least one, and move on when the clock says so.

Quick questions

Is the CSAT paper marked the same way?
CSAT (Paper II) has 80 questions of 2.5 marks each, and a third of that, about 0.83, is cut for a wrong answer. It is qualifying: you need 33%.
Should I attempt all 100 questions?
Not blindly. Attempt what you know and the ones where you can cut at least one option. Your mock tests will show your own safe number.
How do I get faster?
Practise under the real clock. Speed comes from reading questions often, not from rushing on the day.