10 Tips to Score 100 Plus Marks in BPSC Pre Exam

1. Introduction

Hello friends, I am Dy SP Shahid Eqwal, BPSC 60–62 Batch and BPSC 63rd Batch qualified candidate. I secured Rank 39 in the BPSC 63rd Batch. I strongly believe that education must be free, fair, and accessible to everyone beyond social barriers. The basic idea behind creating this website is to disseminate my views on free education.

In this article, I am going to discuss 10 tips to score 100 plus marks in BPSC Pre Exam and explain how you can safely qualify the BPSC Prelims. If we observe the trend of the BPSC examination, one thing becomes very clear. The number of aspirants appearing for the BPSC exam is consistently increasing, whereas the number of vacancies remains almost static. This trend has made the BPSC Pre Exam highly competitive in recent years.

2. Nature of BPSC Pre exam

The BPSC Pre Exam is the first stage of the three-tier BPSC examination system. A candidate has to appear in only one paper to qualify the BPSC Pre Exam. This paper is known as the General Studies paper and consists of 150 multiple-choice questions.

Each question carries four options, out of which a candidate has to select one correct option and mark it on the OMR sheet. There is a provision of negative marking in the BPSC Pre Exam. For every incorrect answer, a penalty of 0.33 marks is imposed. The total time allotted to solve 150 questions is 2 hours. The BPSC Pre Exam is qualifying in nature, and marks obtained in this exam are not included in the final merit list.

3. BPSC Pre cut-off Marks trend

Let us now analyse the cut-off marks trend of the BPSC Pre Exam. It is important to note that cut-off marks are not fixed and depend on several factors:

• Number of vacancies to be filled
• Number of candidates applied
• Number of candidates actually appeared
• Difficulty level of the question paper

Cut-off marks vary category-wise and gender-wise. As 35% seats are reserved for women candidates, we will consider general male category cut-off for clarity.

BPSC Exam	General Male Pre Cut-Off
53rd–55th	100
56th–59th	87
60th–62nd	97
63rd	96
64th	97
65th	97
66th	108
67th	113
68th	91
69th	92
70th	91
71st	88

From the above data, it is evident that the cut-off generally ranges between 90 to 110 marks. After the introduction of negative marking from the 68th BPSC Pre Exam, the cut-off has stabilized around 90.

Another important factor is wrong or deleted questions. Every year, BPSC deletes around 5 to 8 questions before declaring the final result. Therefore, to qualify safely, a candidate must aim to score 100 plus marks. To achieve this, one should attempt at least 105 questions correctly, keeping in mind question deletion and answer key changes.

4. Tips to score 100 plus Marks

Below are the 10 most important tips to score 100 plus marks in BPSC Pre Exam.

4.1 Understanding Syllabus

Before starting preparation, go through the BPSC Pre Exam syllabus meticulously. Reading unnecessary topics will not help you qualify. Strictly follow the syllabus and avoid irrelevant material.

4.2 Refer previous five years questions

Previous year question papers help you understand the nature, trend, and difficulty level of the exam. Analyse them carefully to identify important areas and recurring topics.

4.3 Reading NCERT Books

NCERT books are the foundation of BPSC preparation. Read them thoroughly and underline important facts. Do not prepare separate notes. Treat underlined points as your notes and revise them repeatedly.

4.4 Give importance to Mathematics

Around 10 questions are asked from Mathematics. Many candidates ignore this section, which is a mistake. Mathematics is one of the easiest scoring sections in the BPSC Pre Exam.

• Number system
• Percentage
• Proportion
• Profit and loss
• Time and distance
• Simple and compound interest
• Unitary method
• Average

4.5 Focus on General Science

Nearly 30 questions are asked from General Science. Prepare this section seriously. Lucent General Science is sufficient. Target at least 25 correct answers from this section to boost your score.

4.6 Don’t use Social Media platforms for preparation

Avoid Facebook groups, Telegram channels, and WhatsApp groups for study purposes. Use them only for official notifications. Studying from books is far more productive than social media discussions.

4.7 Avoid YouTube

Use YouTube only when a topic is difficult to understand from books. Do not rely on YouTube for regular study. Excessive usage leads to confusion and lack of direction.

4.8 Focus on Current Affairs

Around 30–35 questions are asked from current affairs. Follow only one monthly magazine like Civil Services Chronicle or Drishti. Revise the last 6 months thoroughly before the exam.

4.9 Never prepare from the soft copy of the study material

Studying from PDFs makes revision difficult and time-consuming. Use hard copy books, underline important points, and revise quickly before the exam.

4.10 Revision

Revision is the key to success. Forgetting facts is natural. The only solution is repeated revision. Read one book multiple times instead of reading many books once.

5. Conclusion

With increasing competition and limited vacancies, qualifying the BPSC Pre Exam has become challenging. To ensure success, aim for 100 plus marks and follow the above 10 tips to score 100 plus marks in BPSC Pre Exam sincerely. I hope this article helps you improve your preparation strategy. Feel free to comment if you have any doubts.