How to study NCERTs for UPSC- CSE Exam? PDF Download

NCERT Books are the most widely recommended books for the preparation of UPSC Civil Services Examination. NCERT books are:

• Simple & Authentic: The language in NCERT Books is highly simplified for better understanding & NCERT books are an authentic source of information as the information published is provided by government agencies & institutions.
• Standard book for all exams: They are standard books for all exams & questions therein are also reliable.
• Good for understanding concepts: These books cover topics in a well-framed manner. They start with the basics and go on to a higher level, unlike many other books. So, you are looking to clear your concepts NCERT is the way to go.

The effective reading of NCERT Books is recommended by every UPSC Topper. But there are 100’s of NCERT Books and the syllabus is vast, which can be overwhelming.
In the following article, EduRev is providing you guidelines on how to approach the NCERT Books and how to study selectively for the exam, which will definitely make your preparation a lot more easier.

How to study NCERTs for UPSC- CSE Exam?

You can follow the given approach on How to study NCERTs or use it as a guideline to formulate your own approach and strategy for studying the NCERT Books. The approach is divided into:

• Reading NCERTs
• Note Making from NCERTs 
• Covering NCERTs in a limited time  
• Attempt NCERT based Tests

1. Reading NCERTs

First Reading:

• Read by keeping your UPSC Syllabus in hand. Study subject-wise rather than class-wise compilation. You can refer to NCERT Textbooks (Class 6 to Class 12) for subject-wise compilation.
• Read it like a novel but underline what you feel is important. 
• Analyzing the previous year’s question papers will help you understand what information to highlight and what to ignore. Cover PYQs roughly even before the first read to get a broad idea of what to highlight and what to ignore.
• If you come across any difficult word, look it up immediately.
• If you don’t understand a specific concept, use Google and read up about it.

Second Reading:

• Give a gap of about 2 to 3 days after your first reading, before you begin your second reading. 
• During your 2nd reading, ignore the unwanted details and focus on the notes you had highlighted during your 1st reading. 
• It’s a good idea to try and recall whatever you learnt during your 1st reading before revising each chapter.

Third Reading

• Make notes in the third read
• The 3rd reading should be relatively faster than the 1st and 2nd. 
• During the 3rd reading glance through each chapters’ highlighted parts. 
• Try and relate the concepts you’re studying to current affairs, and connect the dots.

You can refer to NCERT Summaries given by EduRev to get already prepared notes.

2. Note Making from NCERTs

Make Notes Topic Wise

• Do not make notes bookwise or chapter-wise but make them topic-wise.
• It is recommended to take notes as per the topic in the syllabus. Divide notes only as per the syllabus topics.
• Never study without your syllabus!
• Do not divert or get attracted to unnecessary topics from any books

Different Note Making Style for Each Topic

• Each subject and topic needs a different note-making style to make it easy to remember. So, maintain notes according to the need. 
• Many topics in Geography need Mnemonics, most of the history notes need a flow chart with simple factual data in them, etc.
• Rephrase the notes in such a way that you need not look back to your book again for the same topic after a year or so.

3. Covering NCERTs in a limited time

You must define the timeline to complete all NCERTs so that you can move ahead with other sources. You have to read about 40-44 books in total, and it would take you about three days to complete one book which contains about 14-16 chapters. So, in total it would take you about 2.5- 3 months to read all the books.

You can do this by:

• Make a timetable for yourself.
• Note how much time do you have in your hands and how much you can devote to this.
• Then make a to-do list (for topics and subjects) for one month.
• Then break down this one-month to-do list to one week and then to one day.
• This way, you will achieve more in less time.

You can refer to Must Read (Old & New) NCERTs for IAS Preparation to get all the important NCERTs at one place

You can also refer to Class 6 to Class 12 NCERT Video Summaries for UPSC to cover the NCERT in the most time efficient way.

4. Attempt NCERT based Tests

After completing the NCERTs,  it becomes important for students to evaluate themselves how much they have learned from the chapter. Here comes the role of chapter wise Test of NCERT Based Tests
You can refer to NCERT based Tests for UPSC CSE to attempt subject-wise tests.

Following is a list of topics that broadly appear in the UPSC CSE Preliminary Examination & the respective NCERT Books you should refer to:

History

• Class 6: Our Past I
• Class 7: Our past II
• Class 8: Our past III (Part 1 and 2)
• Class 9: India and the Contemporary world – I and II
• Class 10: Themes in World History, India and the contemporary world II
• Class 11: Themes in World History (Industrial revolution)
• Class 12: Themes in Indian History I, II and III

Indian Society

• Class 11: Sociology: Understanding Society
• Class 12: Indian society

Art & Culture

• Class 11: An Introduction to Indian Art
• Class 11: Living Craft Traditions of India (Chapters 9 & 10)
• Class 12: Craft Traditions of India

Geography

• Class 6: The Earth: Our Habitat
• Class 7: Our Environment
• Class 8: Resources and Development
• Class 9: Contemporary India – I
• Class 10: Contemporary India – II
• Class 11: Fundamentals of Physical Geography
• Class 11: India – Physical Environment
• Class 12: Fundamentals of Human Geography
• Class 12: India – People and Economy

Economics

• Class 9: Economics
• Class 10: Understanding Economic Development
• Class 11: Indian Economic Development
• Class 12: Introductory Microeconomics
• Class 12: Introductory Macroeconomics

Polity

• Class 9: Democratic Politics I
• Class 10: Democratic Politics II
• Class 11: Indian Constitution at work
• Class 11: Political Theory
• Class 12: Contemporary World Politics
• Class 12: Politics in India since Independence

Sociology

• Class 12: Social Change & Development in India

Science and Technology

• Class 7 – 10 (All the books); Class 11 and 12 (Selective)
• Class 6: The Living Organisms and their surroundings (Chapter 9)
• Class 7: Weather, Climate & Adaptations of Animals (Chapter 7)
• Class 7: Soil (Chapter 9)
• Class 8: Crop Production & Management (Chapter 1)
• Class 8: Coal & Petroleum (Chapter 5)
• Class 8: Conservation of Plants and Animals (Chapter 7)
• Class 8: Friction (Chapter 12)
• Class 8: Pollution of Air and Water (Chapter 18)
• Class 9: Natural Resources (Chapter 14)
• Class 10: Sources of Energy (Chapter 14)
• Class 10: Our Environment (Chapter 15)
• Class 10: Management of Natural Resources (Chapter 16)
• Class 12: Ecology (Unit 10)
• Chapter 13: Organisms & Population
• Chapter 14: Ecosystem
• Chapter 15: Biodiversity & Conservation
• Chapter 16: Environmental Issues
• Class 11: Chemistry (Unit 14) Biology (Units 4 & 5)
• class 12: Chemistry (Unit 16) Biology (Units 8,9 and 10)

Environment and Ecology

• Organisms and Population
• Ecosystem
• Biodiversity and its Conservation
• Environmental Issues
• Chapters on Biotechnology