MAINS GUIDANCE PROGRAM 2018 SCHEDULE

22 Pages·2017·1.25 MB·English

by  Shantanu Apurva

• O f f l i n e •

MAINS GUIDANCE PROGRAM 2018
SCHEDULE - B

Starting 18 November 2017

MGP+: 32 Tests - 11 Sectional Syllabus Tests +16 Full Syllabus Tests + 5 Essay Tests
MGP: 27 Tests - 11 Sectional Syllabus Test + 16 Full Length Tests

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Testimonials
“The MGP+ Program is far ahead of conventional Mains Test Series when it comes to actually improving your score and answer
writing style. Being a student of MGP+, I saw a stark improvement in both my time management and answer writing skills.”
-Abhishek Surana ( IFoS Rank 2, IAS Rank 250 )
“I had joined this test series and it turned out to be a gem for me personally. In fact, this time all my friends from Mumbai and flatmates
from Delhi are joining it.
Their reference answers are well written. They served as good material for reading current affairs. What I really liked about the
evaluation was an objective assessment and a human contact. I know both these are contradictory. Evaluation is a human endeavor.
There are strong biases common in every evaluator. An access to the evaluator gives an idea about these biases. An evaluator looks
for certain things when he gives marks. Things like coherence, lucidity, presentation etc. catch the evaluator’s eye. I experimented a
lot with my papers in the course of these 8 tests. During the sessions in which I used to interact with my mentor, he was able to point
out broad areas of improvement and possible shortcomings.” - Prajit Nair, ( IAS Rank 81 )

“The MGP is the most well designed Mains Test Series available. I think It gave me the edge in answer writing over my peers. Plus, the
availability of an experienced mentor to talk to, did the wonders for” - Mittali Sethi, ( IAS Rank 56)
Testimonial of Regular Blog Follower hours after the GS 3 Mains 2017 Test was conducted. Source: http://disq.us/p/1nfasj7

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Sample Questions asked in MGP+ 2017 and UPSC Mains 2017
While goal of MGP is clear, developing Answer writing skills so that a candidate is able to write an answer in anytype of
paper, we feel that some sample questions must be provided for candidates to assess the quality of questions asked in
MGP vis-à-vis Mains 2017
CSE 2017 Question MGP 2017 Question
How do pressure groups influence Indian political process? Do you  How do pressure groups influence the
agree with this view that informal pressure groups have emerged as policies of the government? In the Indian
powerful than formal pressure groups in recent years? context, do they have a Democratization
effect or are they mere promoters of narrow
interests? Illustrate with suitable examples.
Q5/ Test-14C

Is the National Commission for Women able to strategize and tackle  Empowerment of women in India
the problems that women face at both public and private spheres? Give remains a distant dream. In this
reasons in support of your answer. context, how successful has National
Commission for Women been in
fulfilling its mandate? Also, list out
challenges faced by the institution
and suggest suitable measures to
tackle them. Q1/ Test 13A / Q11/ Test
7B

‘The emergence of Self Help Groups(SHGs) in contemporary times  Self-help group movement has emerged as
points to the slow but steady withdrawal of the state from developmental a successful model that can pull vast
activities’. Examine the role of the SHGs in developmental activities multitudes of rural population from
and the measures taken by the Government of India to promote the poverty into prosperity. Discuss Q11/ Test

SHGs 4-6C

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‘Poverty Alleviation Programmes in India remain mere show pieces  Trace the evolution of the definition of
poverty line in India. Evaluate the
until and unless they are backed by political will’. Discuss with
effectiveness of government
reference to the performance of the major poverty alleviation
interventions towards poverty

programs in India. eradication since independence. Q17/
Test 6C

“The local self government system in India has not proved to be  Local self -Governments in India have
effective instrument of governance”. Critically examine the statement and reportedly been affected by the lack of

give your views to improve the situation. adequate powers and finances. Analyze the
reasons for the same. Suggest feasible
solutions to overcome this. Q2/Test 12B/A

* This is just a sample, and not an exhaustive list.

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TEST PLAN

Forum IAS: GS Mains 2018 Guidance Program

ForumIAS will be conducting a Mains Guidance Program for 2018. The Primary Focus of the Program will be

➔ Covering the entire syllabus via the Test Series in a disciplined manner before Mains.
➔ Providing vital inputs and feedback to improve answer quality and possible scores. Beginning early helps in both improving the
answers as well as absorbing the inputs given and implementing them.
➔ Aiding Preparation by providing notes on important topics related to Current Affairs.
➔ Providing Detailed Solutions to cover all dimensions of questions asked.
➔ Detailed evaluation of answers highlighting content, structure or presentation related lacunas.
➔ Personlised one on one mentor feedback to identify areas of improvements and strategizing to solve them.

Mains Guidance Program - Program Design

We have broken the syllabus into small doable parts that can be covered within a week. End of the week, candidates can appear for a
Test on the topics. This will

 help in checking their preparation on the topics mentioned
 get feedback and marks on the paper they have written
 cover the syllabus in a disciplined manner, which is otherwise difficult
 become aware of issues and questions on the topics being prepared. Timely tests help you understand what to focus on while
studying.

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The MGP has been improved with input from our MGP 2016 and 2017 Students. The goal of MGP 2018 is to

 ensure that students cover the full Mains syllabus at least once before the Prelims
 GS Paper 1 and GS 4 is covered in a holistic manner before Prelims. This ensures that candidates do not waste 2 months on GS
Paper 1 and GS Paper 4 next year between Prelims & Mains
 the Tests calendar is designed such that syllabus common to Prelims and Mains is tested in Jan - March by when you should start
preparing for Prelims
 Major Part of the "Mains-only" syllabus will be covered by January itself.

Other Features of the Program

 There will be a total of 32 Tests of which –
a) 11 Sectional Syllabus Tests that will be released before the Prelims Examination
b) 8 Full Syllabus Tests released before the Prelims Examination and
c) 5 Essay Tests between the Prelims & Mains Examination ( with the MGP+ Tests )
d) 8 Full Syllabus Test released between Prelims and Mains Examination.
 Quality Improvement Sessions will be conducted in classrooms periodically.
 One on One personal feedback will be provided to the students in person/telephonically/via Skype as an when they request for
the same.
 Time to Time Re-orientation session with former students of ForumIAS who aced Civil Service Examination.

What is unique?

The Test design is based on the feedback from our MGP Students of 2016 - some of whom are top scorers in General Studies in 2016
while some of them are serving officers in Indian Revenue Services , Indian Polic e Services and Allied Services joined us for rank
improvement.

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These were some of the common things that they told us

 The preparation for Mains must begin before Prelims and at least one iteration should be completed.
 Papers like Ethics and GS - 1, which become a big burden to cover between Prelims & Mains must be covered as much as
possible in December – January.
 Candidates must spend October - December for covering Mains syllabus and the Time after January must be dedicated for Prelims
cum Mains while March onwards one should dedicate to prelims solely.
 Essay must be included in any Mains Test Series unlike MGP 2016 where Essay was not included, and they had to take classes
elsewhere.

Based on their feedback and participation, we designed the program by classifying topics in a manner such that

a) Interrelated topics of same paper or even different paper to be covered together to provide a holistic idea for a given topic.
b) The topics relevant only for mains are covered earliest So that they do not become a pain point in the later date of your
preparation.
c) The Tests are designed so that the Prelims and Mains preparation are in sync as Prelims approaches closer.
d) The quantity of topics are such that it can be easily covered on a weekly basis. Your static portion will be completed in 3 months
at a fast pace with 4 hours of study on a daily basis.

The current affairs portion of MGP will be supplemented by Mains Marathon program 2018.

Performance review and feedback

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Each answer booklet will be reviewed and evaluated by ForumIAS Mentors, who have relevant experience with the Civil Services Mains
Examination. Relevant feedback on making improvements will be provided.

ForumIAS will be assisted in this initiative by several members who have scored well in the successive examination. Several members
who have secured good ranks and marks after making changes to their strategy will also provide inputs for the same.
Post Test Discussion - Classroom

Tests will be released on the Test Portal and in the Classroom on Saturdays, as per calendar. It is expected that students write the Tests
between 10AM - 1 PM on Saturday. Post Test discussions details will be available in the portal and in the detailed Test Plan. The Video
Discussions will be available on the portal usually within 48 hours of the classroom event.

How it Works - Online

Candidates can enroll for the Mains Guidance Program (MGP) online. After enrollment, they need to create an account on
forumias.academy.

Tests will be released on the Test Portal on Saturdays, as per calendar.
The students will
 Download the QCA Booklet and print it and attempt the Test on it. It is necessary to write on QCA as it provides for
o Judicious use of space
o Macro and Micro comments space
o Specific evaluation parameters after each question and on complete paper overall
 The Attempted Paper should be scanned by a scanner or Mobile Phone using the Camscanner app and sent to
[email protected]
 It is expected that students write the Tests between 10AM - 1 PM on Saturday.

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Discussion videos of the Test will be uploaded on the Test Portal within 48 hours of conducting the Test.

Flexibility:

Students can write the Tests anytime after the Release Date for a period of 8 weeks. This means that the Tests that they miss can be completed
anytime till 2 months from the release date.

For more than 2 months ForumIAS will declare window for every test on a regular basis to be submitted. You can then submit a test only in its
respective time window when it opens. This will totally be a discretion of ForumIAS

For Tests, prior to prelims at least 11 Sectional Syllabus Test should be completed before prelims. These tests will not be evaluated after
Prelims.

In a week, ForumIAS will only evaluate one copy, and will not accept more than one copy for evaluation. This is done because MGP, unlike
conventional Test Series is based on feedback and improvement system. Candidates who join us have radically improved scores and gone from
not getting an Interview call, to a rank under 100. Former students include Mittalu Sethi ,( IAS Rank ) and Prajit Nair , ( IAS Rank 81) . If you
plan to submit 3-4 copies in a week, we may (a) be unable to offer you a good feedback to improve score and (b) unable to assure your copy
checking within 15 days.

This is because of in the last week, candidates write 2 Tests on a single day - and send 12 - 15 copies in a time span of 1 week, just 2 weeks
before the exam.

As we said, with just 2 weeks for the exam, it is impossible for us to give you an honest feedback and point out any lacuna simply because
Mentors cannot ensure that the feedback has been implemented. It is also impossible for the candidates to implement the feedback in their
answers, which takes at least 2-3 Tests to implement.

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This defeats the purpose of the Mentor Guided Test Series itself.

Secondly, sending 8-10 copies in a month ends up compromising on the time we can give to candidates who write Tests on a timely basis.

ForumIAS will always prioritize candidates who appear for the Tests on time

Mains Guidance Program - Working Candidates

We have scheduled the Tests on Saturdays so that working candidates can attempt the Tests on Saturday or Sunday. Discussion Video will be
made available in the coming week before the next Test.

GS Mains Test Series Schedule

Flexible: Tests can be written anytime after the Test Release Date. However, They must be submitted within 8 weeks of the Test release date
for proper evaluation.

Note: Current Affairs will be part of all the Tests. Current Affairs need to be prepared from September onwards.

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