Prelims is not only a body of knowledge; it is a two-hour behavior. One hundred questions, two hundred marks, and a penalty that makes every guess a wager — under those conditions, how you attempt matters nearly as much as what you know. Reading cannot rehearse that. A timed sitting can, and that is the whole purpose of this section.
Every test here runs in the exam’s own format, scores itself instantly to the exam’s own formula, and ends in a written explanation for every question. No account, no fee.
How a test works here
You open a paper and the clock starts: 100 questions, 200 marks, 120 minutes, the General Studies shape. Answers are marked as in the hall — commit or skip. On submission the test scores itself the way UPSC would: two marks for a correct answer, 0.66 deducted for a wrong one, nothing for a blank — and then the part that actually improves a score begins, a question-by-question review with the reasoning written out.
Review the wrong answers, obviously. Review the lucky ones harder — a guess that landed is a gap the scoreboard just hid from you.
The test index
Timed papers are published here as they are prepared, and the index grows with the library — each entry opens straight into the sitting, clock running.
First papers in preparationPracticing the paper, not just the syllabus
Three habits separate a trained attempt from a hopeful one, and all three can only be built under a clock. First, the two-pass sitting: sweep the paper answering what falls quickly, then return to what deserves thought — the costliest exam-day error is spending four minutes on question 7. Second, elimination as a discipline: a question where two options can be killed is a mathematically sound attempt even in doubt; a pure coin-flip is not. Third, a stable attempt count: the penalty punishes indiscriminate attempting, and the blank punishes timidity, and only repeated scored sittings reveal where your own break-even lives.
Calibrate against reality, too: the Past Papers are the same drill on the actual record, and the cut-off marks are the scoreboard the whole exercise is aimed at.
Mock tests — common questions
Is there negative marking in these mocks?
Yes — one-third of the question’s marks for every wrong answer, exactly the exam’s formula. On a two-mark General Studies question that is 0.66 off. Practicing without the penalty trains an attempt rate the real paper will punish.
Where do the questions come from?
From the exam’s own record. Source questions keep their original wording — including any original defects, which are addressed in the explanation and never silently fixed. What a mock adds to the record is the sitting itself: the clock, the scoring, and a review you can act on.
How many mocks are enough before Prelims?
There is no magic count; there is a non-negotiable format. Every sitting should be full-length, timed, and reviewed for longer than it took to sit. Ten tests worked that way beat forty taken as casual quizzes — the goal is calibrating exam-day behavior, and calibration only happens under exam-day conditions.
Are mock scores comparable to the real cut-off?
Directionally. The formula is identical, so your score is an honest number — but difficulty varies test to test, and the real cut-off marks moved by more than seventeen marks across the last six years. Watch your trend across sittings, not any single score.
What does it cost?
Nothing. No fee, no account, no sign-up — like everything on this site. Open a test, sit it, and keep the review.
