Much awaited UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 is all set to take place on 16th June 2024 i.e. Sunday, in 2 sessions. Both sessions will be 2 hour long. In the first session, GS Paper 1 will be conducted. The exam is expected to start at 9:30 AM and end by 11:30 AM. As soon as the exam is over, candidates and other students will start to look for the answer key to match and verify their own answers.

The release of the answer key on time by different institutions is very important for UPSC aspirants. It provides them with an opportunity to gauge their performance and estimate their chances of clearing the Preliminary Examination. An accurate answer key also helps in reducing anxiety and uncertainty among candidates as they await the official results.

Therefore, ForumIAS, a leading UPSC civil services coaching institution, is set to release the answer key for the General Studies Paper 1 (GS Paper 1) of the UPSC Prelims on June 16th, 2024. The answer key will be made available before 5 PM, ensuring that aspirants can quickly access and evaluate their performance. Detailed explanations for each question will be provided by 7 PM, allowing candidates to understand the reasoning behind each answer.

The answer key will be available for all four sets of the GS Paper 1: Set A, Set B, Set C, and Set D. This comprehensive approach will ensure that all candidates can easily find the answers corresponding to their respective question paper sets.

Mr. Abrar Saifi, the head of ForumIAS blog team, stated, “We understand the importance of timely and accurate information for UPSC aspirants. Every year our team works tirelessly to ensure that the answer key is released promptly and that the explanations are comprehensive and easy to understand. Similarly, this year as well, we will deliver the answer key on time. We hope this will help candidates in their preparation journey and boost their confidence.”

When we talked to one of the candidates, on importance of prompt prelims answer key, who is going to take the prelims exam, he said, “Since UPSC releases the official answer key only after the conclusion of exam, it is very important for us. Although, answer keys are not 100% accurate, we at least get an idea that whether we should start preparing for the next stage or we have work more on our preparation for prelims only. However, candidates around the border line do not get much clarity. It is the students who are getting +- 20-30 marks from the expected cutoff, who can be certain of the result and start with their action plan”

The answer key will be accessible on the official ForumIAS website (https://forumias.com/blog/upsc-prelims-answer-key-2024/) under the ‘UPSC Alerts’ section. Candidates can download the answer key for their respective sets and compare their answers. The detailed explanations will also be available on the same page by 7 PM.

In addition to the online access, ForumIAS will also conduct a live session to discuss the answer key and address any queries from the aspirants. This interactive session will be held on the ForumIAS YouTube channel (Date and time for the same will be announced). Candidates are encouraged to join the session to gain further insights and clarifications.

The General Studies Paper 1 is a crucial component of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination. It tests candidates on a wide range of topics, including History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Environment, Science and Technology, and Current Affairs. The paper consists of 100 questions, each carrying 2 marks, making the total marks for the paper 200. The exam is conducted in a multiple-choice question (MCQ) format, and there is a negative marking of 1/3rd mark for each incorrect answer.

CSAT is the 2nd exam, which is conducted in the 2nd session around 2:30 PM. It tests the general comprehensive and analytical abilities of the candidate. The CSAT paper (GS Paper 2) is of qualifying nature, meaning candidates need to secure at least 33% marks (66 out of 200) to qualify. The marks obtained in GS Paper 1 are considered for the cut-off.