@AkkkuOK. Thanks
One things looks certain. UPSC indeed goes through the class notes/videos and 180/365 type material of big coaching companies and frames questions directly outside of them. It doesn't matter whether this results in many repeated questions, 2 year old current affairs, fringe issues like cyberdome/NWP or asking long questions in veil of case studies.
The message may this time percolate clearly.
@Jayson_BourneWho knows both could have copied from a third source.
Can somebody who has experience of 2017, 2018 and 2019 mains shed some light on comparative levels of difficulty and marking pattern for successive years. What did a good, and an average answer fetch in previous two years? What's the relative difficulty level of GS papers in these years or so.
I had appeared in 2017, found questions of GS2 and GS3 on a slightly difficult level to answer vis-a-vis 2017. It was easier to write a good looking answer in 2017 than 2019, especially in GS2. Don't know about 2018.
Anybody please?@kuttabhai, Have you appeared in 2018 as well ?
@paranthapijjaIf this is true, then there is no point discussing 3-4 marks for average answers, 6-7 for good answers (in 10 markers) I suppose. And an average answer may fetch different marks in different years.
I think there must be a consensus among evaluators how much to award an average answer, and this may be fixed even for different years.
What may change is the evaluator's view regarding what constitutes an average answer.. And this may depend upon individual performances.
@sat_009I think 140+400+280 (Essay+GS+Opt) was the norm in 2017 to get an interview call. What was the combo in 2018?
@sat_009This seems reasonable.
@GloriousMess26How many mains giving people join test series of coaching houses? Not more than 3000 I guess. Even forum represents just an iota of aspirants. Extrapolation of any trend in general sense is risky IMO.
@utkarsh_mishraYes I did.. I observed their high scores flattened near 110. I couldn't understand their marking pattern in few tests I gave.
@vvvikas0078212A well written answer may fetch above 60% in optionals. Achieving the same in GS is quite difficult. Again, scoring above average of your peers in optionals has potential of additional marks due to scaling/moderation whatever you call it.
