Chandigarh is one the best cities for preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam. With many coaching centers to choose from, the city offers comprehensive guidance for preparation of the Prelims and Mains. Many of the institutes, like Raj IAS Academy, Plutus IAS, and Dronacharya IAS, are well-established and provide well-planned, experience-based guidence for preparation along with experienced teachers, up-to-date study material, and various mock tests to give students a strong foundation.
But before we discuss how to prepare for Prelims & Mains, you should first understand the meaning of Prelims and Mains:
Preliminary Examination (Prelims)
Preliminary Examination, also known as prelims, is the first stage of the UPSC Civil Services Examination. The Prelims mainly checks a student’s awareness of current affairs, general knowledge, and basic knowledge of significant subject areas of history, geography, economy, and science. There are two objective-type papers with multiple-choice questions, and only candidates who have successfully cleared the prelims will be sitting for the Mains exam.
Mains Examination
After Prelims, the next step is Mains, which is the written exam where candidates answer descriptive questions instead of multiple-choice. The purpose of the Mains exam is to test a student’s knowledge, analytical ability, and writing skills in different areas such as history, geography, economy, polity, science, and current affairs. It also includes an essay paper as well as optional papers. The Mains judges what you know as well as how well you communicate your thoughts.
How Many Months’ gap between Prelims & Mains
In UPSC, the gap between Prelims and Mains is usually about 3 to 4 months.
- The Prelims are usually held in May or June
- The Mains are usually held in September or October
This period of around 90 to 120 days is important for candidates as it helps them with thorough revisions, answer writing practice, and learning concepts in other subjects. The timeline is limited, and aspirants must focus and discipline themselves so that they can merge revising the Prelims syllabus and the intensive preparation elements of the descriptive nature of Mains.
Top 3 Institutes for Prelims and Mains Preparation in Chandigarh
If you need the top 3 UPSC (Prelims + Mains) coaching institutes in Chandigarh, here are the 3 names that are most frequently recommended based on recent rankings, reviews, and trusted local inputs.
1. Raj Malhotra’s IAS Study Group
Overview & Highlights
- It was founded by Mr. Raj Malhotra, who has over 22 years of teaching experience.
- Located on the First Floor, Dainik Bhaskar Building, Sector 25, Chandigarh.
- Claimed to have produced 2,500+ officers across IAS, IPS, IFS, and state civil services.
- It is mainly Known for its MCQ practice, Daily Current Affairs, Mains Answer-Writing, and updated study material.
- They charge from about ₹1.40 lakh to ₹1.50 lakh for a 12–36 month Foundation Course (offline); online courses span ₹80,000–₹90,000.
- They Offer Prelims & Mains mock test series separately (₹5,000 for Prelims; ₹15,000 for Mains).
Prelims preparation
In the academy, they focus on conceptual clarity and dealing with the objective nature of questions, in relation to the UPSC Prelims.
- NCERT Foundation Course: This is the phase one part of the program, and it will include a foundation course reviewing NCERT books from classes 6-12. A strong understanding of the fundamentals will give candidates a clear understanding of subjects, as a significant number of questions will be drawn from these books.
- Daily Current Affairs: The academy places emphasis on remaining up to date with current affairs and education, offering daily analysis of various major newspapers, including The Hindu, as well as PIB, Yojana, and more.
- Mock Exam Tests: The Raj IAS Academy delivers specialized Prelims test series to replicate exam environments, as well as strengths and weaknesses, to enhance candidates’ performance.
Mains Preparation
- Answer Writing Support: The academy provides support on how to write impressive answers that will help them achieve meaningful merit list improvement, not just pass papers.
- Coaching: The Raj IAS Academy has small batch sizes. In addition to that, the faculty provides mentoring, which means each student can have support.
- Personality development: We offer interview facing and personality development workshops to maximize chances of being selected.
- Resources for Candidates: Additionally, they will have access to libraries, previous year papers, and so forth, in order to have considerable and engaging preparation.
2. Plutus IAS
Overview & Highlights
- Established: 2009 by Bimla Sharma.
- Location: Punjab Kesari Building, Sector 25 D, Chandigarh.
- Courses: Offers a 1-year Foundation Course covering Prelims + Mains (General Studies) with options for CSAT, optional subjects, essay, and answer writing; available in both online and offline modes.
Fees (approx.):
- Prelims + Mains: ₹1,50,000 (offline)
- GS + CSAT + Optional + Essay + Mock Interview: ₹2,27,000 (offline)
- GS + Prelims Online: ~₹1,00,000
- Facilities: Classroom, optional courses, intervals, study material, mock interviews, and a very strong performance in previous years, including first rank AIR 23 (Saurabh Sharma); numerous candidates achieved top 10.
Prelims preparation
- Daily newspaper analysis, along with monthly compilations, ties current events to static syllabus topics and highlights the dynamic nature of the UPSC exam.
- The academy offers a structured test series with sectional tests, full-length, and classic mock tests for GS Paper I and II (CSAT) that simulate an exam situation in online, offline formats.
- For each test, students are given feedback and performance analysis from expert faculty that pinpoints weaknesses.
For Mains
- The academy contains small batch sizes. Furthermore, the faculty provides mentoring, which means every student can get support.
- We offer interview facing and personality development workshops to maximize the chances of getting selected.
- They will have access to libraries, past papers, etc., in order to have meaningful and stimulating preparation.
3. Dronacharya IAS Coaching
Overview & Highlights
- It is Located at SCO 205-206, Sector 36-D, Chandigarh 160036, the institute offers both online and offline coaching modes.
- It was Founded by Anurag Bachan, it is recognized for preparing aspirants for UPSC (IAS) and for state services such as PCS, HAS, and HCS.
Courses & Features
- Prelims + Mains + CSAT
- Individual components available: (Prelims or Mains), CSAT, Optional Subjects, Interview.
Additional support includes:
- Test series, doubt-clearing sessions, current affairs, updated study materials
- Personality development classes, offline library access, and personally mentored sessions.
Prelims preparation
- They cover all the basic topics from the General Studies syllabus, such as History and Politics, covering the basics.
- Keep up with current affairs: They have weekly classes where they discuss and analyze the latest news and current events, which is vital for the exam.
- Students participate in regular tests, which ensure they know the content, build confidence, and identify areas of improvement.
- They encourage students to practice past year’s question papers, which will enable them to understand the pattern of the examination.
For Mains
- Practice of writing answers: There are regular training sessions for students to practice writing answers and essays. Experts offer individualized feedback on how students can write better and structure better answers.
- Deep analysis of concepts: Teachers focus on helping students deeply understand concepts rather than rote learning facts. Teachers guide students to write analytic answers with more clarity, sometimes using bullet points.
- Specialised papers: The academy offers specialised coaching for optional subjects such as History and Political Science to help students gain marks in these key papers.
Difference Between Mains And Prelims Preparation
| Aspect | Prelims Preparation | Mains Preparation |
| Purpose | To serve as a screening tool and pre-select candidates for the Mains. Marks are not counted in the Final ranking. | Final rank will be based on performance on seven merit papers. |
| Question Type: | MCQs (multiple-choice questions) to test broad knowledge and concepts. | Descriptive: Includes detailed and well-structured handwritten answers in booklet form |
| Syllabus Approach | You want to have a broad but not too in-depth knowledge base on subjects and current affairs. | Descriptive means that you want them to understand, between different topics, critically evaluate issues, and come to a balanced conclusion. |
| Practice | MCQ Practice: Extensive practice with mock tests and previous years’ papers is essential to master the objective format. | Answer Writing: Most importantly, you must regularly practice writing answers and essays that will help you with speech, clarity, and the quality of your content. |
| Current Events | Focus on facts, figures, and recent current affairs from the last year. | You should emphasize seeking connections with current events and the topics you learned in General Studies to analyze their impact on society, politics, and the economy. |
Conclusion
If you’re aiming to ace the UPSC exams in Chandigarh, it’s all about studying smart and working hard. Gain a strong grasp of the main subjects, stay updated on what’s happening in the news, and practice a lot of questions and answers. This way, you can really take advantage of the great coaching centers in Chandigarh. Stick to your plan, get some expert advice, and you might just make that civil servant’s dream come true.
