6/18/2014

Handle Negative Marking Tactfully

Last Updated: June 06, 2014 at 14:28:09

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Handle Negative Marking Tactfully

In a significant change in the pattern of Civil Services Examination (CSE), Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC) has incorporated negative marking system for objective type questions in Preliminary
examination held on May 20, 2007.
Negative marking is not new for competitive examinations in India. Before Civil Services Examination, this
system has been effective in Rajasthan Public Service Commission since last few years.
Moreover, in IITs, CDS, MBAs and some other entrance examinations marks are deducted on wrong
answers. A few years ago, this system was in practice even in UGC-CSIR NET examinations. Indeed, it
is a new experiment in terms of Civil Services examination.
The main rationale behind the inclusion of negative marking system is to reduce the guess factor which
is inherent in certain question types such as multiple-choice and True-False. Another reason is to filter
out candidates who get selected on the basis of smart guesses and luck and selecting genuine
candidates. Be alert and always keep in your mind that guessing is your great enemy in the examination
hall. If you guess, you are gaining nothing and it may be cause of your failure. Actually provision of
negative marking in objective type test/exam is aimed to penalise guessing. Before the inclusion of the
provision of negative marking many examinees used guessing method as an instrument of getting higher
marks and sometimes outcome might become positive. This process also cause high cut off marks.
Suppose out of total 150 questions, an examinee knows the correct answer of only 50 questions and
guessed randomly 100 questions. There is a probability of correct answer of 25 questions, because
there are four alternatives for each question. In this way he is going to get 50% marks. But another
examinee gives correct answer of 60 questions and leaves 90 questions unanswered or makes incorrect
guess. In this case the second examinee who knows more gets 10 per cent less marks. It shows that
guessing often is more harmful to serious students/examinees. The UPSC also wants to penalise nonserious candidates so that only serious, hardworking and knowledgeable students can appear at the
Mains. In fact, non-serious candidates cannot hoodwink the UPSC and enjoy the fruits of Mains exam
merely on the basis of guessing method. So, if you want to crack the Prelims, follow the tips given
below:
First, you should tick questions, you know correctly. In this way, you can count correct answers and
check your capacity.
Leave questions which are time consuming or you are confused in two options.
While preparation at home, you must practice those questions/problems which you do not know
perfectly, though sometimes you may get right answers through guessing.
At the time of practice do not put guess on some questions because such a tendency may be harmful
in actual examination hall.
Do not follow elimination process for choosing an answer, which was most prevalent in students
before the negative marking.
If you are not sure for your answer, leave them unanswered.
First read the complete question carefully. If you know the answer while reading question, dont jump
to conclusion before reading all the alternatives.
While attempting mathematical questions, many a times in hurry candidates read the wrong figure or
dont look carefully at graphs or diagrams which lead to wrong answers.
If you get confused with any question, look for the clues in the question and the given alternatives.
Re-read the complete question and try to reason out.
In seemingly tough questions eliminate the most unlikely answers first and then try to work out the
correct answer.

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In one sentence we could say strategy to tackle negative marking demands conceptual clarity, sharp
memory and recall at the time of examination.

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Handle Negative Marking Tactfully

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