UPSC Mains Mentorship Programme 2025 - 2026

What is ‘Mains SkillUp’ Program?

SkillUp is a comprehensive and targeted UPSC Mains preparation program by Shankar IAS Academy, designed to address one of the most critical - yet often overlooked - needs of UPSC aspirants, being truly ready for the UPSC Mains examination.

In the typical journey of UPSC preparation, aspirants tend to focus entirely on Prelims for an entire year. Those who clear it often find themselves writing their first Mains answer only after Prelims, without adequate mains specific content in their hands. This last-minute effort fails to secure a Mains score significantly higher than the mains cutoff which is what secures aspirants the service of their preference. Meanwhile, aspirants who don’t clear Prelims usually repeat the same cycle - without improving their UPSC Mains readiness.

To break this pattern and equip aspirants with consistent UPSC Mains preparation, Shankar IAS Academy introduces the unique LCT Strategy as a part of the ‘Skillup’ program.

What is the LCT Strategy?

LCT = Lecture + Curation + Test

📘 Lecture

• *75 sessions covering core and difficult GS topics
• *Conducted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
• *Each session is 2.5 hours, starting from June 30, 2025
• *Lectures focus on ‘the most difficult topics’ in Mains syllabus sheet & often overlooked areas due to the complexity & lack of adequate materials such as:
  • Conceptual & philosophical depth in understanding of Polity & Governance based topics
  • New areas specific to Mains – World History & Post Independence Consolidation
  • Integration of Ethics concepts in the case studies
  • GS Paper 3 - Factual nuances & ways of tackling challenging qns

✅ Curation

• *75 curation sessions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
• *Aspirants work on assignments based on lecture topics
• *Reference materials will be shared for deeper insights
• *Helps aspirants:
  • Understand the Mains mindset
  • Curate informed opinions
  • Address the demand of the question effectively
• *By the end of 6 months, students will have compiled around 150+ pages of their own notes per GS paper — fully personalized, relevant, and usable

📝 Test

• *Regular tests before the beginning of every session to assess content quality and depth prepared in the preceding two days
• *Rather than faculty evaluations, a framework-based self-evaluation model is used
• *After each test:
  • A model answer framework is provided
  • Aspirants compare their own answers, class discussions, and personal notes
• *This sharpens self-awareness, improves retention, and deepens understanding

Expected Outcome

By the end of the program in December 2025, aspirants will have mastered:

• What to read
• How to take effective Mains notes
• How to frame quality answers
• And most importantly,
  how to continue this process independently

The ultimate aim of Skill Up is to build the skillset, mindset, and habits needed to crack the Mains 2026 — not just once, but every time.