What interview preparation strategies did recent UPSC toppers use?

The following is drawn from verified, publicly available information on four successive AIR 1 toppers. Each offers a distinct case study because their backgrounds, optionals, and preparation routes differed substantially — yet common threads emerge consistently.

Anuj Agnihotri — AIR 1, CSE 2025 | Interview: 204/275 | Total: 1071

Background: MBBS from AIIMS Jodhpur; from Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan; third attempt; optional: Medical Science. Self-study approach — no coaching for Prelims or Mains.

Interview preparation: Enrolled in the Legacy IAS Bengaluru Interview Guidance Programme (IGP) for structured mock interviews, DAF analysis, and personality feedback sessions. This was his deliberate exception to his otherwise coaching-free approach — recognising that interview preparation requires external feedback that self-study cannot fully replicate.

Key question in interview: The board asked why an MBBS doctor from AIIMS would choose civil services over medicine. His answer: civil services administration enables impact at a societal scale that individual clinical practice cannot — the ability to design healthcare policy, allocate resources across a district, and address social determinants of health is unavailable to a clinician.

Situational question: 'If appointed as District Magistrate, what single intervention would you implement?' He proposed mandatory annual health check-ups for citizens above 40 — grounded in his medical expertise and in the burden-of-disease data for India's non-communicable disease epidemic.

Notable technique: Delivering answers concisely and then pausing — allowing all board members the space to react, probe, or redirect. This prevented any one question-answer exchange from dominating the interview and signalled confidence rather than the compulsive over-explanation that signals anxiety.

Interview score context: 204/275 contributed to a total of 1071, described as the highest AIR 1 total in eight years.

Shakti Dubey — AIR 1, CSE 2024 | Interview: 200/275 | Total: 1043

Background: Post-graduate in biochemistry from BHU, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh; fifth attempt; optional: Political Science and International Relations (PSIR). Failed Prelims three times before finally qualifying.

Interview preparation: Credited the PW OnlyIAS Interview Guidance Programme as playing a critical role in refining her communication skills and mock interview performance. Her persistent attempt history itself became a narrative resource — the board, presented with a fifth-attempt AIR 1, would naturally probe the journey.

DAF-driven strengths: Her hobbies — debating, writing poetry, and playing badminton — were genuine and deep. She served as leader of the BHU Student Debating Committee, making debating a verifiable institutional involvement, not a cosmetic entry. She is known for reciting her own original poem ('What Do You Write?') during a mock interview, demonstrating creative authenticity.

Current affairs: Maintained a discipline of daily newspaper reading — The Hindu and Indian Express — with monthly compilations. For PSIR optional, she regularly connected international relations theory to current foreign policy events.

Core lesson: Her 843 Mains score was comparatively lower than many of her top-10 competitors. Her 200/275 interview score was central to her AIR 1 finish — demonstrating the interview's rank-shifting power.

Aditya Srivastava — AIR 1, CSE 2023 | Interview: 200/275 | Total: 1099

Background: B.Tech and M.Tech (Electrical Engineering, IIT Kanpur); worked at Goldman Sachs for 15 months; IPS (AIR 236, CSE 2022) during IPS training at SVPNPA Hyderabad; third attempt; optional: Electrical Engineering.

Interview preparation: Used ForumIAS Mains General Studies Programme (MGP) for answer writing; attended formal interview preparation programmes. His approach was largely self-directed, leveraging his IIT depth and his prior IPS interview experience from CSE 2022.

DAF advantage: His IPS selection in 2022 meant that by 2023 his interview was structured around a pre-existing, credible public service identity — not just an aspiration. The board was interviewing someone already inside the system.

Key interview approach: Emphasised thinking carefully before speaking rather than rushing — a deliberate counterweight to the pressure of wanting to demonstrate knowledge. His 200/275 interview score is historically notable as one of only a handful of such scores in the exam's history.

Home state connection: Lucknow-based; questions on Uttar Pradesh's governance challenges, infrastructure development (Expressway projects, UP Defence Corridor), and social development indicators were all on the table.

Shubham Kumar — AIR 1, CSE 2020 | Interview: 176/275 | Total: 1054

Background: Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay; IDAS (Indian Defence Accounts Service) before topping; optional: Anthropology; from Katihar district, Bihar.

Mock interview strategy: Completed exactly 2 formal mocks — one at KSG India (Khan Sir pointed out strengths and improvement areas; confidence-building) and one at iAnugrah (run by former CBDT Chairman Sudhir Chandra Sir; he followed the advice in his actual interview). He supplemented with peer group discussions. He explicitly advises 2–4 mocks maximum and cautions against mock boards that demotivate — focus on building clarity of thought, not on the mock board's verdict.

Key interview question: 'What would you do as DM of Katihar for the next 2 years?' His preparation of his home district's economic profile, infrastructure gaps, and governance challenges allowed him to answer with specific, actionable proposals rather than generic policy language.

Board and topics: Board chaired by TC Anant covered his B.Tech Civil background, IIT Bombay, IDAS service experience, Table Tennis (listed hobby — board asked about net height, a technical check), Anthropology optional, and Bihar home state. The interview was a textbook example of a board that methodically worked through every DAF section.

Score context: 176/275 is in the normal range for the top 50 rankers but was the lowest interview score among top 10 in 2020. His 878 Mains score compensated, producing the overall highest total.

Common Threads Across All Four Toppers