Crack Mains with instant answer evaluation.
Your UPSC prep companion for answer writing. Zippy teaches the craft, evaluates every answer you write, handwritten or typed, and gives you a new question every day.
“Urban wetlands are ecologically vital and economically inconvenient.” Examine critically.
Urban wetlands regulate floods, recharge groundwater and hold biodiversity inside city limits. Their ecological value is high and it is local.
They are also economically inconvenient. Land inside a city commands a high price, and a wetland cannot be built on. A municipality under pressure to expand housing sees idle land.
Many have shrunk. Bengaluru's lakes and Chennai's Pallikaranai marsh are examples. The Ramsar Convention and the Wetlands Rules, 2017 offer protection on paper.
Protection holds where a wetland earns its keep. The East Kolkata Wetlands treat the city's sewage and support fisheries, so the city has a reason to defend them.
Cities should map their wetlands, enforce the Wetlands Rules and give local communities a stake in the outcome.
127 of 150 wordsYou name two wetlands in one sentence and explain neither. Spend your 30 spare words on East Kolkata: say how much sewage it treats, and the marks follow the figure.
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Choose the Essay paper or a General Studies answer, then paste what you wrote.
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Everything you need for Mains writing
For the Essay paper and General Studies I to IV. All free.
Answer writing lessons
The directive word, word limits, introductions, evidence, conclusions and timing. One skill per lesson, each ending in a task.
Start with directive wordsThe Essay paper
How to read a one-line topic, plan in twenty minutes and open well. Practice topics with planning help.
Read the essay guideGS paper guides
What GS Papers 1 to 4 ask, with example questions and a weak and a strong answer side by side.
Read the GS guidesDaily question
One Mains question a day, with an approach and a model answer to open after you write.
See today's questionHow we evaluate
The five criteria every answer is evaluated on, what each one rewards, and what our evaluation cannot tell you.
See the criteriaWhat essay topics look like
Past essay topics from 2020 to 2026, sorted by form, with what each form asks you to do first.
See the analysisBuild mastery with daily practice
One Mains question every day. Write it, get it evaluated, then open the model answer and see what you missed.
How to use it
- Set a timer. 7 minutes for a 10-mark answer, 11 minutes for a 15-mark answer.
- Write without looking anything up. Then submit it and read the evaluation.
- Then open the model answer. Compare it with yours and note one thing to change.
What we look at in every answer
UPSC names four things it gives credit for. We evaluate those, and show you the score on each.
They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression. UPSC, Civil Services Examination notice, Paper I
Essay paper
- Thesis and argumentation One position, held to the end, with each paragraph carrying it forward.
- Content breadth and depth More than one dimension of the topic, each one actually developed.
- Critical analysis and originality Your own argument, applied to this topic.
- Structure and coherence An opening, an argument and a close that follow from each other.
- Language and expression Plain words and short, clear sentences.
GS answers
- Content relevance and depth Answers the question that was asked, at the depth the marks imply.
- Structure and organisation Introduction, points and conclusion are easy to see.
- Analysis and multi-dimensionality Does what the directive word asks, from more than one angle.
- Evidence, data and examples Specific schemes, articles and figures, each tied to the claim.
- Conclusion and way forward Ends on what should happen next.
One free account for everything
Sign in once with your email and a 6-digit code. The same account opens the full feedback on every answer and keeps your lesson practice.
- Full feedback on every answer: the reason for each score, and what to do next.
- Answers you write in the lessons are saved to your account.
- Already signed in? Your feedback opens straight away, with nothing to unlock.
- No password. Each time you sign in, we email you a new code.
Frequently asked questions
How does Zippy help me score better in Mains?
Zippy evaluates every answer against named criteria. It shows you which part was weak and why, then names one change to make in the next one. Repeat that and a mistake stops coming back. We cannot promise marks. We can show you what to fix in each answer.
What can I learn on Zippy?
Mains writing, in two tracks. Answer writing tips cover the craft that runs through all four GS papers. It covers the directive word, the shape of a 150 and a 250 word answer, using evidence properly, and ending on a way forward. It also covers finishing twenty answers in three hours. The Essay paper covers reading a one-line topic, planning it, and holding one argument across 1200 words. Alongside both, practice questions in the format the paper prints.
How does Zippy teach?
One skill at a time, and always through writing. A lesson shows you the skill failing in a weak answer, then working in a strong one. You can see exactly what changed. Then you write it yourself. Zippy evaluates what you wrote against the criteria and gives you one change to carry forward. Later the same skill comes back on a different topic, to check it stuck.
I am starting today. What should I do first?
Write one answer and submit it before you read anything here. The evaluation will tell you which criterion is weakest for you, and that decides which lesson to open first.
My marks are not moving. What should I change?
Usually one thing, repeatedly. Write five answers and note which criterion comes back weak every time. Work on that one first.
How many answers should I write a week?
One a day is the habit worth building, and the daily question is there to make it easy. If that is too much alongside revision, aim for three a week, each one evaluated.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Every lesson, every practice question and every evaluation is free while we are new in India. You sign in with your email to see the full feedback, and that is the only thing we ask for.
Can I upload handwritten answers?
Yes. Photograph the pages or upload a PDF. Zippy reads your handwriting and shows you the transcription first. Correct anything it misread, and it evaluates the corrected text. You sit the exam with a pen, so you should practise with one.
Which papers can I submit?
The Essay paper and General Studies I to IV. Together they carry 1250 of the 1750 written marks. GS answers are evaluated at both 150 and 250 words, the two lengths the paper sets.
How is my answer evaluated?
On the criteria above, each with its own comment, plus the single change that will lift your next answer most. Those criteria follow UPSC's own instruction to candidates: keep closely to the subject, arrange ideas in orderly fashion, write concisely, express yourself exactly.
How quickly do I get it back?
About a minute for a GS answer and two to three for a full essay.
Does it work in Hindi?
English for now. Zippy reads and evaluates English, and Hindi is the next language we want to support.
Do you cover Prelims?
We put everything into Mains writing, because that is where the rank is decided and where preparation is usually weakest.
Start your Mains prep with one answer.
Paste it or photograph the page. Free. Sign in with your email to see the full feedback.
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