Don't stress about syllabus volume, prioritise, revise: Toppers share exam tips during PPC 2025

NEW DELHI: Not taking stress about volume of syllabus, prioritising topics, revision and personalised preparation -- these are among the tips shared by toppers of various exams with school students during the last episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's annual Pariksha Pe Charcha, broadcast on Tuesday. From topper of NDA entrance to UPSC, IIT entrance JEE-Advanced to Law entrance CLAT and alumni of previous editions of Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC), eight youngsters shared their experience during a special session of the annual event in which Modi interacts with students appearing for the board examinations.

In a shift from the traditional town hall format, Modi preferred a more informal setting this time and took students to Delhi's iconic Sunder Nursery for the interaction. Eminent personalities such as actors Deepika Padukone, Bhumi Pednekar and Vikrant Massey, boxing champion Mary Kom and spiritual leader Sadhguru have also shared their experiences and knowledge on key aspects of life and learning in different episodes of Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC).

Brahmcharimayun Nishtha, an MBBS student from Manipur University, who anchored a previous edition of PPC said the first stress about board exams comes from the volume of syllabus. "Such a vast syllabus, how will we cover it? How many hours we need to study? All these thoughts bother us a lot. We need to understand that we cannot retain everything in our mind at least in one go. You should identify some specific topics, also learn to prioritise what needs to be covered first and then revision. Also focus on questions asked in previous years," Nishtha said.

Radhika Singhal, CBSE topper of 2022-23, said "we should not think about what questions will be asked in exam but focus on our preparations and have faith on it." Ashish Kumar Verma, an IIT Delhi student and former PPC anchor, said everybody's preparation is personalised. "There is no single rule which will be applicable for me and also everyone else. For instance, I did not find making notes very helpful, so I used different strategies and that is what should be done," he said.

Armanpreet Singh, who was topper of the National Defence Academy (NDA) entrance exam last year, said one should not be bothered about the volume of syllabus. "We usually have a habit of counting the number of pages of the chapter before we begin reading or learning it. This impacts our psychology. I believe one should not be bothered about the volume at first and should divide everything into parts. We should also focus on our strengths more rather than weaknesses and that should reflect in our priority of topics while preparing," he said.

PPC 2025

Shuchismita Adhikari, ISC Exam topper, 2023-24; Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy from IIT Bombay who bagged first rank in IIT entrance JEE-Advanced in 2023 and Jai Kumar Bohara from NLU Bangalore who topped the law entrance exam CLAT last year, also shared their experiences and learnings with the students.

Pariksha Pe Charcha is an annual event in which Modi also answers students queries related to exam stress and other issues. The first edition of the interactive programme with school and college students was held at Delhi's Talkatora Stadium in 2018. A seventh edition was held in a town hall format at Bharat Mandapam, engaging participants from around the country and overseas.

Leadership lessons, meditation, exams versus knowledge, "focusing like a batter in action", and using technology wisely and not fearfully -- Modi touched upon multiple issues in a free-wheeling chat with students at Sunder Nursery during the first episode that was aired on February 10. Nutrition and health experts Shonali Sabherwal, Rujuta Diwekar and Revant Himatsingka, YouTuber Gaurav Chaudhary popularly known as TechGuruji and Radhika Gupta, MD and CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, are among the other guests who have been part of the programme this year.