NORCET 11 AIR 115: Five Notebooks From MCQ Rationales

Quick answer: Jigar Parmar secured All India Rank 115 and Category Rank 6 in NORCET 11 Mains 2026. From Gujarat, a 2019 pass-out, he already holds a Gujarat state government post and is currently in-charge at a CHC. He prepared while working full time, after spending three to four years on UPSC, and practised 37,600 questions in the test series.

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A long detour through UPSC

After clearing the Gujarat state exam, he spent three to four years preparing for IAS and IPS, giving two UPSC Prelims and Mains. His CSAT scores were falling and selection was not happening.

Why he came back to NORCET is about his current posting rather than ambition. He felt stuck, describing significant issues at his CHC that he chose not to detail, and decided clearing NORCET was the way out.

His earlier NORCET attempts show what casual preparation produces:

Attempt	Preparation	Rank
NORCET 4	Casual	~6000
NORCET 10	~10 days, no MCQ practice at all	~2800
NORCET 11	Three focused months of MCQs	AIR 115

His diagnosis was not theory

He had already taken a theory batch elsewhere, and is clear about the distinction:

Theory was not my problem. My problem was MCQs.

So he took MCQs from NPrep specifically, rather than buying another theory course. By his own account he had done around 30,000 to 35,000 MCQs by a previous interview, and 37,600 questions in the test series by this one.

The same diagnosis Wakeel Wasil at AIR 22 and Asrarul Haq at AIR 194 made independently. Three toppers, same conclusion: if theory is done, buying more theory is not the fix.

The repetition he questioned, then understood

An honest moment worth keeping.

He describes one cardiac MCQ repeating four or five times, and admits he questioned the point of it at the time.

His conclusion afterwards:

The repetition was what made it stick. Questions I used to get wrong became right.

Spaced repetition does not feel like progress while it is happening. It feels like padding.

Five notebooks

The method, stated simply:

He bought five notebooks and, subject by subject, wrote out the full description given inside each MCQ, including the Crux points.

His reasoning for why the MCQ description beat his theory material:

It was written for proper nursing application rather than coverage.

That is a real distinction. A textbook aims to cover a topic. A rationale aims to make you able to answer about it.

All five books were filled, in roughly three months.

This is the maximalist version of what Mehpara Rashid at AIR 4 does when she copies the Crux into her notes, and the opposite of Wakeel Wasil's deliberately capped 200-page notebook. Both work. Pick based on how much time you have.

Studying around a full-time job

The interruptions were specific and constant. As in-charge at the CHC he dealt with class four staff and with press and journalists. An hour of study would reliably be broken by one or two phone calls.

His workaround was to pick work that survives interruption:

• Gave test series questions while eating
• Did MCQs while travelling

The format allowed study in fragments where sitting down with theory would not have. You cannot read a chapter in four-minute pieces. You can do MCQs in them.

What it cost him: he is candid that some subjects were left out because of the job — specifically that his Community Health Nursing was incomplete, which he believes pulled his rank down.

How the Mains paper had changed

A useful observation from someone with attempts spread across several cycles.

He contrasts NORCET 4 and 10, which he describes as largely static recall, with this Mains, which required considerable reasoning and was built around nursing preferences.

That shift is exactly why he credits the explanations attached to questions rather than the questions themselves.

The match rate he reported: around 90% of Prelims questions and around 95% of Mains questions felt similar to what he had practised.

His advice, and the mistake he made

Do not just take tests. His core advice is the error he made himself: for his first ten days he only gave tests without reading the rationales. Once he started reading them, he rated them highly.

Move to the Question Bank. He found writing rationales out from tests ineffective, and recommends the Question Bank instead for its disease-wise, point-wise and subject-wise organisation.

He is not stopping. He still has a UPSC class running and intends to carry on with it. His seat preference is AIIMS Bhopal.

What to take from AIR 115

1. If theory is done, buy questions, not more theory.
2. Repetition that feels pointless is usually working.
3. Pick interruption-proof work when your job fragments your day.
4. Finish every subject. An incomplete Community Health cost him rank.
5. Reading the rationale is the test. The test itself is just the delivery mechanism.

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Frequently asked questions

What rank did Jigar Parmar get in NORCET 11? All India Rank 115 and Category Rank 6 in NORCET 11 Mains 2026.

Can you crack NORCET while working a full-time government job? Yes. He is in-charge at a CHC in Gujarat and prepared around constant interruptions by doing test series questions while eating and MCQs while travelling, formats that survive being broken up.

How many questions did he practise? 37,600 in the test series, having done roughly 30,000 to 35,000 MCQs even before that.

Has the NORCET Mains paper changed? He compares NORCET 4 and 10, which he describes as largely static recall, with NORCET 11 Mains, which required considerable reasoning and was built around nursing preferences.

Is it enough to just give mock tests for NORCET? No. For his first ten days he gave tests without reading the rationales, and names this as his mistake. He advises reading every rationale, and moving to the Question Bank for its disease-wise and subject-wise organisation.

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Read the full list of NORCET 11 toppers who prepared with NPrep — 1 in 5 NORCET 11 Mains qualifiers came from NPrep: 2,178+ students qualified, 38 of them in the All-India top 100.