About Prelims

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is one of the many constitutional body in India. It is authorized to conduct competitive examinations and interviews for recruitment of civil services, defence services  and posts under the Union Government or Central Government.

Civil Services

Indian Civil Service serves as the backbone of Indian administrative machinery. Career in civil services offers prestigious opportunities and responsibilities. India’s best minds strive for entry into the All India Civil Services as IAS (Indian Administrative Service), IFS (Indian Forest Service) and IPS (Indian Police Service) officers.

CSAT (Prelims) Pattern

The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry maximum of 400 marks. This exam is only a screening test; the marks obtained in the prelims are only for qualifying for main exam and are not counted for determining final order of merit.

Prelims Paper	Duration	Questions	Marks
Paper I – General Studies	2 Hours	100	200
Paper II – Aptitude	2 Hours	80	200
Total			400

In General Studies Paper – II, minimum qualifying marks is 33%. You will be selected for Mains exam based total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper – I.

CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) has two papers:

1. General Studies
2. General Ability Test

CSAT General Studies Paper 1 Syllabus

CSAT Paper I: 200 Marks; Duration: Two Hours; Number of Questions: 100

1. Current Affairs: Events of national and international importance
2. History of India and Indian National Movement
3. Indian and World Geography: Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
4. Indian Polity and Governance: Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
5. Economic and Social Development: Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
6. General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change (no subject specialization required)
7. General Science

CSAT Paper-1 Analysis

Topic	2011	2012	2013	2014
History and Culture	13	20	15	21
Economy	18	12	18	6
Polity	17	25	18	13
Geography	11	11	14	15
Environment & Bio-diversity	22	23	22	21
Science & Technology	19	9	13	17
Current Affairs				7
Total	100	100	100	100

CSAT General Ability Test Paper 2 Syllabus

CSAT Paper II: 200 Marks; Duration: Two Hours; Number of Questions: 80

1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills including communication skills
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4. Decision making and problem solving
5. General mental ability
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc.) (Class X level)
7. Data Interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)
8. English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level)

Marking Scheme: Total 80 questions have 200 marks, thus each question is of 2.5 marks. There is a negative marking of 33% or 0.83 marks. Decision making section doesn’t have any negative marking.

Mains Strategy