Civil Services Aptitude Test
The new Recruitment Process of Civil Services Exam conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) is called the CSAT or the Civil Services Aptitude Test. The CSAT has come into effect from the Civil Services Examination, 2011. CSAT will not only enable us to choose civil servants with right aptitudes but also end the use of scaling system for varying subjects that has been a matter of concern for many.
No changes are being introduced at this stage in the Civil Services (Main) Examination and Personality Test in the scheme of Civil Services Examination (CSE).
Scheme of Civil Services Examination
The Civil Services Examination consists of two successive stages -
(i) Civil Services Preliminary Examination
(Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and
(ii) Civil Services Main Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts
noted above.
The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of
400 marks. There are two compulsory papers of 200 marks each. The question papers are be set both in
Hindi and English. However, questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills are tested
through passages from English Language only without providing Hindi translation. Each paper is of two hours duration. Blind candidates are allowed extra time of twenty minutes for each paper.
Scheme of CS (Preliminary) Examination
This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main
Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main
Examination will be about twelve to thirteen
times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year in the various
Services and Posts. Only those candidates
who are declared by the Commission to
have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission
to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.
UPSC Prelims Exam Syllabus 2013
A-Preliminary Examination
Paper
I -(200 marks) Duration : Two hours
Current
events of national and international importance
History
of India and Indian National Movement
Indian
and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic
Geography
of India and the World.
Indian
Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political
System,
Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Economic
and Social Development-Sustainable
Development,
Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social
Sector
Initiatives, etc.
General
issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change -
that do not require subject specialization and Climate Change -
that do not require subject specialization
Paper
II-(200 marks) Duration : Two hours
Comprehension
Interpersonal
skills including communication skills;
Logical
reasoning and analytical ability
Decision
making and problem solving
General
mental ability
Basic
numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of
magnitude,
etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation
(charts,
graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X
level)
English
Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
Note
1 : Questions relating to English Language
Comprehension
skills of Class X level (last item in the
Syllabus
of Paper-II) will be tested through passages
from
English language only without providing Hindi
translation
thereof in the question paper.
Note
2 : The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
Note
3: It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of
Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation.
Therefore
a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in
both the papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.
More on Civil Services Examinations
A set of sample questions for both Papers has given below for reference of prospective candidates.
