The newly introduced CSAT by UPSC stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test from 2011 onwards which selects candidates for Civil Services (Main ) examination. The candidate, who can successfully pass the Civil Services (Main ) Exam and the subsequent Interview, will be appointed for the covetous Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Revenue Service and numerous other services in group B category.
Here, I want to clarify that UPSC does not use the term 'CSAT'. UPSC uses the terms Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II. The term 'CSAT' has become very popular and is commonly used by students.
The pattern of the CSAT
The CSAT has two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each, and of two hours duration each. All questions are of objective-type in the form of MCQs. The marks scored in the CSAT will be used for determining the candidates qualified for the Civil Services (Main ) Exam.
As declared by UPSC, from 2011 onwards Civil Service Examination, Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers. The syllabus and pattern of the Preliminary Examination will be as under:
Paper I | Maximum Marks: 200 | Duration: 2 hours
- Current events of national and international importance
- History of
India - Indian and World Geography - physical, social, economic geography of
India - Indian Polity and governance – constitution, political system, panchayati raj, public policy, rights issues, etc
- Economic and social development – sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographies, social sector initiatives etc.
- General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate change - that don’t require subject specialization
- General science
Paper II | Maximum Marks: 200 | Duration: 2 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)
- 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
All questions in the CSAT exam will be of multiple-choice/objective-type in nature.
ETEN IAS
