The UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) is India’s central agency which conducts exams like Civil Services Exam (CSE) to recruit candidates into serve top government positions like IAS, IPS and IFS etc. UPSC recruits candidates into both the civil as well as defence services.
Civil Services Examination (CSE)
Engineering Services Examination (ESE)
Indian Forestry Services Examination (IFoS)
Central Armed Police Forces Examination (CAPF)
Indian Economic Service and Indian Statistical Service (IES/ISS)
Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination
Combined Medical Services (CMS)
Special Class Railway Apprentices Exam (SCRA)
Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for selection of Assistant Commandant. (Executive) in CISF
National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination – NDA & NA (I)
National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination – NDA & NA (II)
Combined Defense Services Exam – CDS (I)
Combined Defense Services Exam – CDS (II)
SUBJECT AREA | NUMBER OF QUESTIONS* |
---|---|
Indian History and Culture – History of India and Indian National Movement. | 16 |
Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. | 14 |
Indian Polity – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. | 12 |
Economics – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc. | 15 |
Environment – General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change | 18 |
General Science | 10 |
Current Affairs | 15 |
Total | 100 Qns (Marks 2*100=200) |
* The above-mentioned weightage of subjects/marks may not remain the same in the coming years. It’s just for basic understanding. |
SUBJECT AREA | NUMBER OF QUESTIONS* |
---|---|
Comprehension | 28 |
General Mental Ability | 6 |
Logical Reasoning | 18 |
Analytical Reasoning | 8 |
Data Interpretation | 4 |
Basic Numeracy and Quantitative Ability | 10 |
Decision Making and Interpersonal Skills | 6 |
Total | 80 Qns (Marks 2.5*80 = 200) |
*The above-mentioned weightage of subjects/marks may not remain the same in the coming years. It’s just for basic understanding. |
If you think that scoring 66 marks out of 200 for CSAT is not a great feat to accomplish, you may be gravely mistaken. We have seen many candidates who end up worrying after the exam.
The difficulty level of this paper is steadily increasing. You need to take this paper seriously.
Most aspirants consider CSAT as a subset of UPSC prelims
A few aspirants equate CSAT with the entire Preliminary Exam stage of UPSC CSE (i.e., General Studies Paper 1 + General Studies Paper 2).
We have never come across a UPSC notification, syllabus, or question paper with the term ‘CSAT’ or ‘Civil Service Aptitude Test’ printed on it. It seems these terms are popularised by coaching institutes.
In this article, we use the term ‘CSAT’ equating it with the General Studies Paper 2 of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam.
CSAT was introduced in the year 2011 as a part of the Civil Services Exam (Preliminary) Examination in order to test the analytical skills, reasoning ability and aptitude of a candidate.
From 2011-2014, the total marks of both GS Paper-1 (General Studies Paper) and GS Paper-2 (CSAT paper) were considered for calculating the UPSC CSE prelims ranking (to qualify for the mains examination).
However, there was a protest about including the CSAT for calculating the prelims ranks by a section of aspirants. The Centre asked UPSC to make a change in the pattern in response to this protest.
In 2015, CSAT was made to be the qualifying paper.
Only the marks of GS Paper 1 will be calculated while ranking for the Preliminary exam.
However, candidates have to score a minimum of 33% i.e. 66 marks out of the 200 allotted for the GS Paper 2 paper (CSAT paper) in order to clear the Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
As GS Paper-2 has turned as a qualifying paper with just 33 percent marks needed, we don’t think that paper can pose much difficulty to any serious student. But UPSC can always bring surprises,and it’s always safe to prepare both papers well.
Our CSAT Paper strategy is very simple.
It’s all about:
Practicing previous year UPSC GS Paper 2 Question Papers (from 2011) in a timed environment as per the official UPSC Key.
Practicing IN120 GS Paper 2 Online Mock Exams in a timed environment.
That would be enough for most aspirants.
Paper – 2 Manual by MHE (CSAT – Paper 2)
Analytical Reasoning – M. K. Pandey (CSAT – Paper 2: Analytical Reasoning)
Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R. S.Aggarwal (CSAT Paper 2: Reasoning)
A quick strength-weakness analysis of candidates regarding UPSC CSE Prelims will give an insight about the 4 types of candidates. Identify which type of candidate that best matches your characteristics. The approach for you depends on the sole analysis of that type.
Enroll in IN120 Prelims Online Mock Test Series.This is the flagship service of IN120 at an affordable cost. This is a time-tested program which has helped thousands of aspirants clear prelims in the previous years.
We strongly recommend all serious aspirants to join our mock test program. Our strategies are integrated with our mock exams.
Advantages: Pioneers in online coaching, trusted by toppers, 40 Online Mock Exams, 4000+ Questions, 2,50,000+ registered aspirants, performance analytics, all-India ranking, subject-wise proficiency etc.
IN120 also provides addon-mock exams for CSAT as well as previous year UPSC re-takes (based on official UPSC key).
Techniques and exam-skills are as important as the knowledge you acquire to clear UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE). IN120 has developed various techniques to clear IAS exam with ease. Some of them:
Memory Techniques
Question Paper Solving Techniques
Intelligent Elimination Techniques
Go through the techniques in detail and gain expertise in those. For more techniques, refer the IN120 Prelims guidancelink.
As the time left is limited, for the best return on investment, we suggest the below books.
Modern Indian History – Sonali Bansal
Indian Art and Culture – Nitin Singhania
Indian Polity – Laxmikanth
Important Judgment that transformed India – Alex Andrews George
Indian Economy Key Concepts – Shankarganesh
Environment – Shankar IAS Academy
Geography – NCERTs
Oxford Atlas
Science and Technology – Ravi P Agrahari
IN120 Current Affairs Compilations
India Yearbook by McGraw-Hill
CSAT Previous 9-years questions as per official key
English medium NCERTs OR Hindi medium NCERTs
Tips:Whenever you feel that learning from textbooks is of too much effort, and you feel time-crunched, focus more on IN120 Online MocksFor example, if you need to revise NCERT History, take IN120 Mock Exam dedicated for NCERT History. By adopting this approach, you can learn 100 most probable questions from NCERT History in just 2 hours!
Plan your work; work your plan!
Make a timetable, which suits your requirement. We suggest a plan which has 9-hours devoted to studies every day.
Rather than trying to finish a subject (which will never happen), try to split your time for all subjects – every day.
For example, if you have 9 hours a day for studies or revision – give 1 hour for History, 1 hour for Geography, 1 hour for Polity,1 hour for Economics,1 hour for Science and Technology, 1 hour for Environment, 1 hour for Current Affairs and,last 2 hours for taking IN120 Mock Exams
Revise daily
Make notes and mind maps, if you come across a difficult concept.
Revise whatever you studied for each subject the previous day, in the first 15 minutes of your next day.
Spend weekends, entirely for revision of textbooks and revision of mock exams.
Take 1 IN120 online mock exam each day
This means it would not take much time to learn 4000+ questions and 4000+ important concepts. This would make a big difference.
Note:If you ask us, the highest priority for any aspirant should be given to practice IN120 mock exams in a timed environment with negative marking. We don’t encourage learning MCQs from photocopies or PDFs, because this would not help the candidate to avoid mistakes they are likely to make in the exam hall.
Attempt previous year UPSC question papers in a timed environment
Equally important is the habit of practicing on the previous year UPSC question papers. On IN120 Mock Exam platform, we have added the provision to re-take previous year UPSC questions (last 9 years).
Once you submit the exam, you will get marks based on the official UPSC key!
Apply the IETs and 3-2-1-0-E method while taking mock exams
Learn the art of intelligent elimination of wrong answers in UPSC Prelims. Apply the IETs while taking mock exams.
Also, while doing mock exams, always follow the 4-round elimination strategy –3-2-1-0 E metho. This will help you not only answer the questions you are 100% sure but also analyse the risk-benefits of attempting questions you are not 100% sure.
Target
By the end of the 30th day, you should have some good understanding of all the above-mentioned textbooks. We don’t mean you should cover every page line by line, but rather a good understanding of all the basic concepts.
The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.
Okay, now you have only 70 days remaining.
IN120 Online Notes and Study-Materials
Go through all the simple, free, and Go through all the simple, free, and>
Also, check our downloads section and store for any newly released study materials.
IN120 Daily MCQs (Most Probable Questions)
Revise the practice the Most Probable Questions we email you for free.
IN120 will be releasing the compilation of Most Probable Questions (Daily MCQs). This will be uploaded to IN120 store and will be provided FREE to premium users of IN120 Prelims Test Series.
IN120 Current Affairs Capsules (CCC) – Monthly MCQs
Revise the IN120 Current affairs monthly Capsule available in the IN120 store.
Though there may be some overlap, questions in the CCC and questions in the Daily MCQ compilation are different. Cover both in-depth.
Don’t spend too much time any resources other than what we discussed above, as the returns on the time you invest may not be high./p>
Also, don’t spend more than 1 hour on newspapers.
You will be nearing the final lap now. Some recommendations at this stage:
Get the book ‘General Knowledge’ by Manohar Pandey
Buy the book ‘General knowledge by Manohar Pandey’ and revise it thoroughly.
Though this book is titled General knowledge, it contains all the basic information from subjects like polity, geography, science, history etc. This helps in quick revision.
Those who are from the non-Science background, take a look at the Science section of this book. It will surely help in a quick understanding of what is needed in the exam perspective.
Analyse your progress and mistakes
Track your improvement while solving mock exams.
Revise our NCERT based mock exams again. Whenever you need a reference, go back and read the corresponding portion of NCERT books.
Rather than mechanically going about mock exams, spend sufficient time to analyse the results, learning zone, and performance reports.
In the final 10 days, this is what you should ideally do.
Focus on the core areas for maximum Return on the Investment you have put in Make sure you focus only on the core areas from which you get maximum questions. (For example: Executive/Legislature/Judiciary in case of Indian Polity, Maps in the case of Geography etc.)
Believe that it is perfectly possible to clear UPSC Civil Services Preliminary exam in 100 days. Many candidates under our guidance have done it in the past, even with lesser time.
Have strong self-belief.
Believe that you can clear IAS Prelims with whatever time left. Give your 100%.
All the best!