CSAT
CIVIL SERVICES APTITUDE TEST- CSAT
UPSC CSAT is the General Studies- Paper-II in the UPSC Civil Services Prelims exam. This paper is 200 marks. Now, to qualify for the 200-mark CSAT Prelims paper, an aspirant needs to score more than 33% or 66 marks.
The UPSC CSAT paper consists of 80 questions and the time allotted for the paper is 2 hours. Each question carries 2.5 marks on the CSAT paper making a total of 200 marks. There is a penalty for incorrect answers. For every incorrect answer, the candidate is penalized 1/3rd of the total marks allotted to that question, i.e., 0.83 marks will be cut. However, if a question is left unattempted/unanswered, no marks will be deducted.
UPSC CSAT Exam Syllabus
The UPSC CSAT Exam syllabus as prescribed by the UPSC in their notification consist of the following broad categories:
- 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)
The yearly topic wise wattage of the CSAT syllabus is:
As compared to GS I, the CSAT syllabus is well defined and can be easily prepared through practice. If a candidate devotes a bare minimum of one to two hours daily for the preparation, this paper can be easily cleared, as a candidate need only to qualify the paper by getting by 33% or 66 marks. However, a planned strategy is needed while preparing each area covered in the paper as.
One of the best ways to prepare for CSAT is through previous years’ question papers. Once thorough with the paper pattern, aspirants should prepare each section separately.
Mental ability: Questions asked from this portion are of basic 10-12th NCERT class level as per the UPSC syllabus. This section majorly includes topics like time and distance, time and work, percentage, permutations, and combinations among others.
Logical reasoning: It is often said that reasoning can be one of your strengths in the CSAT paper or may consume the most time to solve questions. Either way, only prior practice will help you save time in solving questions on exam day. Aspirants should solve mock tests and questions on various topics keeping the time frame in mind. It is advisable to keep a tab on how much time you take in solving these questions and improve it through practice.
Reading comprehension: Even though the comprehension asked in the CSAT paper is of moderate level, aspirants end up losing precious marks in the comprehension section by spending excessive time solving a passage. The most effective way of preparing this area is by including reading in your daily routine. Reading Newspaper articles, columns, magazines like Kurukshetra, Yojana to improve your language skills and reading speed.
While solving a comprehension, mark important keywords while reading the passage. To identify the keywords, it is suggested to read the questions first. So when you go back to reading the comprehension keep marking those keywords you identified in the questions.
One understated fact about the CSAT paper is the importance of time management while solving questions in the exam. A candidate should not spend more than two to three minutes if stuck on a certain question. It is better to jump to the next question than spend extra time on one question. Time management can be learned by solving the mock tests before the exam.
“Another important aspect is identifying your strengths and weaknesses related to a subject. While solving mock papers, identify which type of questions you are repeatedly attempting wrong and correctly, Analyse your performance in the mock papers. According to that, solve your strength topic first in the exam hall. If you are good at comprehension, solve those questions first and keep the time-consuming questions for the end. “
Considering the unpredictable nature of the UPSC civil service exam, candidates should not overlook the CSAT paper and prepare for it well in advance. A diligent preparation of three to four months will be sufficient to get through the paper.
We at Sangram’s IAS provide a well-planned strategy for the CSAT papers. Our study material is well researched and concise to save time and tide for the aspirants.
Our CSAT Online course will have the following features:
- Online classroom lectures by experienced faculties.
- Proper assessment of aspirants: Aspirants hailing from a technical background have strength in the mathematics portion of CSAT, whereas an aspirant hailing from a Humanities background has strength in the comprehension portion. They both have their strength and weaknesses. Our team will have a proper assessment of aspirants, which will help an aspirant to know his/her strength and weaknesses. As per the need of an aspirant, our faculties and mentors will have a special focus on that area.
- Test series: Weakly test series, starting with topic-based and followed by full-fledged test series.
- Discussion and mentorship: Question to question discussion, followed with one on one mentorship facility, our mentors will be available around the corner to help an aspirant in every possible way.
- Concise study material: one of the major hurdles of an aspirant is the availability of vast study material which makes an aspirant confused about which one to follow.
- Sangram’s IAS study materials are drawn from various sources and are well researched and concise, providing a one-stop solution to save precious time for an aspirant.
Time management: time management is the backbone to clear any competitive examination, our faculties will provide guidance along with practice sets to help in time management.
