What is CSAT in the UPSC Exam? Everything to know about the CSAT Paper

Every aspirant who has once aspired or anyone who hopes to become an IPS or IAS officer, or someone who has the desire of serving their country has to go through these tests to accomplish their dreams. Clearing these examinations is not an easy task, one has to go through several obstacles to achieve the tests and become an IAS or IPS officer.

The Civil Services Aptitude Test or CSAT is an assessment performed every year for candidates who aspire to be another servant of their country. These examinations are the most complicated tests administered by the government.

In this article, we shall discuss everything about the CSAT paper in the UPSC exam. What is CSAT in UPSC? What are the CSAT and general studies papers in UPSC prelims? So do read the article till the end to know everything.

What is the CSAT Paper in UPSC?

The CSAT is one of the phases of the Civil Services Examinations (CSE). The CSE is a national competitive assessment that is taken by pupils all over India. This examination is performed by the Union Public Service Commission for enrolling students in several Civil Services of the Government of India, comprising the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Police Service, and the Indian Foreign Service.

The CSAT was formulated in the year 2011 as a component of the UPSC Civil Services Exam (Preliminary) to measure the analytical capabilities, reasoning skills, and aptitude of IAS candidates. Ever since the government inaugurated CSAT as a component of the UPSC civil service prelims in 2011, there has been some anxiety in the minds of nominees who are from a non-English atmosphere or those nominees who feel their English is not up to the level. Candidates had also protested against this test demanding to eliminate it from the UPSC examination.

What Are the CSAT and General Studies Papers in UPSC Prelims?

The preliminary round is the initial stage and consists of two papers, General Studies Paper 1 and General Studies Paper 2. The UPSC relates to the CSAT test as the General Studies (GS) Paper 2. Some candidates assume CSAT as an alternative phrase for the whole Civil Service Preliminary Examination comprising General Studies Paper 1 and General Studies Paper 2.

Competitors are supervised to comprehend the whole syllabus of UPSC so they are not caught in difficulty while preparing. The candidates have to know that General Studies Paper 2 means different in both Preliminary and Mains stages.

In the preliminary assessment General Studies Paper 2 refers to CSAT, whereas in the mains examination, General Studies Paper 2 is assessed as the Polity, Governance, International Relations paper, Constitution, and the Social Justice. Students usually get confused about the difference of the paper in the two categories.

Also Read: Best Website for UPSC CSAT Preparation: Take Your Preparations a Notch Higher

Phases of the UPSC Examination

The UPSC or the CSE examination is conducted mainly in three phases:

# A preliminary analysis that consists of two objective-type papers comprising General studies paper 1 and the General studies paper 2 which is also known as the Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT).

# The main examination contains nine papers of the conventional kind. In this assessment, two papers are qualifying and are only seven marks observed by a personality test.

The UPSC test is performed every year by the Government of India to appoint nominees for the Civil Services Main Exam. Lakhs of students emerge every year in the examination desiring to become an IAS or IPS officer. It is the most complicated exam conducted by the government. Certain students have been trying to clear this exam for years, but still fail.

Pattern of CSAT Exam

CSAT test is conducted in the preliminary round of UPSC. The maximum marks of this paper are 200, which comprise 80 multiple option questions with a negative marking of 1/3rd. The duration of this exam is 2 hours in an offline mode and the nominee must attain a minimum of 66 marks in the assessment to pass it. The question paper is available in two languages: English as well as Hindi. It includes the syllabus that has comprehension, interpersonal abilities along with basic numeracy, effective communication aptitudes, data interpretation, standard logical reasoning, and proficiency of analysis with decision making and problem-solving brain and general skills of the mind.

This test gives the aspirant a wider outlook of understanding various aspects of one’s personality and capability of the mind. The candidate must be motivated regularly to be extraordinary and more specifically intelligent in progression.

Syllabus for General Studies Paper 1 and CSAT Examination

The general studies paper-I comprises questions from the following topics:

#General Science

#Indian polity and its governance

#Current affairs of India and overseas or foreign countries

#History of India and National movement of India

#Physical Geography of India and the globe

#Social and economic development

#Subjects related to environments such as climate change, environmental ecology and biodiversity.

The general studies paper-II or the CSAT comprises questions from the following topic:

#Comprehensive skills

#Communication and other interpersonal skills

#Analytical ability and logical reasoning

#Problem solving and decision making

#Mental ability skills

#Data interpretation and Numeracy skill of class 10th level

Also Read: CSAT Questions for UPSC: Check Out the CSAT Sample Papers and Patterns

CSAT Syllabus

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

Interpersonal abilities don’t require memorizing the theory of any special subject. An individual just has to be meaningful and fluent in their transmissions. The candidates can practice the last year’s questions from any workbook of their choice, which would be enough. Having good language skills helps in having better interaction. Students must first focus on their language skills and grammar. They must read and exercise their communication capabilities to get better and faster for the examination.

General Capabilities of an Individual

Students of accountancy or those who are preparing for similar examinations of accountants will be familiar with this section. This category mainly deals with the concept of reasoning with topics such as averages, ratios, direction sense, percentages, time and work, proportions, blood relation, clock, and permutation. Students having good knowledge of commercial mathematics are capable of solving this section easily.

Comprehension Skills

The CSAT question paper comprises 6 to 9 comprehension passages. Each comprehension paragraph has 2 to 7 questions that should be resolved after reading the passage. As the duration is only 2 hours, you can’t devote more than 3 minutes to every paragraph. So to clear the reading comprehension paragraph, a candidate should build the method of fast reading.

Practising a few comprehension passages before the exam can help you read them fast and precisely. As the period is less the candidate should build the ability to do things faster with accuracy, learning time management.

Analytical Capability and Logical Reasoning

It is one of the scoring sections of the paper, where you need more and more practice rather than reading the subject. The questions asked on logical reasoning in the paper aren’t difficult. One can choose any workbook of their preference and start practising it regularly by solving it. A candidate should also read and understand all the crucial topics and theories for the section. But nothing would be more beneficial than exercising as many questions as possible.

Problem Solving and Decision Making

This section consists of around 8 questions to answer. The questions are situation-based and generic, rather than technical. This section required more logical thinking and analytical skills. It is not an easy category for the candidates. To resolve that, candidates need a lot of training before the examination. It is recommended that the nominees should solve this category first, as it is now following the negative marking rule. This category helps observe the use of logic and common perception by the candidate in solving problems engaged during administration.

How to Prepare for the CSAT?

There are several ways to prepare well for the CSAT. Few aspirants take the CSAT exam for granted and end up losing marks in the prelims. An individual appearing for an examination should first know the pattern of the test and start preparing accordingly rather than only concentrating on the easy section or the interested one.

Preparing for the UPSC exam is not an easy task. There are lakhs of competitors and the questions asked in the paper are not simple. There are a few candidates who clear this exam on the third attempt. Many coaching classes have been conducted every year for the students to prepare well. Following a proper scheme and smart tactics will help you score better and clear the exam in the first attempt itself.

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC CSAT Paper 2? CSAT Explained in an Easy Way for You

CSAT Preparation

The CSAT exam is an aptitude test of the candidate. It is a personality test of the aspirant, where logical and analytical skills are assessed. Preparing for the CSAT is not very complicated. An individual with good language and communication abilities will be able to deal easily with this exam.

Below are a few preparation tips for the aspirants to help them prepare better for the CSAT exam more precisely and reasonably.

Know the Exam

Before preparing it is very important to acknowledge the exam accurately. There are a few students who start preparing without knowing the pattern of the examination. A candidate must understand all the syllabus and patterns of each section of the examination. Once you get an idea of the test pattern, preparation becomes easier.

Get details from students who have already given the exam, review last year’s question papers, and make a study plan for all the subjects. Mark the crucial topics which need to be concentrated more than others while preparing. If the first step of the preparation is taken smoothly, everything goes very steady inflow.

Practise Makes You the Perfect

Once you are done with the whole preparation. Try to solve model papers or last year’s question papers. There are many mock tests available online for the students to exercise well before the examination.

Practising makes you assure that you are prepared well and ready to appear for the examinations. When you get good results in the mock tests, it gives you self-satisfaction and confidence to encounter the main exam. Candidates must understand the technique and never take the mock tests for granted. It reflects your preparation and will let you know where you are going wrong.

Conclusion

Hoping that the above article was helpful for you to know everything about the CSAT paper and general studies paper 1 of the UPSC preliminary round. The CSE exam is the most challenging examination for the aspirants. Clearing the UPSC has always been a tough task for all the candidates.

If you are looking for more such content related to CSAT or the UPSC examinations then do visit the website UPSC Pathshala for proper guidance for the aspirants for the IAS examination with the best quality teaching and daily content update.