‘CSAT’ stands for
‘Civil Services Aptitude Test’
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Table of contents
- What is CSAT in UPSC?
- CSAT syllabus
- How to prepare for CSAT
- Books and study materials for CSAT
- Online workshop on UPSC Prep Strategy
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What is CSAT in UPSC?
Civil Services Aptitude Test is a part of UPSC CSE prelims. There is no such paper in UPSC Mains. It is a qualifying paper. Candidates have to score 33% to clear the paper.
- Total Number of questions: 80
- Full marks: 200
- Time: 2 hours
Though it is qualifying in nature, it plays a crucial role in passing prelims.
The objective of the CSAT is to judge the aspirants on their reading, analytical & reasoning skills.
It proves a little challenging to many students because of its standard level.
But, if you prepare it with a concrete strategy under the guidance of a senior IAS mentor, you can easily score 33%+.
CSAT Syllabus
| Reading Comprehension | ComprehensionInterpersonal skillCommunication skill |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Basic NumeracyData Interpretation |
| Logical Reasoning | Reasoning Analytical AbilityDecision makingProblem-solvingGeneral mental ability |
Important Links:
- Best book for UPSC preparation
- Civilsdaily’ Free UPSC materials
- Ethics book for UPSC
- 6 Types of Question Papers for UPSC
- Personalized Mentorship
How to prepare for CSAT?
To understand this, let’s analyze a table
| UPSC Prelims | Comprehension | Quant. | Logical Reasoning | Total No. Ques. |
| 2022 | 27 | 35 | 18 | 80 |
| 2021 | 27 | 36 | 17 | 80 |
| 2020 | 25 | 40 | 15 | 80 |
| 2019 | 30 | 26 | 24 | 80 |
| 2018 | 26 | 31 | 23 | 80 |
Analyzing the above table we can conclude:
- Quantitative Aptitude has been gaining prominence over the years.
- The number of logical reasoning is getting less.
- The number of comprehensions is stable.
How to deal with CSAT?
As it’s a qualifying paper, too much time investing is not feasible.
Prepare in any of these ways.
- Make your quant. Strong enough. We already found that even if a student just attempts the quant section errorlessly, he/she can pass the paper easily.
- Work on both Quantitative aptitude and Logical reasoning with the same focus if you feel a little weaker in maths. Because the reasoning questions are very easy and scoring.
- Reading comprehension is one of the most difficult sections. If you are a master of English, you can invest time in it.
Books and Study materials
- Solve previous 5 years’ question papers comprehensively.
- CSAT book – Arihant or Disha Publication
- Mock Tests Series – Smash Prelims
Online workshop on UPSC Prep Strategy
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To gain more accuracy, speed, and performance and To save time, money & energy, they used to attend Online workshops on IAS prep strategy with senior IAS mentors.
