UPSC HAVE CHANGED THE PATTERN OF PRELIMINARY EXAM FOR CIVIL SERVICES FROM 2011. THE PATTERN AND SYLLABUS IS AS UNDER:
The preliminary exams will henceforth be called CSAT. The Preliminary Examination shall now comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each and of two hours duration each.
Paper I -
(200 marks) Duration: Two hours
• Current events of national and international importance
• History of India and Indian National Movement
• Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic geography
of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System,
Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development,
Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate
Change - that do not require subject specialization
• General Science.
• History of India and Indian National Movement
• Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic geography
of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System,
Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development,
Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate
Change - that do not require subject specialization
• General Science.
Paper II-
(200 marks) Duration: Two 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).
• 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).
Note:-
• 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.
• The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.•
• The prospective candidates are advised to note that no changes are being introduced
at this stage in the Civil Services (Main) Examination and Personality Test in the
scheme of Civil Services Examination (CSE).
CLICK HERE FOR UPSC EXAMS TIMETABLE 2011:
THE DETAILS FOR MAINS EXAMS ARE AS UNDER:
The written examination will consist of the following papers :
| Paper I | One of the Indian languages to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Scheduled to the Constitution. | 300 marks |
| Paper II | English | 300 marks |
| Paper III | Essay | 200 marks |
| Papers IV and V | General Studies | 300 marks for each paper |
| Papers VI, VII, VIII and IX | Any two subjects to be selected from the list of the optional subjects set out in para 2 below. Each subject will have two papers. | 300 marks for each paper |
Note (i) The papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature; the marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.
(ii) Evaluation of the papers, namely, 'Essay, General Studies' and 'Optional subjects' of all the candidates would be done simultaneously along with evaluation of their qualifying papers on 'Indian Languages' and 'English' but the papers on 'Essay', 'General Studies' and 'Optional Subjects' of only such candidates will be taken cognizance of as attain such minimum standard as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion for the qualifying papers on 'Indian Language' and 'English' and, therefore, the marks in 'Essay', 'General Studies' and 'Optional Subjects' will not be disclosed to those candidates who fail to obtain such minimum qualifying standard in 'Indian Language' and 'English'
(iii) The paper-I on Indian Languages will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the North-Eastern States of Arunachanl Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and also for candidates hailing from the State of Sikkim.
(iv) For the Language papers, the script to be used by the candidates will be as under :–
| Language | Script |
| Assamese | Assamese |
| Bengali | Bengali |
| Bodo | Devanagari |
| Dogri | Devanagari |
| Gujarati | Gujarati |
| Hindi | Devanagari |
| Kannada | Kannada |
| Kashmiri | Persian |
| Konkani | Devanagari |
| Maithili | Devanagari |
| Malayam | Malayalam |
| Manipuri | Bengali |
| Marathi | Devanagari |
| Nepali | Devanagari |
| Oriya | Oriya |
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi |
| Sanskrit | Devanagari |
| Santhali | Devanagari or Olchiki |
| Sindhi | Devanagari or Arabic |
| Tamil | Tamil |
| Telugu | Telugu |
| Urdu | Persian |
Note:- For Santhali language, question paper will be printed in Devanagari script; but candidates will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki.
2. List of optional subjects for Main Examination
| Agriculture |
| Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science |
| Anthropology |
| Botany |
| Chemistry |
| Civil Engineering |
| Commerce and Accountancy |
| Economics |
| Electrical Engineering |
| Geography |
| Geology |
| History |
| Law |
| Management |
| Mathematics |
| Mechanical Engineering |
| Medical Science |
| Philosophy |
| Physics |
| Political Science and International Relations |
| Psychology |
| Public Administration |
| Sociology |
| Statistics |
| Zoology |
Literature of one of the following languages :
Arabic, Assamese, Bodo, Bengali, Dogri, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.
Note : (i) Candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combinations of subjects :–
(a) Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration;
(b) Commerce & Accountancy and Management;
(c) Anthropology and Sociology;
(d) Mathematics and Statistics;
(e) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science.
(f) Management and Public Administration;
(g) Of the Engineering subjects, viz., Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering–not more than one subject.
(h) Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science.
(ii) The question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.
(iii) Each paper will be of three hours duration. Blind candidates will, however be allowed an extra time of thirty minutes at each paper.
(iv) Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers viz. Papers I and II above in any one of the languages in cluded in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in English.
(v) Candidates exercising the option to answer papers III to IX in any one of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to the version in the language opted by them.
Candidates should, however, note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be made on this account from the total marks otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases, their script(s) will not be valued for being in an unauthorised medium.
(vi) The question papers other than language papers will be set both in Hindi and English.
