CSAT Introduction

What is CSAT?

CSAT stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test. Starting from 2011, CSAT will select candidates who can appear for Civil Services (Mains) Exam. The candidates who can successfully pass the Civil Services (Mains) Exam and the subsequent Interview, will be appointed for the prestigious IAS (Indian Administrative Service), IPS (Indian Police Service), IFS (Indian Foreign Service), IRS (Indian Revenue Service) and numerous other services
When the CSAT 2012 will be held?
CSAT 2012 will be held on May 20, 2012.
The Notificaion for CSAT will be carried my all major newspapers of India on February 4, 2012.

Last date to apply is March 5, 2012

About 3,00,000 people are expected to take the test and about 11,000 people will be qualified for the Civil Services (Mains) Exam.
What is the pattern of the CSAT 2012?
The CSAT has two compulsory Papers of 200 marks each and of two hours duration each. All questions are of objective type. The marks scored in the CSAT are used for determining qualified candidates for the Civil Services (Mains) Exam only. The CSAT score (marks) will not be carries to the next stage (Civil Services Mains Exam)

What is tested on CSAT 2012?

Papers I tests the General Awaress.

Paper II tests Logical Resoning skills/Decision making skills/problem solving skills/Communication skills/mental ability/analytical ability/Comprehension skills/numerical aptitude/Data interpretation/English Language Comprehension skills

What is the Syllabus for CSAT 2012?

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.



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).

What is the pass score for CSAT 2012?
CSAT is an elimination test. So, of all the candidates appeared for the test, the top candidates in each category will be qualified to the next stage. So, the cut-off/pass score will vary each year depending on the caliber of the candidates taking the exam, the difficulty level of the questions and the number of vacancies projected.
Each paper of CSAT has its own cut-off?
No, there is no cut-off separately for each paper. So, both papers have equal weightage. The scores of both papers are combined to get the total score and the top 11,000 - 13,000 candidates are chosen based on total score and applicable reservations.