Civil Services Examination is held every year in 3
stages - Preliminary, Main and Interview in May-June, September-October and February-April, respectively.
A candidate would not be able to appear in Main exam, if he does not clear prelims exams. Prelim exams are only for screening of a candidate and marks he scored in prelims will not be counted in final merit.
Generally there are two papers in prelims exam. They are:
General Studies 1 (200 marks)
General Studies 2 (200 marks)
The question will of multiple choices, objective type. The Preliminary Examination evaluation is based on negative marking Pattern from 2007 onwards. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
Actually, the purpose of the Preliminary Examination is only to adjudge the aptness of the candidate; in the Final Selection its marks are not taken into account. While applying for preliminary examination, the candidate has to indicate his optional subjects (these can be changed while filling the Main detailed application form).
SYLLABUS OF GS 1
Paper I – (200 marks) Duration : 2 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.
SYLLABUS OF CSAT
Paper II – (200 marks) Duration : 2 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).
