CSAT stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test. It is included as Paper 2 in the UPSC Preliminary Examination.  It aims to test candidates' basic qualities related to civil service, such as intelligence, skills, etc.

• Every year Millions of candidates appear for the UPSC exam, and hundreds of them, despite scoring well in the General Studies paper of the Preliminary Examination, are excluded from the Main Examination due to failing to qualify for the CSAT.
• It is worth noting that most of the questions in the CSAT paper are conceptual rather than trick-based, requiring a basic understanding of subjects like mathematics and reasoning etc. However, it is often observed that students face considerable challenges in solving CSAT questions due to their lack of knowledge in mathematics at the school level.
• Although the role of the CSAT at the UPSC Preliminary Examination level is limited to qualifying. In the changing UPSC CSAT Exam pattern changes, the difficulty level of questions in CSAT paper is increasing compared to earlier times. In such a situation, completely ignoring the CSAT can often prove very costly for students. This can lead to taking highest risk of poor result due to the CSAT, despite having good marks in General Studies at the Preliminary Examination level.

At RAM IAS ACADEMY, we believe that mathematics is a subject to be understood, not memorized. Therefore, mathematics is explained and taught here, so that you can easily solve even the most complex CSAT questions in a playful manner. Additionally, various topics such as reasoning, conceptual ability, etc. are taught in such a way that passing the CSAT seems as easy as a game and your scores always exceed the qualifying marks.

CSAT Exam Pattern:
The CSAT exam pattern for UPSC:
•    Total Number of questions: 80 Objective-Type (MCQ) questions
•    Negative Marking: (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question)
•    Total Time: 2 hours
•    Maximum Marks: 200
•    Number of marks required for CSAT qualification: 66 marks (33% qualifying criteria)
Syllabus of CSAT Paper
The CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) paper covers the following topics:
1.    Comprehension
2.    Interpersonal skills including communication skills
3.    Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4.    Decision-making and problem-solving
5.    General mental ability
6.    Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)
CSAT strategy for IAS Prelims:
•    Candidates should not ignore the CSAT paper thinking it is only a qualifying paper.
•    If candidates feel that their general English comprehension and basic math skills are not up to the mark, they should spend a decent amount of time on the CSAT paper.
•    This holds true especially for aspirants from the humanities and arts background who have not been in touch with such subjects ever since their school days.
•    For those candidates who are at ease with the type of questions asked in the CSAT paper, practicing the adequate number of UPSC previous years’ question papers for CSAT will do.
•    But if candidates do not practice the CSAT question papers, it would be very difficult to complete the 80 questions in the prescribed time limit of two hours.
•    Remember, candidates should score at least 66 marks. If they do not qualify, even very high marks in the GS paper I will not help them clear the IAS prelims stage.
•    Questions from data interpretation, logical reasoning, etc. are generally easy but if the candidate is unfamiliar with them, answering them can be a tricky affair. This is where practice becomes essential.
•    Also, some of the CSAT questions are lengthy and rather time-consuming. It becomes doubly important for candidates to practise mock test papers or enrol for a reliable CSAT test series.

For more information, you can contact us on the numbers given below:
Ph : 8368853795, 8745026950