Pattern or Format of Civil Service Exam!

The Civil Service Examination has a complicated format! The complete exam stretches over a period of one year! So, before you go ahead, let us first try to understand the format of the exam.

First of all, in the month of May or June there are the Preliminary examinations. Now, in this examination, there are two papers. The papers are on:

1. 2.

General

Studies

(150

marks)

Some optional subject (300 marks)

This exam is just to get you to the next round of the main exam. This is just to short list candidates. The score you get here is NOT added to your final score.

Now, you are probably wondering what general studies and some optional subject means, so let us clear that up!

General Studies Paper.

General Studies paper consists of questions on:

1. Indian Polity & Economy 2. History of India including Indian National Movement 3. Indian and World Geography 4. Current Affairs of National and International Importance

5. General and day-to-day Science 6. Mental Ability and Basics of Statistics etc.

Questions on planning, budgeting, developmental programs, latest issues of political and constitutional importance, panchayati raj, electoral reforms, natural resources, culture, growth of nationalism, Committees, Commission etc can be expected every year.

Now-a-days, there is a lot of emphasis on current affairs in the general studies paper!

Basically, the syllabus is HUGE and vague. But, dont worry we shall try to help you with what you need to do. How to prepare for these papers is given later on in the How to prepare section

Some optional subject paper

Here you have to give a paper on a subject of your choice. You can choose from the following subjects:

Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Botany Chemistry Civil Engineering Commerce Economics

Electrical Engineering Geography Geology Indian History Law Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Medical Science Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Public Administration Sociology Statistics Zoology

As, you know, to give the exam you need to be a graduate in some field. People generally choose their optional subject as the same subject that they graduated in. However, there is no such compulsion. You can choose any subject and give your "optional subject paper" for that subject.

To get the syllabus for the optional subject you pick, you can check out this link!

Okay, now after you have given the prelims, you have to wait for the result and see if you got selected for the Main Examination! The results generally come out by July or August!

Once the results are out, you will know whether you are going to be appearing for the Main Examination or not!

Now, in the main examination, there are 9 papers that you have to give! These papers include:

1 Essay type Indian Language Qualifying Paper (300 marks) 1 English Qualifying Paper (300 marks) 1 General Essay type paper (200 marks) 2 General Studies papers (300 marks each) 4 Optional subjects papers (300 marks each)

You can find the syllabus for these papers here. Then finally, if you qualify after the main examination stage, you have to go for an interview. In the interview, you are tested on basis of your personality, mental ability etc. It is seen how suitable the job will be for you. And, if the interviewers like you, you are selected.

This complete process takes about one year. The preparation for this starts 4-5 yeas in advance. And out of the 2 lakh people that apply, only 400 to 500 are selected! To add to all this, if you are selected and only if you have a good enough score, you are free to choose what you want, whether IAS,

IPS etc IAS and IPS get filled out fastest. If you want to become an IAS officer, you will need a great score!

Its hard, but we will try to guide you.Next, let us see how you should prepare for the prelims..

Preliminary Examination Syllabus 2011 Scheme of CS (Preliminary) Examination The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers of objective type (multiple-choice questions) carrying a maximum of 400 marks. The Question Papers (Test Booklets) are set in English & Hindi

Civil Services Aptitude Test The new Recruitment Process of Civil Services Exam is called the CSAT or the Civil Services Aptitude Test. The CSAT is coming into effect from the Civil Services Examination, 2011. CSAT will not only enable us to choose civil servants with right aptitudes but also end the use of scaling system for varying subjects that has been a matter of concern for many. 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). From Civil Service Examination 2011, Preliminary Examination would consist of two papers- Paper I and Paper II. The syllabus and pattern of the Preliminary Examination would be as under : (Paper 1) (200 marks) - Duration : Two hrs. 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 donot require subject specialization General science.

(Paper II) (200 marks) Duration : Two hrs 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) 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.

A set of sample questions for both Papers has been put on the UPSC website for reference of prospective candidates.