What is

CSAT?

01
What Is Csat?
 What is CSAT 02

What is CSAT?
CSAT or the Civil Services Aptitude Test is the name used to refer to UPSC
Prelims General Studies Paper 2.

This paper was introduced in 2011 to test the aspirants analytical skills,
interpersonal ability, decision-making, general mental ability, aptitude,
and reasoning ability.

From its introduction in 2011 till 2014, the marks of both General Studies
Paper 1 and Paper 2 were added to calculate the cut-off marks for the
UPSC Prelims exam.

However, since 2015, the General Studies Paper 2 i.e. the CSAT paper has
been made qualifying in nature. This means that the marks scored by a
candidate in this paper are not counted to calculate the cut-off of the
prelims exam.

A candidate has to, however, score a minimum of 33% marks i.e. 66 marks
out of 200 to be considered qualified in the CSAT paper.

CSAT paper introduced in UPSC Prelims exam

2011
replacing the objective type optional subject paper

2011
to Marks scored by the candidate in the CSAT paper
2014 were added to calculate the cut-off for the prelims stage

2015 CSAT paper was made qualifying, meaning, a candidate

onwards
had to score atleast 33% marks (66 marks out of 200)
to qualify this paper.

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 CSAT
Pattern

02
CSAT Pattern
 CSAT Pattern 04

CSAT Pattern
Refer to the table below to understand the pattern, marking scheme, mode
and qualifying marks of the CSAT paper.

Total Number of Questions 80

Total Marks 200

Per Question Marks 2.5

Total Time 2 Hours

Negative Marking 1/3rd i.e. 0.83 marks

Qualifying Marks 33% i.e. 66 marks

Sectional Timing No

Mode of Exam Offline (Pen and Paper)

Paper Type Objective

English and Hindi

Paper Language

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CSAT Syllabus
CSAT
Syllabus
 CSAT Syllabus 06

CSAT Syllabus
The official notification of the UPSC Civil Services Examination specifies
the syllabus of the CSAT paper as follows:

Comprehension

Interpersonal skills including communication skills

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)

For easy understanding, the above syllabus can be divided into

3 subjects

Maths Reasoning English

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 About Syllabus
CSAT 04 07
Syllabus

Subject Syllabus as per UPSC notification

Maths 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)

Reasoning Logical reasoning and analytical

ability

English Comprehension

We have deliberately not listed “Decision making and

problem solving” and Interpersonal skills including com-
Note 1: munication skillsin the above table as no question from
this topic has been asked since 2014.

The syllabus given by UPSC in the official notification is an

indicative syllabus.
Note 2: For an aspirant, what makes much more sense is a subject
wise and topic wise detailed syllabus of each subject.

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 CSAT Detailed
Syllabus
CSAT Detailed Syllabus

04
 CSAT Detailed Syllabus 09

Detailed Syllabus of CSAT

Maths
Number System Age and Partnership Alligation and Mixture
HCF and LCM Data Interpretation Mensuration 2D and 3D
Percentage Time and Work Permutation and Combination
Profit and Loss Pipes and Cistern Probability
Simple Interest Time, Speed and Distance Number Series
Compound Interest Boats and Stream
Ratio and Proportion Average

Reasoning
Syllogism Clock
Blood Relation Counting Figure
Direction Sense Cube and Cuboid
Alphabetical and Alphanumeric Series Dice
Coding and Decoding Continuous Letter Series
Analogy Ranking and Order
Calendar Arrangement and Puzzle

English
Reading Comprehension

Assumption
Inference
Conclusion

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 CSAT
Important
Topics
CSAT Important Topics

05
 CSAT Important Topics 11

CSAT: Most Important Topics

You have now understood the syllabus of CSAT paper in detail.

Based on our analysis of the previous year’s questions of this paper (from
2011 till date), we have identified the most important topics for this paper.

The list is as follows:

Maths: Most Important Topics

Number System Age and Partnership Permutation and Combination

HCF and LCM Time and Work Probability
Percentage Time, Speed and Distance Number Series
Profit and Loss Average
Ratio and Proportion Mensuration 2D and 3D

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 CSAT Important Topics 12

Reasoning: Most Important Topics

Syllogism Calendar
Blood Relation Clock
Direction Sense Continuous Letter Series
Alphabetical and Alphanumeric Series Ranking and Order
Coding and Decoding

English: Most Important Topics

Reading Comprehension

Assumption
Inference
Conclusion

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 CSAT
Important
Trends
CSAT Important Trends

06
 CSAT Important Trends 14

CSAT: Most Important Trends

Let us now understand some important trends that are important for
an aspirant preparing for this exam.

Chart 1
The below chart contains the year-wise, and topic-wise distribution of the
number of questions asked from each topic of Maths from 2014 to 2023.

Subject Year-Wise Topic-Wise Distribution of Questions

Topic 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Number System 22 15 10 18 8 4 5 5 1 1

HCF & LCM 1 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 2

Permutation & Combination 11 7 3 3 2 2 3 1 6 1

Probability 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0

Percentage 1 4 7 2 9 2 3 3 6 6

Profit & Loss 0 1 1 2 3 3 1 1 0 1

Simple and Compound Interest 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Data Interpretation 0 0 0 1 0 14 0 0 3 5

Maths Ages & Partnership 1 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 0

Time & Work 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0

Pipes & Cistern 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Ratio & Proportion 0 1 4 2 2 0 3 4 6 3

Time speed and distance 0 2 1 2 1 3 2 3 2 3

Boats & Stream 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0

Alligation & Mixture 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0

Average 0 1 3 3 2 0 3 2 0 0

Mensuration 2D and 3D 2 1 0 3 0 2 1 3 0 0

Number Series 2 2 3 1 3 4 0 0 2 1

Total 43 38 36 45 32 35 25 30 28 24

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 CSAT Important Trends 15

Key Takeaways

1-

The weightage of maths questions has steadily increased over the years.
From 24 questions out of 80 in 2014, the number of questions asked from
maths in 2023 went up to 43. This means that more than 50% of the paper
comprises of maths questions and an aspirant must prepare accordingly.

2-

The important topics that can be identified from the above table are as
follows

A
Number system D
Ratio and Proportion G
Number series
B
Permutation and Combination E
Time, Speed and Distance
C
Percentage F
Average

3-

There are a few topics from which questions have been asked almost
every year, these topics are

A
Percentage C
Time and Work G

B
Profit and Loss D
Time, Speed and Distance

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 CSAT Important Trends 16

Chart 2
The below chart contains the year-wise distribution of easy, moderate
and difficult questions out of the total number of Maths questions from
2014 to 2023

2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Total number of questions 43 38 36 45 32 35 25 30 28 24

Easy 8 13 15 17 14 10 10 13 9 11

Difficulty Level Moderate 21 16 9 18 13 11 12 10 11 9

Difficult 14 9 12 10 5 14 3 7 8 4

Key Takeaways

1-

There are easy to moderate level of questions that constitute more than
50% of the number of total questions asked in Maths. This is a very import-
ant observation for the aspirants as this tells us clearly that identification
of easy and moderate questions is an extremely important skill to qualify
this examination easily.

2-

With the weightage of Maths increasing vis a vis Reasoning and English,
the absolute number of difficult questions asked in Maths has also gone
up from 4 in 2014 to 14 in 2023.

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 CSAT Important Trends 17

Chart 3
The below chart contains the year-wise, and topic-wise distribution of the
number of questions asked from each topic of Reasoning from 2014 to 2023.

Subject Year-Wise Topic-Wise Distribution of Questions

Topic

Alphabetical & Alphanumeric Series 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Coding & Decoding 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0

Countinuous letter series 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Analogy 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0

Direction Sense 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 3 1 2

Blood Relation 1 2 0 1 1 0 2 5 1 3

Ranking & Order 2 1 2 3 5 1 3 1 2 2

Reasoning Syllogism 0 2 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 0

Seating arrangement + Puzzle 0 3 1 0 0 8 11 8 6 6

Clock 0 3 2 0 1 0 2 1 1 2

Calendar 1 1 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 0

Dice 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0

Counting Figure 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Cube & Cuboid 1 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0

Images 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 5

Analytical Reasoning 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 8 4

Total 11 15 17 10 18 20 25 22 22 24

Key Takeaways

1-

The weightage of Reasoning questions has steadily decreased over the

years. From 24 questions out of 80 in 2014, the number of questions asked
from Reasoning in 2023 went down to just 11.

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 CSAT Important Trends 18

2-

There are a few topics like Counting figures, Dice, Images whose weightage
has steadily reduced over the years.
On the other hand, there are a few topics like Coding and Decoding, Rank-
ing, Alphabetical Series and Calendar whose weightage has either
remained constant or seen an increase over the years.

3-

There are a few topics from which questions have been asked almost
every year, these topics are
G

A
Clock D
Cube and Cuboid
B
Blood Relation E
Ranking and Order
C
Directions

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 CSAT Important Trends 19

Chart 4

The below chart contains the year-wise distribution of easy, moderate and
difficult questions out of the total number of Reasoning questions from 2014
to 2023

2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Total number of questions 11 15 17 10 18 20 25 22 22 24

Easy 4 5 9 5 6 7 8 15 8 12

Difficulty Moderate 3 8 6 5 10 13 8 7 12 8

Difficult 4 2 2 0 2 0 9 0 2 4

Key Takeaways

1-

Most of the questions from Reasoning fall under the easy to moderate
category of difficulty level. This is a positive inference for the aspirants
who need not prepare difficult level questions for this subject.

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 CSAT Important Trends 20

Chart 5

The below chart contains the year-wise and topic-wise distribution of

the number of questions asked from each level of passage of English
Comprehension from 2014 to 2023

Kindly note that level 1 passages are the ones which consist of only 1
question. Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 passages consist of 2,3 and 4
questions respectively.

Subject Year-Wise Topic-Wise Distribution of Questions

Passage level 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Level 1 Passage 22 6 25 15 18 14 28 14 19 0

English
Level 2 Passage 4 12 2 10 12 4 2 2 4 6
Comprehension

Level 3 Passage 0 9 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 6

Level 4 Passage 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 4 20

Total 26 27 27 25 30 25 30 28 30 32

1-

The weightage of English comprehension questions has varied from 25 to

32. An aspirant can attempt about 60-70% of these questions with 100%
accuracy.

2-

There is no sudden increase or decrease in the weightage this section

holds in the CSAT exam.

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 CSAT Important Trends 21

Chart 6
The below chart contains the year-wise distribution of easy, moderate
and difficult questions out of the total number of English comprehension
questions from 2014 to 2023.

2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Total number of
26 27 27 25 30 25 30 28 30 32
questions

Easy 10 7 12 8 10 9 10 8 11 11

Difficulty Moderate 8 8 9 12 12 8 12 11 11 12

Difficult 8 12 6 5 8 8 8 9 8 9

1-

Level 1 passages (containing 1 question each after the comprehension)

are usually on the easier side, these can be attempted with 80-90%
accuracy

2-

Level 4 passages (containing 4 questions each after the comprehension)

should be targeted first as more questions can be attempted after read-
ing the comprehension.

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 How To
Prepare
CSAT
How To Prepare CSAT

07
 How To Prepare CSAT 23

CSAT: How To Prepare

The CSAT paper is qualifying in nature, you have to score a minimum of
33% marks i.e. 66 marks out of 200 in this paper.

Having said this, it is extremely important for you to understand that

this paper is not a cakewalk anymore. From it’s introduction in 2011, the
difficulty level of this paper has increased over the years.

Follow the below steps to prepare well for this paper.

Step 1 See where you stand

The first step is to understand what is your current level in this paper.
The best way to objectively analyze your current level would be to pick up atleast 2
latest previous year papers and solve each of them in 2 hours each and calculate
your score.
If you score more than 80 marks in both papers in 2 hours each, you will know that you
are quite comfortable in this paper and spending too much time in preparing this
paper would not be productive or efficient.
However, if you score less than 70 marks, you need to come to terms with the fact that
you will need to devote exclusive time to qualify this paper and hence, you need to
devise a strategy accordingly.

Step 2 Understand your strong and weak areas

You may be good in maths but weak in reasoning and english. You may be very
good in english but extremely weak in maths and reasoning and so on.

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 How To Prepare CSAT 24

After attempting atleast 2 latest previous year papers, you must analyze your
performance.
While calculating your score, see which section was easy for you, which section
was moderate and in which section you faced the maximum difficulty in
attempting questions.

Also do a topic wise analysis of each subject to understand which topics of

each subject you are good in and which areas need work.

This analysis will help you in making a strategy that is not general but is
designed keeping you in mind.

Step 3 Start slow but be consistent

Keeping CSAT preparation for the last 2-3 months before prelims exams is not going
to work if you are someone who has scored less than 70 marks in the latest 2 previous
year papers.

Start working on CSAT paper right away, there is no need to devote 6 hours to this
paper but 1-1.5 hour is a must.
Always remember that consistency plays a huge role in your selection as an officer
via UPSC civil services and CSAT paper is no exception to this rule.
As prelims nears, every aspirant has to revise general studies and current affairs on
one hand and attempt mocks on the other. The time would be very limited and the
tension would be high in the 2-3 months preceding the prelims exam.
So, start early, devote a little time to CSAT on a regular basis and by the time prelims
exam is near, you would have gained enough confidence to qualify this paper.

Step 4 Shortlist your study material

This is a very important step. With an abundance of material available in the market,
it is impossible as well as futile to think that you can go through everything.
It is your responsibility to shortlist the study material that you are going to study for
the CSAT paper.

A few factors that you must consider to shortlist your material are:

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 How To Prepare CSAT 25

The material must be as per the latest trend of the exam

The material should be for UPSC CSAT paper and not any other exam like IBPS PO,
SBI PO, RBI Grade B, CAT, etc

The teachers must be experienced, they must have a strong command

over the subjects that they are teaching

The students who are already using the material must be satisfied with it

The teacher must be approachable, you must have a mechanism to talk to your
mentor to clear each doubt

Step 5 Self Study or Coaching

There is no one right or wrong answer when it comes to whether an aspiranrt should
join a coaching for CSAT paper or do self study.
See what works for you. It is not true that coaching alone will make you good in CSAT,
self preparation also has its own positives.
Ask yourself these questions.

Can I analyse the previous year papers on my own?

Can I grasp the concepts of maths, reasoning and english using books
and free material?

Can I ensure self discipline?

If the answers to the above questions is a “yes”, you need not go for any coaching.
Use the freely available resources and you will be good.
Having said this, always remember that coaching serves 3 important purpose:

The hard part of analyzing the previous year questions is done by the expert faculty

You get everything you need to qualify the exam at one place, this saves your time.

You get doubts support, so whenever you get any doubt related to any subject,
you know there is a mentor you can reach out to.

You get a community of like minded people who are sailing in the same boat as
yours and this gives a feeling of belongingness.

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 CSAT
COURSE

08
CSAT Course
 CSATAbout
COURSE
UPSC
27CSAT Program 10

Our Program for UPSC CSAT

Gain Confidence to
Qualify CSAT with Expert Guidance

Concept Classes Test Series

Weekly Live Doubt Sessions LIVE Revision Classes

Vishnu Sir Maths Expert Narveer Sir English Expert Meghna Mam Reasoning Expert

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 CSATAbout
COURSE
UPSC
28CSAT Program 10

What All Do You Get?

What all do you get?

You get each and everything that is needed to qualify the CSAT paper with full
confidence.

This course is a one stop solution to cover UPSC CSAT syllabus comprehensively
via videos, tests and doubt sessions.

Maths Reasoning English

Complete coverage of Complete coverage of Complete coverage
each and every topic of each and every topic of of English reading
Maths as per the latest Reasoning as per the comprehension as
pattern and trend of UPSC latest pattern and trend of per the latest pattern
CSAT exam via video UPSC CSAT exam via video and trend of UPSC
lessons, chapter-wise lessons, chapter-wise CSAT exam via video
tests and sectional tests. tests and sectional tests. lessons, chapter-wise
tests and sectional
tests.

Tests Revision Support

A full fledged test series
based on the actual
difficulty level of the exam
containing chapter-wise,
sectional and full length
tests.
LIVE classes before
prelims to quickly cover
all important topics and
concepts that are
expected to be asked in
UPSC Prelims.
A weekly live doubt class,
access to mentors over
call and mai and student
discussion form to resolve
each and every query.

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 CSAT COURSE 29

Students Who Have Trusted Us!

The material was presented in a

"Classes are literally very helpful and
clear and understandable
fruitful. Satisfied to join your
manner, making the concepts much
course." more accessible

Ms. Siddhi Jain Ms. Suparna Saha

The practice quizzes are a I started Vishnu sir classes and

good addition to the course they are very helpful and the
to keep oneself on track way he's teaching is also
appreciated

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The teaching prowess of the

faculty is of the finest quality
possible.

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 CSAT COURSE 30

Our faculty

Vishnu sir aka VD sir is an exceptional teacher of Maths and has been
mentoring students for various exams including UPSC CSAT for more than
10 years.

His playlist of UPSC CSAT videos on YouTube has garnered more than 10
million views!

He breaks down the difficult concepts of Maths and Reasoning into very
simple tricks for his students.

Vishnu Sir Maths Expert

Narveer sir is the “God” of English for competitive exams, especially UPSC
CSAT.

He has been teaching English for more than 10 years. His playlist of UPSC
CSAT English videos on YouTube has garnered more than 5 million views!

He is an exceptional teacher and is loved dearly by his students!

Narveer sir English Expert

Meghna mam is an expert of reasoning subject. She has cleared multiple

exams including IBPS and SBI PO.

With a teaching experience of more than 5 years, she likes to make the
concepts and tricks of reasoning extremely easy to understand.

Meghna Mam
Reasoning Expert

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 Who Are We
EduTap was founded in 2016 with a single aim: to create such an ecosystem
for students so that each student who comes in touch with us feels safe,
guided and mentored.

We believe that a good teacher has a command over his/her subject but a
truly exceptional teacher has the ability to not just teach but inspire his/her
students to become better version of themselves with each passing day.

Student centricity is one of our core values that we truly cherish. We are
aware that in this digital age, there is no dearth of material in the market - be
it video lessons, notes or tests. What, however, makes us stand apart is the
extent to which we go to deeply understand what is actually required to quali-
fy an exam and design our courses strictly in accordance to that analysis. This
is bound to help an aspirant prepare for the exam quickly and efficiently.

Mr. Anchit Mr. Deepak

Garg Garg
Co-Founder Co-Founder

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