If you are someone who is preparing for the Civil Services Exam, then you must be aware of the CSAT exam. Civil Services Exam is conducted for the Civil servant posts in India like Indian Administrative Services, Indian Police Services and Indian Foreign Services. This exam is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). The exam is conducted in three different stages – Prelims, Mains and Personal Interview. CSAT is part of this process of Civil Service Exam and so if you are preparing for it, then this information can be very useful for you. Have a look at the details below:
What is CSAT Exam?
CSAT stands for Civil Service Aptitude Test and it is part of the Civil Service Exam in India. As we already discussed, it is an exam of three stages – like, Prelims, Mains and Personal Interview. There are two papers in Prelims stage. Each paper is of 200 marks and the total prelims exam is for 400 marks. One paper is General Studies I and the other is CSAT. CSAT is also General Studies II.
CSAT exam is an exam of 200 marks with 80 questions. Each question carries 2.5 marks and there is a negative marking of 0.83 marks. The duration of the exam is two hours and you need to prepare very well if you wish to crack the exam. It is just a qualifying exam and its marks will not be calculated for your final recruitment. The qualifying score is 33 percent for you to move to the next phase in the Civil Service Exam conducted by the UPSC. You will have to do well in your mains if you wish to crack the exam.
Eligibility for CSAT Exam
The eligibility details for the Civil Service Aptitude Test are as below. You need to make sure that you are meeting the criteria so that you can apply for the exam. So, here are the details:
Educational Qualification:
- The candidate should have a graduation degree from any recognized university or college in India.
- The students who have appeared for their final year graduation exams are also eligible for applying for the Civil services exam.
- The MBBS students who have completed their course but not the internship program are also eligible for applying for this exam.
- All the candidates with the technical qualification that is recognized by the government of India, as a professional course are also eligible.
Nationality:
- If you are giving the Civil Service Exam for Indian Administrative Service or Indian Police Service, then only the citizens of India are eligible to apply.
- For all the other posts for which Civil Service Exam is applicable, the citizens of India, Subjects of Bhutan, Subjects of Nepal, refugees from Tibet who moved to India for permanent settlement before 1st January 1962 are also eligible for the Civil Service Exam.
CSAT Exam Syllabus
Like we already discussed, CSAT is the second paper in the Prelims phase. It is more popular as the General Studies II paper.
General Studies II or CSAT paper
- Basic numeracy up to the X class level should be prepared like numbers and their relation, orders of magnitude and others.
- Data interpretation
- Decision-making and problem-solving.
- English language comprehension skills up to the class X.
- General mental ability.
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
Age Limit for CSAT Exams
Here are the details about age for applying for the CSAT exam in India:
- For general category candidates, the maximum age limit is 32 years.
- For OBC category candidates, the maximum age limit is 35 years.
- For ST/ SC category candidates, the maximum age limit is 37 years.
- For Physically Handicapped category candidates, the maximum age limit is 42 for general, 45 years for OB candidates, and 47 for ST/ SC candidates.
Number of attempts for CSAT Exam
There is also a limit on the number of attempts you can give for the CSAT exam. Along with the age, the maximum number of attempts should also be considered very carefully while applying for this exam.
- For general category candidates, the maximum number of attempts is 6.
- For OBC category candidates, the maximum number of attempts is 9.
- For ST/ SC category candidates, the maximum number of attempts is unlimited until you reach the maximum age.
- For Physically Handicapped category candidates, the maximum number of attempts is 9 for general, 9 for OB candidates, and unlimited for ST/ SC candidates.
You can read the notification for the Civil Service Exam for more clear details about the age and number of attempts you can try in CSAT exam.
Fees for CSAT Exams
You will have to make the fee payment when you wish to apply for the CSAT. It is different for different categories and here is the information for you.
- For the general Category men, the fee for prelims exam is Rs 100 and for the mains it is Rs 200.
- For the OBC and EWS men, the fee for prelims exam is Rs 100 and for the mains it is Rs 200.
- Female candidates from all categories are exempted from paying the fee.
- PH/ SC/ ST candidates are also exempted from paying the fee for CSAT exam.
The registration process of CSAT Exams
Here is the registration process for the CSAT exam and what you need to follow:
- You should always apply only online and they application process is not available offline. The payment can be done offline, but not the registration for the exam.
- You need to open the UPSC website and click on the post to which you are applying.
- You will be displayed Part I of the application on the screen. You will be asked your personal details on the Part I like your father’s name, date of birth, age, nationality, and a few other details. Also, you need to provide the email ID, educational details, Phone number and address as well. You should now click Continue. Make sure that you provide correct email id and phone number as you are going to receive the login credentials to the email and phone number only. For the next step you will need these credential details.
- You will now get the part II on your screen, where you will receive information about payment. You have two options for making payment like online and offline payment. In online mode, you can pay with debit card, credit card, net banking and other options as well. If you are making the payment offline, then take a print of the pay-in slip and visit a nearest State Bank of India bank. You can make the payment and collect the challan. Once you get the challan number, you will have to enter that number on the same website and complete the registration process.
- Once the payment step is done, you will now be redirected to the Part III of the application. You can now enter your marks in education so far and then select a exam center from the available options.
- Once this step is done, you should now upload the photo and signature for completing the registration process for the CSAT exam.
- You will get an acknowledgement and take a print of it for further reference in case you need it.
Rahul Kumar is a passionate educator, writer, and subject matter expert in the field of education and professional development. As an author on CoursesXpert, Rahul Kumar’s articles cover a wide range of topics, from various courses, educational and career guidance.
