(NEWS) UPSC may remove CSAT Paper in IAS Prelims Exams

The way to abolishing CSAT

Union Public Service Commission wants to change the current pattern of Civil Service Preliminary Examination. UPSC has recently sent a proposal to The Department of Personnel and Training to abolish CSAT.
About Civil Service Preliminary examination pattern: UPSC preliminary examination overall combination of two papers. First paper is General Studies 1 and second one is Civil Services Aptitude Test.
The CSAT paper was 1st introduced in 2011. After it was introduced amid protests raised by aspirants in 2015 it was remain a mere qualifying paper by securing 33% out of total 200 marks. The objective of CSAT exam is to test analytical skill and decision making abilities of a candidate.

Topics covered in CSAT

Comprehension
Interpersonal skills including communication skills
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
Decision-making and problem solving
General mental ability
Basic Numeracy (Class X level)
Data interpretation (Class X level)

The CSAT exam pattern for UPSC 2020:

Number of questions: 80 Objective-Type (MCQ) questions
Negative Marking: Yes (1/3rd of the maximum marks for the question)
Time: 2 hours
Type of Exam: Offline exam
Date of CSAT exam: May 31, 2020
Language of CSAT exam paper: English/Hindi
Maximum Marks: 200
CSAT qualifying marks: 66 marks (33% qualifying criteria)

Detailed analysis CSAT 2019 exam is given in the table given below:

Subjects	Topics	Number of Questions
Reasoning	Analytical Reasoning	14
	Coding Decoding, Cubes	3
	Syllogism	1
	Sequence and Series	4
	Directions & Blood Relations	2
Quant	Numbers / Fractions	10
	Profit-Loss-Discount, S.I-C. I	1
	Averages / % ages	6
	Time, Speed, Distance & Work	1
	Algebra	2
	P&C, Prob, Sets	3
	Miscellaneous	3
Verbal	Single/Two Question RC (Inference Based)	30

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Present situation CSAT: Though the final Civil Service Preliminary examination decision has not been taken yet, the upcoming UPSC Civil Services preliminary examination will be conduct on the basis of existing pattern.

Key benefits

Many students who have scored above the Cut off marks determined by UPSC, they are unable to clear the cut off marks in CSAT paper. So it will benefit them to clear the preliminary hurdle.
Also regional and non science background candidates can be benefitted by this if the recommendations can get approval.

Missing Candidates:

UPSC also can take action against missing candidates those who have filled their forms but not appeared in the examination hall may cut down their attempts.

Conclusion

So the decision is in the midway. Candidates must prepare CSAT paper along with GS Paper-1 for upcoming 2020 IAS preliminary examination. If any changes happen DoPT/UPSC will give enough time and inform on their website well before the examination.