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Civil Services Exam: Scheme of Exam

The Civil Services Examination is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) every year.
The examination has three stages i.e.,
(1) Civil Services Preliminary Examinations (CSP) - normally conducted during May-June. This year it will be on 12 June 2011
(2) Civil Services (Main) Examinations conducted during the month of October/November. Here, those who are selected in the preliminary examination only are eligible to appear.
(3) Those who are selected in the main examination will be eligible to appear before the Interview Board at New Delhi.

Preliminary Examination (CSP)
After many years (or even decades) of discussions, meetings, deliberations and many committee reports, the UPSC has finally changed the pattern of the Civil Services Preliminary (Prelims) Exam and according to the information provided by the government this entrance test would be rechristened “Civil Services Aptitude Test” (CSAT) Candidates appearing for the civil services preliminary exam will, from next year, have to clear a paper that will test their general aptitude instead of their knowledge in a subject of their choice. The modified pattern of the Prelims means that from 2011, there will be no optional subject-based paper. However, the other paper on general studies will continue as before. The modified pattern will provide a level-playing field to all candidates as they have to answer the same set of questions. The main complaint about the Prelims pattern was that, “It was a test of memory more than knowledge,” To overcome this allegation, many commissions have given their recommendations, over the years, on improving the process of recruitment to the Civil Services. Some of these were the D.S. Kothari Committee Report of 1976, the Satish Chandra Committee Report of 1989, Professor Yoginder K. Alagh Committee Report of 2001 and the Hota Committee Report, 2004. The newly introduced CSAT was proposed by the Report of the Civil Services Examination Review Committee, 2001, also known as the Professor Yoginder K. Alagh Committee Report. The committee, after its study of the officers selected, concluded that a mismatch exists between the “suitability or aptitude and the service allocated to a candidate.” The Alagh Committee recommended an aptitude test with emphasis on comprehension, logical reasoning, problem solving and data analysis. Based on all these recommendations the UPSC has finally decided to change the pattern of the preliminary examination by introducing CSAT. CSAT will test the candidates’ on their aptitude and analytical abilities rather than their memorising ability.

Paper-1

The Paper-I will be General Studies, which includes
1. Current Events of National and International importance,
2. History of India and Indian National Movement,
3. Indian and World Geography- Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World,
4. Indian Polity & Governance–Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc,
5. Economic and Social Development– Sustainable Development-Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc,
6. General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity, Climate Change and
7. General Science.

Paper-2
The paper-II looks certainly like that of management tests and banking examinations, but reliable sources confirm that, CSAT will not be a replica of MAT, CAT or Bank Exams. Experts say that, with the CSAT, UPSC will test the candidates’ administrative aptitude, rather than the Management Aptitude and this way it will be different from the Management aptitude exams. As per the new syllabus, the Paper-II has 8 types of tests. And all these sections have been playing a crucial role in the selection of key employees across the globe in government as well as private sectors. With the introduction of these tests in the civil services exam, it is expected that the UPSC’s recruitment process will be nothing less than perfect, and India’s civil service will have the best talents.
Here is a quick tour on the different types of tests included in the paper II syllabus:
Comprehension:
In this section the candidates’ level of understanding will be tested. Questions can be based on certain real life situations and are trying to find out how well you can find facts, sift through information, interpret text, infer (what has happened) predict (what might happen) and recognize implied meanings.
Interpersonal skills including Communication skills:
Inter personal communication means face-to-face communication involving few people (typically two) rather than large groups. It does not simply involve the exchange of messages. It essentially involves the creation and exchange of meaning. This section included in the UPSC exam is aimed to test the candidates’ ability to understand and manage the dynamics of social interaction, which is essential for a civil servant. A successful candidate should have a natural and highly developed ability to read the actual and potential behavior of others around them and to construct their own conduct in accordance with this reading. Fortunately, interpersonal skills can be learned by anybody. All it takes is awareness, patience and practice.
Logical reasoning and analytical ability:
Logical reasoning is the ability to analyze and critique argumentation by understanding and assessing relationships among arguments or part of an argument. Logical reasoning measures your ability to understand, analyze, and evaluate arguments. Each question is based on a short passage, graph, table or a set of conditions. Analytical ability questions are aimed at measuring your ability to analyze a given structure of arbitrary relationships and to deduce new information from that structure. Focus will be on testing your ability to think logically on the basis of a set of rules and analyze situations using common sense.
Decision Making and Problem Solving:
Decision Making and Problem Solving explains the key principles for developing your thinking skills and applying them creatively and productively to every challenge. This part of the Examination measures your ability to use logic and commonsense in the solving of problems commonly confronted by administrators. The question will generally relate to situations that require you either to take some action, to explain why an action has or would be taken or interpret what the action implies. Questions based on some law and order situations or civil administrative matters also can be expected in this section. General Mental Ability: In the old Exam pattern, General Mental Ability (GMA) Tests were included in the General Studies Paper. Now it is shifted to Paper-II. Aim of GMA Test is to evaluate your cognitive abilities - how proficient will you are at learning and finding solutions, a competency that will impact on job performance irrespective of the cadre you select. Basic Numeracy: The syllabus clearly says that this section includes numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc, which are of Class X level. The questions will tests your ability to use numbers and solve simple numerical problems. The good news is that the numerical knowledge you need to do well in these tests is the math you learnt in school. You need now is a quick refresher course and the application of little logical thinking.
Data Interpretation:
Data Interpretation (DI) questions test your ability to interpret data presented in tables, graphs and charts. DI problems usually require two basic steps. First, you have to read a chart, Table or graph in order to obtain certain information. Then you have to apply or manipulate the information in order to obtain an answer. Though the syllabus prescribed is of Standard X, experts believe that UPSC may not stick to it while preparing the question paper. This section includes Data Sufficiency also. Each Data Sufficiency consists of a question followed by two statements—labeled (1) and (2). Your task is to analyze each of the two statements to determine whether it provides sufficient data to answer the question.
English Language Comprehension:
The English language comprehension questions test your ability to read and understand written material. Questions in this section will be of Class X level and will be tested through passages. The Reading Comprehension test requires a good grasping skill over the English language and comprehending. Grasping a written Text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible. Passage will be followed by multiple- choice questions to measure your ability to read and comprehend the written material, to reason and evaluate arguments, and to correct written material to conform to standard written English. All questions are to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage, and no specific prior knowledge of the material is required. Comprehension question favour people who can read fast and have good short term memory. If you have these attributes, great; if not, don’t worry- you can still get a great score if you know how to approach the material in the right way.

Main Examination

Only those who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in a year, are eligible for the Main examination of that year, provided they are otherwise eligible for the Main Examination.
Civil Services Main examination has two optional subjects (two papers each carries 300 marks), one General Studies (two papers each carries 300 marks), one essay (carries 200 marks) - total 2000 marks.
Other than this, there are two language papers one in Indian language and one in General English at the level of 10th standard. This is to test the ability of the candidate’s proficiency in his mother tongue / Indian language and English.These two papers carry 300 marks each but it will not be considered for the ranking. It is must to clear these two papers. If a candidate fails to clear these papers, his other papers will not be evaluated.
The Main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and the depth of understanding of the candidates, rather than merely the range of their information and memory. Sufficient choice of questions is allowed in the question papers.
Optional Subjects for the Main Examination: 
Optional subjects: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Commerce and Accountancy, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Management, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology. Each paper is of 3 hours duration.
Literatures:
Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.
The combinations which are not allowed are:
Political Science & International Relations and Public Administration Commerce and Management Anthropology and Sociology Math and Statistics.
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Management and Public Administration. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science. Any two branches of engineering. Combination of two literatures in the above list.

Interview

At interview stage, two-fold vacancies are called to appear before the UPSC Board. Interview carries 300 marks. Interview calls are sent on the basis of minimum marks fixed by the UPSC at its discretion. The overall ranking is done based on the Mains performance (i.e., 2000 marks) and interview. Therefore, the total marks involved in the ranking are 2300. Candidates are allotted various services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and preferences given by them in their main application form.

Highlights of Civil Services (Exam), 2010

Following are the important highlights of the Civil Services Examination, 2010, for which final result has been declared on 11 May 2011:
« A total number of 5,47,698 candidates applied for this examination, 2,69,036 candidates appeared for the Preliminary examination, which was conducted on May 23, 2010.
«  12,491 candidates qualified for the Main written examination held in October and November, 2010. 2589 candidates were short listed for the Personality Test conducted in March-April, 2011.
« Finally, 920 candidates (717 male and 203 female) have been recommended for appointment to the IAS, IFS, IPS and other Central Services.
« Ms. S.Divyadharshini (Roll NO.014421), a female candidate, has topped the Civil Services Examination, 2010. She has done B.A., B.L.(Hons.) from Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai. This is her second attempt.
« The second ranker is Ms. Sweta Mohanty (Roll NO.316736). She has done B.Tech (Computer Science) from GRIET, JNTU, Hyderabad. This is her third attempt.
« Mr. RV Varun Kumar (Roll No.021490), is the topper among male candidates. He has secured overall third rank. He has done BDS from Ragas Dental College, Chennai. This is his third attempt.
« The Top 25 candidates consist of 20 males and 5 females.
« Educational qualification wise the top 25 candidates comprise of 15 candidates belonging to Engineering; 5 candidates belonging to Commerce, Management, Humanities, Science & Social Sciences; and 5 candidates belonging to Medical Science background.
« Out of the Top 25 candidates, 8 have made to the merit list in their first attempt, 4 in second attempt, 9 in third attempt, 3 in fourth attempt and 1 in fifth attempt.
« Of the 920 candidates recommended, 28 are physically challenged candidates and  14 orthopaedically challenged; 5 visually impaired and 9 hearing impaired.
IAS is for SMART people
A close analysis of the new syllabus will say that, “now its’ the turn of the smartest people to win the IAS exam; goodbye to book worms, memory giants and subject masters.”
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