The Civil Services Aptitude Test is a crucial determining factor in every UPSC Aspirants journey. The UPSC CSAT Syllabus is designed to test a candidates’ critical thinking, reasoning and analytical skills. In order to build an optimal study strategy and ensure your success in UPSC CSAT an intensive understanding of the CSAT Syllabus is key. Read on to know the topic-wise syllabus.
Before getting into the syllabus, it is necessary to have an understanding of the CSAT Exam Pattern in order to plan your strategy towards success. Candidates must score at least 33% or 66 out of 200 marks in CSAT to qualify and reach the UPSC Main. Following is the CSAT Exam Pattern.
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UPSC CSAT Exam Pattern 2025 |
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Maximum Marks |
200 |
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Time Duration of Exam |
2 hours |
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Shift Timings |
Afternoon Shift (2:30-4:30) |
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Language |
English and Hindi |
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Number of Questions |
80 |
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Question-Wise Weightage |
2.5 marks per question |
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Negative Marking |
1/3rd of the marks allotted to a question or 0.83 marks |
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Cutoff Marks |
33% or 66 marks |
To read about the CSAT Exam Pattern in detail, read the linked article.
Although there are no sections in CSAT, the syllabus can broadly be divided into the following categories to help candidates prepare with ease.
These topics can be segregated into Maths, English and Reasoning sections. Read on to know the average weightage of each section, further breakdown of topics, and the topic-wise question distribution.
Following is the UPSC CSAT Section-Wise Average Weightage.
There is officially no fixed section-wise weightage for UPSC CSAT, however, here’s the weightage from the past 6 years to help aspirants get an idea of what to expect.
The UPSC CSAT Maths Syllabus includes many topics. Broadly, these can be divided into topics that test an aspirant’s general mental ability, basic numeracy and data interpretation skills.
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CSAT Syllabus for Maths |
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General Mental Ability |
Basic Numeracy |
Data Interpretation |
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Here’s a breakdown of the number of questions asked from each topic in the Maths Section, so aspirants can have a clear understanding of the topics to focus on.
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Topic-Wise Question Distribution in the Maths Section |
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Topic |
2024 |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
|
Percentage |
5 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
9 |
|
Ratio and Proportion |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
|
Profit and Loss |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Compound Interest |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Data Interpretation |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Ages & Partnership |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Time & Work |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Time, Speed, and Distance |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Pipes & Cistern |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Boats & Stream |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Probability |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
P&C |
0 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
Alligation Mixture |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
Number System |
19 |
22 |
15 |
13 |
18 |
8 |
|
Average |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
Mensuration 2D, 3D |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
HCF & LCM |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
Number Series |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
The CSAT reasoning syllabus is designed to test a candidate’s analytical and logical thinking skills. It comprises questions related to logical reasoning, general mental ability, and decision making and problem solving.
Following is the topic-wise distribution of questions in the reasoning section.
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Topic-Wise Question Distribution in the Reasoning Section |
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Topic |
2024 |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
|
Alphanumeric Series |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Coding & Decoding |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Continues Letter Series |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Analogy |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Direction Sense |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Blood Relation |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Ranking & Order |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|
Syllogism |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
Sitting Arrangement + Puzzle |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Clock |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Calendar |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
Dice |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Counting Figure |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Cube & Cuboid |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Images |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Analytical Reasoning |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
The CSAT English Section comprises reading passages of varied lengths, based on a variety of topics such as philosophy, sociology, economics, environment and current affairs. These questions are meant to test the inference, critical thinking skills and understanding of the test taker.
For instance, the questions might test the following:
Following is a breakdown of the distribution of questions in the English Section.
Level 1 Passages are shorter passages followed by a single question. Similarly, Level 2 passages are passages followed by 2 questions, Level 3 passages are followed by 3 questions and Level 4 with 4 questions. The passage lengths also vary in accordance.
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Distribution of Questions in English |
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Passage Level |
2024 |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
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Level 1 Passage |
9 |
22 |
6 |
25 |
15 |
18 |
|
Level 2 Passage |
18 |
4 |
12 |
2 |
10 |
12 |
|
Level 3 Passage |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Level 4 Passage |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Find the complete UPSC syllabus below.
To know the UPSC Prelims Syllabus, read the linked article.
Check out our other CSAT Programs
Yes, the CSAT paper is qualifying in nature. Candidates must score at least 33% i.e. 66 out of 200 marks in CSAT to qualify for the UPSC Main.
UPSC CSAT tests aspirants based on topics such as comprehension, interpersonal skills, logical reasoning, decision making and problem solving, general mental ability, data interpretation and basic numeracy. For further breakdown of topics, refer to the article above.
The official UPSC CSAT Syllabus can be accessed through the UPSC Website, upsc.gov.in, under the examinations section. You can also find the detailed syllabus listed above for your convenience.
The difficulty level of Numeracy and Data Interpretation questions in CSAT can be classified as ranging from moderate to difficult. To tackle the questions asked in this section of CSAT, candidates must have a solid foundation and a good grasp on the basic concepts tested in the exam.
In recent years, the difficulty of CSAT has definitely been rising. It requires that aspirants have a solid understanding of the commonly tested concepts. However, with the right exam strategy and guidance, aspirants can easily crack it.
