UPSC or Union Public service commission, commonly known as civil services exams is one of the most difficult and tough exams in the country. They have a vast syllabus. These exams can test the mental and physical capabilities of applicants. Applicants, altogether, sit for more than 30 hours for these exams. Its preliminary stage is known as UPSC CSAT or UPSC civil service aptitude test. it has 2 other stages.
These exams are held every year and are conducted over 5-6 months which includes its various stages.
Every year the union public service commission conducts a nationwide competitive exam, civil service examination, for the recruitment of officials at civil services of the nation. This includes IFS or Indian foreign services, IAS or Indian administrative services, and IPS i.e. Indian police service. Civil service exams are conducted into two parts.
The preliminary exam has two objective-type papers-
These exams, collectively, are called the civil service aptitude test or CSAT.
CSAT exams are like screening tests that candidates need to clear for appearing in UPSC mains. Candidates are required to score 33 % of marks to clear these exams to the list for the mains.
These exams being objective may sound easier but they require a thorough knowledge of current affairs along with other topics such as-
UPSC CSAT exams are conducted by UPSC i.e. union public service commission every year. UPSC is a government agency that conducts exams for the recruitment of various high-level central government public servants. CSAT is conducted annually.
Following are the important details about UPSC-
| Exam | UPSC CSAT |
| Governing Body | UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) |
| Type | Autonomous Constitutional Authority |
| Head Quarter | Dholpur House, New Delhi |
| Chairperson | Mr. Pradeep Kumar Joshi |
| Established | 1st October 1926 |
Every year UPSC i.e. union public service commission conducts civil service exams. Its preliminary exam is called the civil service aptitude test or CSAT. For the year 2021, UPSC has already announced the exam dates in March. The CSAT exams have been postponed to 10th Oct 2021 because of the surge in Covid cases. due to this whole UPSC Civil service exam calendar has been shifted ahead. as per the new information, the following is the latest date chart for various events of CSAT.
following is the date chart for the UPSC CSAT in 2021.
| S. No | Event | Date |
| 1 | Exam Notification | 4th March 2021 |
| 2 | Last Date For Application | 24th March 2021 |
| 3 | Date of Exam | Oct 2021 (Tentative) |
| 4 | Number of Papers | 2 |
| 5 | Language of Paper | Hindi and English |
Due to this delay, admit cards are also not issued yet but they will be issued soon. The result of the UPSC CSAT preliminary exam would be declared at a later date than expected too. Dates for Main and subsequently for the personal interview would be declared later too.
Candidates must be aware that UPSC accepts only online forms. Printing the form and sending it across via mail or any other means would make the application form bogus and invalid. All the information related to UPSA CSAT exams is declared on the official website of the UPSC. Candidates can access all the information regarding the exam only on the website.
UPSC released the exam notification for CSAT 2021 in March with the date of the exam. For the year 2021, the exams were supposed to be held in June but due to the covid pandemic, the dates of the exam are postponed to October 2021.
All the corresponding dates like the date of release of admit card, date for mains, and then personal interview have been subsequently moved ahead too. Following is the latest date chart of UPSC CSAT exam 2021-
| S. No | Event | Date |
| 1 | Exam Notification | 4th March 2021 |
| 2 | Last date of Application | 24th March 2021 |
| 3 | Release of Admit card | Not yet announced |
| 4 | Date of examination | 10 October 2021 |
Admit cards for the UPSC CSAT exam have also not been released yet. Candidates can download admit cards from the official website of UPSC thus one should be aware of such release.
For the UPSC CSAT application, the fee is different for a different category. For candidates of general category or economic weaker section or OBC category, the fee is Rs 200. There is no application fee for female candidates or candidates of the SC/ST category or candidates with disabilities.
| S. No | Category | Application Fees CSAT |
| 1. | General | Rs 100 |
| 2. | OBC | Rs 100 |
| 3. | Economic Weaker Section | Rs 100 |
| 4. | Female Candidates | NIL |
| 5. | SC/ST | NIL |
| 6. | Candidates with Disabilities | NIL |
The economic weaker section is that sub-category in which candidates belong to the family with less than 8 lacs as their annual income and do not belong to any SC/ST or OBC class.
To appear for the UPSC CSAT exam, candidates need to fulfill certain criteria. They must ensure of these before filling up the application form as there will be no refund of the application fee
Candidates must also remember they can attempt these exams only 6 times (though the number of attempts varies for different categories). Thus candidates must make sure they fulfill these criteria before applying. These criteria are divided into different categories.
There is an age limit for candidates appearing for UPSC CSAT. This is different for candidates of different categories-
| S. No | Category | Age Limit |
| 1 | General | 21yrs to 32 yrs |
| 2 | SC/ST | Relaxed upper limit by 5 years |
| 3. | OBC | Relaxed upper limit by 3 years |
PSC does not declare the number of vacancies for the UPSC CSAT exam. Vacancies are declared for the civil service positions which are filled by candidates based on their preference and merit position. The candidates who clear CSAT are selected based on the cut-off for the year.
For the year 2021, the UPSC has declared a total of 712 vacancies that will be filled by the Civil Service exam. This was announced after the exam notification for the UPSC CSAT came out in March 2021.
Candidates who appear for the UPSC CSAT go on to join Indian Foreign Services, Indian Administrative Services, and Indian Police services along with many other senior government civil services positions. The salary structure for these all services varies. Following is the basic pay structure for IAS, IFS, and IPS under the 7th pay commission.
| S. No | Level | Basic Pay (In Rupees) |
| 1 | Starting/ Entry Level | 56,100 |
| 2 | Cabinet Secretary Level | 2,50,000 |
* This has to be noted that these pay band does not include DA, HRA and other benefits and allowances.
| S. No | Grade | Pay Band (In Rupees) |
| 1 | Junior Scale | 15,600- 39,100 |
| 2 | Cabinet Secretary Level | 90,000 |
* This has to be noted that these pay band does not include DA, HRA and other benefits and allowances.
| S. No | Level | Basic Pay (In Rupees) |
| 1 | DSP/ACP (Starting level) | 56,100 |
| 2 | DGP/Director of IB or CBI/Commissioner of Police | 2,25,000 |
* This has to be noted that these pay band does not include DA, HRA and other benefits and allowances.
The UPSC CSAT has two papers and the syllabus of both these papers is different. Following is the description of the syllabus that candidates appearing for CSAT exams need to cover.
UPSC CSAT exams are the preliminary phase of UPSC Civil services exams.
CSAT in turn divided into two papers-
For CSAT Exams following points are to be remembered-
Admit cards for the UPSC CSAT exams are usually released three to four weeks before the exams. For the year 2021, the CSAT exams were initially held in June, but due to covid, the exams have been postponed until 10th October 2021. Admit cards for the UPSC CSAT 2021 may be released by mid-September 2021. Candidates must remember-
UPSC announces the result of the CSAT exams on its website. These results are announced and can be downloaded from upsc.gov.in.
For the year 2021, the UPSC announced exam notification for CSAT in March. Candidates who are looking to apply for the UPSC CSAT exam in the coming year should keep the following things in mind-
| S. No | Category of Candidates | Number of Attempts |
| 1 | General | 6 |
| 2 | OBC | 9 |
| 3 | SC/ST | Unlimited attempts till the age of 37 |
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The UPSC CSAT is the preliminary exam for the civil services exams. CSAT or Civil Service Aptitude Test has two objective type papers. Candidates need to clear these exams before appearing for Civil Service Main exams and personal interviews.
Candidates of the general category can appear six times for the UPSC CSAT exams. Candidates of the OBC category can appear 9 times and candidates of the SC/ST category have an unlimited number of attempts till the age of 37.
A final year student can only apply after giving their final exam. They would also have to provide proof of qualification at the time of the main exam.
The UPSC CSAT exams are on 10 October 2021
The age limit for the candidates appearing for the UPSC CSAT is 21 yrs to 32 yrs. This age limit is for candidates of the general category. Whereas the upper limit of the age bracket is relaxed by 3 years for candidates of the OBC category. It is relaxed by 5 yrs for candidates of the SC/ST category.
The application fee for the UPSC CSAT exam for candidates is Rs. 100. This is for Candidates of the general and OBC categories. However, for the female candidates and candidates belonging to SC/ST category, there is no application fee.
No, the language for papers in UPSC CSAT is either Hindi or English. There is no other choice of language.
No. UPSC CSAT exams are offline exams.
Yes. For the General Studies Paper I, candidates are required to study international relations and International affairs. Therefore, reading a newspaper regularly is important.
This exam has a vast syllabus. These exams have many limitations for candidates. Such as an age limit, restricted number of attempts, and negative marking. Because of all these reasons, this is considered one of the toughest exams in the country.
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