The Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Aptitude Test (UPSC CSAT) 2022 is a part of the preliminary exam of the Civil Services Examination (CSE). The CSAT Exam is designed to judge the analytical ability, reasoning skills and aptitude of the candidates. More importantly, it is only a qualifying paper meaning that candidates only have to clear the 33% cutoff to clear the CSAT exam. No rank list is prepared for this paper. So, all those candidates who clear the required cutoff move to the next stage.
The official notification for the CSAT Exam was released on 2nd February 2022 by the Union Public Service Commission which provides all the necessary details about the exam. The UPSC CSAT Exam is a great career opportunity for Engineering, Medical Science, and Law students and for students holding a bachelor’s degree. Candidates who qualify for the Preliminary Examination move forward to the Mains Examination. Thereafter, candidates who ultimately qualify for the Mains Examination along with the Personal Interview stage are selected for the Civil Service Posts all over India.
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-
| Particulars | Details |
| 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 2022, UPSC has already announced the exam dates in March. The CSAT Preliminary exams were held on 05th June, 2022
| UPSC Exam 2022 – Important Events | IAS 2022 Exam Date | Details |
| UPSC CSE Notification 2022 Release Date | 02 February 2022 | UPSC releases the UPSC CSE Notification PDF on the official website in both English and Hindi. |
| UPSC Application Date 2022 | 02 February 2022 | Along with the notification, UPSC announces the application form on the official website. |
| Last date to apply for UPSC Exam 2022 | 22 February 2022 | Aspirants can only apply online for the UPSC prelims exam 2022. |
| UPSC Prelims Admit Card 2022 Date | 15 May 2022 (Tentative) | The UPSC prelims admit card is released a few days before the exam online. |
| UPSC Prelims 2022 Date | 05 June 2022 | UPSC Prelims Exam 2022 is conducted in pen and paper mode in two shifts for each paper. |
| UPSC Prelims Result 2022 Date | 22nd June, 2022 | UPSC Result for the prelims exam is released in form of a list of candidates selected for the mains exam. |
| IAS Mains Exam Date 2022 | 16 September 2022 | IAS Mains Exam 2022 is a descriptive test and is held offline. |
| UPSC Mains Result 2022 Date | To be announced | UPSC releases the Mains result PDF announcing the list of candidates selected for the interview. |
| UPSC IAS Interview Dates 2022 | To be announced | UPSC Personality Test is held in Delhi. |
| UPSC IAS Result 2022 (Final list of selected candidates) | To be announced | Final UPSC Result releases the list of candidates with AIR. |
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 2022 in March with the date of the exam. For the year 2022, the exams were supposed to be held in June but due to the COVID pandemic, the dates of the exam are postponed to October 2022.
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 2022-
| UPSC Exam 2022 – Important Events | UPSC CSAT 2022 Exam Date | Details |
| UPSC CSAT Notification 2022 Release Date | 02 February 2022 | UPSC releases the UPSC CSAT Notification PDF on the official website in both English and Hindi. |
| UPSC Application Date 2022 | 02 February 2022 | Along with the notification, UPSC announces the application form on the official website. |
| Last date to apply for UPSC Exam 2022 | 22 February 2022 | Aspirants can only apply online for the UPSC prelims exam 2022. |
| UPSC CSAT Prelims Admit Card 2022 Date | 10 May 2022 | The UPSC prelims admit card is released a few days before the exam online. |
| UPSC Prelims 2022 Date | 05 June 2022 | UPSC Prelims Exam 2022 is conducted in pen and paper mode in two shifts for each paper. |
| UPSC Prelims Result 2022 Date | 22nd June 2022 | UPSC Result for the prelims exam is released in form of a list of candidates selected for the mains exam. |
| UPSC CSAT Mains Exam Date 2022 | 16 September 2022 | IAS Mains Exam 2022 is a descriptive test and is held offline. |
| UPSC Mains Result 2022 Date | To be announced | UPSC releases the Mains result PDF announcing the list of candidates selected for the interview. |
| UPSC CSE Exam Interview Dates 2022 | To be announced | UPSC Personality Test is held in Delhi. |
| UPSC IAS Result 2022 (Final list of selected candidates) | To be announced | Final UPSC Result releases the list of candidates with AIR. |
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.
Check out the updated Date & Notification schedule for UPSC CSAT
For the UPSC CSAT application, the fee is different for a different categories. 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 2022, 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 on 02nd February 2022.
Read More – How Can I Start Preparing for UPSC Civil Services
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.
| Sr. 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 this pay band does not include DA, HRA, and other benefits and allowances.
| Sr. No | Grade | Pay Band (In Rupees) |
| 1 | Junior Scale | 56,100 |
| 2 | Cabinet Secretary Level | 2,40,000 |
* This has to be noted that these pay band does not include DA, HRA and other benefits and allowances.
| Sr. 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-
Know More – UPSC CSAT Exam Pattern and Syllabus
Admit cards for the UPSC CSAT exams are usually released three to four weeks before the exams. For the year 2022, , Admit cards for the UPSC CSAT 2022 may be released by mid-September 2022. Candidates must remember-
Know More – UPSC CSAT Admit Card and Interview call letter
UPSC announces the result of the CSAT exams on its website. These results are announced and can be downloaded from upsc.gov.in.
Know More – UPSC CSAT Result & Cut off Marks
For the year 2022, 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 |
Check Out Other Exams –
IAS Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
IPS Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
IRS Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
IFS Foreign Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
IFS Forest Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
Ans. 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.
Ans. 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.
Ans. 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.
Ans. The UPSC CSAT/Preliminary Exams are was held on 05th June, 2022. Further, the results for the same were announced on 22nd June, 2022.
Ans. 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.
Ans. 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.
Ans. No, the language for papers in UPSC CSAT is either Hindi or English. There is no other choice of language.
Ans. No. UPSC CSAT exams are offline exams. For 2022, the UPSC CSAT/Preliminary Exam was held on 05th June, 2022. Even more recently, the Commission announced the results on 22nd June, 2022.
Ans. Yes. For General Studies Paper I, candidates are required to study international relations and International affairs. Therefore, reading a newspaper regularly is important.
Ans. 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.