UPSC CSAT 2025- Syllabus, Qualifying Marks, Preparation Strategy

The General Studies II Paper in the UPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam is also known as UPSC CSAT. Although it is a qualifying paper, you need a rock-solid UPSC CSAT Exam Strategy to ace this paper. To qualify this 200 mark Prelims Paper you need to score more than 33% or 66 marks. Hence, thorough knowledge of the weightage of each topic and subsequent preparation tips can help you sail through it smoothly.  

Read on for further tips on how to prepare for UPSC CSAT. Before beginning preparation, you must acquaint yourself with the syllabus, exam pattern, marking scheme, and so on.

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UPSC CSAT 2025 Exam Pattern & Marking Scheme

UPSC CSAT 2025 Syllabus

The UPSC CSAT 2025 Syllabus as prescribed by UPSC in their notification, consists of the following broad categories. 

UPSC Syllabus 

UPSC CSAT 2025 Preparation Tips

UPSC CSAT is a qualifying paper in the UPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam. It is essential to score 66+ marks out of 200 to ensure selection in the Prelims. Therefore, the first step to acing CSAT is recognising its importance. 

UPSC CSAT 2025 Preparation Tips for English and Decision-Making 

  • Read English Grammar and Composition by Wren & Martin, or Objective General English by SP Bakshi for basic English grammar revision.
  • Read The Hindu Editorials regularly to build good reading and comprehension skills for Reading Comprehension passages. 
  • Improve your vocabulary either by extensive reading or through Flash Cards/ Vocabulary Modules. 
  • If time permits, you can also read simple English Novels to enhance your reading, comprehension skills and vocabulary. 

UPSC CSAT 2025 Preparation Tips for Maths and Logical Reasoning 

  • Look through the Previous Years’ Papers to understand the depth in which you need to cover each topic. 
  • Start by developing a basic understanding of each topic. Our CSAT Online Courses are ideal for this. 
  • Thereafter, consistent practice is key to retaining these concepts. 

UPSC CSAT 2025 Preparation Tips - Step-by-Step Guide 

#1 Don’t Underestimate UPSC CSAT

  • Since CSAT is a qualifying exam, most students take it lightly but are unable to clear the exam. 
  • Hence, ensure that while preparing for Prelims, you dedicate enough time to CSAT preparation. Dedicate at least one day a week to it, to revise your notes or solve a CSAT mock. 
  • Otherwise, despite scoring high marks in GS Paper I you will be exempted from the merit list. Aim to score at least 120+ in all mock tests. 

#2 Assess your level before beginning the preparation 

  • Before starting CSAT preparation, it is important to know your strengths and weaknesses with regard to the CSAT paper. 
  • Solve UPSC Previous Years’ Papers and check to analyse your weak areas. If your score is above 100, you need minimal to no preparation as you are above the qualifying marks. 
  • However, if your marks fall below 100, you should identify your weaknesses, look for the topics that are easiest to prepare, and start working on these areas immediately. 

#3 Buy Comprehensive UPSC CSAT Study Material 

  • There is an abundance of UPSC CSAT Study Material available in the market, however, the most recommended is Career Launcher Study Material. 
  • Each topic is presented in an extremely comprehensive manner and will allow you to practice and revise each topic in a brief period of time. 
  • So, if your score is less than 100 or you think you need a revision manual, this one should be the go-to CSAT manual for your CSAT preparation. 

#4 Attempt UPSC CSAT Mock Tests

  • Regardless of how well-prepared you are, solving CSAT Mock Tests is vital. It will help you in efficient revision of topics in the stipulated time. This is the most important part of the overall CSAT strategy for UPSC Prelims.
  • Having knowledge isn’t sufficient, you need to be able to solve the questions in a fixed amount of time. Hence, practice is key- and the best way to practice is by attempting mock tests. Make it a point to solve Mock Tests at least once a week to enhance your speed and accuracy.

Also read: UPSC Preparation Strategy

UPSC CSAT 2025 Exam Trend Analysis (2019-2024)

As a UPSC Aspirant, it is extremely beneficial to analyse the UPSC Exam’s past years’ trends to gauge the possible pattern of the upcoming paper. Hence, the UPSC CSAT 2025 topic-wise weightage is as follows.

UPSC CSAT Topic-Wise Weightage

Year

Comprehension 

Reasoning

Maths

Total

2019

30

18

32

80

2020

25

10

45

80

2021

27

17

36

80

2022

27

15

38

80

2023

26

11

43

80

2024

27

15

38

80

As can be observed from the table, throughout the years, comprehension and maths are important sections that consistently carry a lot of weightage. Hence, if you practice sufficient questions from these topics and get these sections right in the exam, you will be able to qualify CSAT easily.

UPSC CSAT Booklist for Prelims Preparation

Adopt a smart approach and work on topics that seem doable for you. Any standard book by TMH publication or Arihant Publication would suffice for UPSC CSAT Preparation. Consistent practice is the key element in the UPSC Prelims CSAT Strategy. Hence, practice as many questions as you can from these manual-like books but be careful of incorrect answers in these books. However, the best recommendation would be books from GKP Publications. 

Additionally, you can check out our UPSC CSAT courses that cover all the topics in the syllabus with ease. 

Also read: Best Booklist for UPSC Preparation 

Frequently Asked Questions

CSAT stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test. It is officially known as General Studies Paper 2 and is included in the UPSC Civil Services Prelims Examination.

CSAT is a 200-mark paper, consisting of 80 questions of 2.5 marks each.

Yes, for every wrong answer, there is ⅓ rd negative marking. However, there is no negative marking for unattempted questions.

You must score a minimum of 33% or 66 marks to qualify for the CSAT paper.

Since CSAT is qualifying in nature, the score will not be added to the final score. However, without qualifying in CSAT you cannot make it to the Main, even if you qualify in GS Paper I.

As per the UPSC Notification 2025, these are the topics mentioned in the syllabus. 

  • Comprehension 
  • Interpersonal skills including communication skills
  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability
  • Decision-making and problem-solving
  • General Mental Ability 
  • Basic Numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X level)

Since it is qualifying in nature, many candidates neglect CSAT and lose their attempt at UPSC Main. To prepare, you can read the syllabus carefully, identify the topics that are already familiar to you, practice them well, and attempt as many mocks as possible to boost your confidence.