Here is a simple and perfect upsc csat strategy for you. This upsc csat strategy is useful for both average students and toppers. Some students are already strong in subjects like maths and reasoning. Some students are weak in subjects like mathematics from the beginning. Almost 80 percent of students are afraid of mathematics. But there is no need to worry about csat. Mastering mathematics is very simple and easy. Mathematics is the only subject where you can always practice and achieve success. For that, you have first to study and practice the simple steps and formulas well.
You don’t need to join any class to prepare for CSAT, you can easily qualify for CSAT paper by self-study. Almost all questions in the said paper are in Hindi and English so it benefits many students of English medium and Hindi medium, but students of another language may face some problems but if practice then these problems will not arise. For CSAT preparation, you have to focus on self-study and most importantly it is important to solve and analyze the 10 years previous year’s question papers of UPSC.
Before preparing for the CSAT paper you need to recite or memorize about 2 to 30 tables. The basic calculation, cross multiplication, addition, and subtraction should be practiced well. All the basic formulas should be memorized so that this will save you time. Only after checking all these, you can start preparing for cast paper. After 12th, we don’t have much connection with maths or maths gets out of our mind. So you have to take care of some basic requirements to start the CSAT paper.
Every year we see that even students with engineering and medical backgrounds fail the CSAT paper. Because they ignore csat topics. On the other hand Arts, Commerce, and Science students clear CSAT papers easily because these students don’t ignore CSAT papers. CSAT paper should not be taken lightly. More seriousness is required for cast paper.
UPSC csat paper is considered to be the easiest compared to other competitive exams. Because math and reasoning in exams like banking, ssc cgl, and railway exams are very high level. UPSC CSAT paper is only of a qualifying nature. Csat paper is of 200 marks out of which you need only 66 marks to qualify. Each question is for 2.5 marks. And there are a total 80 questions. That means you need to get only 27 questions correct out of 80 questions.
To qualify csat paper you should have patience and confidence. Prepare for cast paper at least 1 to 2 months before the exam. Just focus on the basics and remember all maths formulas. Divide the cast paper into three parts- 1. Maths 2. Reasoning and 3. English passages.
There are three main parts of UPSC CSAT –
1. Basic Numeracy (Maths)
2. Reasoning
3. English Comprehension (Passages)
But the Csat Syllabus is divided into seven sections in total – 1. English Comprehension 2. Interpersonal skills 3. Logical reasoning 4. Decision-making and problem-solving 5. General mental ability 6. basic numeracy
7. data interpretation
how to prepare for upsc csat-
You will get complete information about how to prepare for upsc csat and strategy of csat paper. If a student is weak in mathematics, reasoning and English, we are going to guide you on what strategy should be used for it. Suppose a student is weak in maths, he should focus on reasoning and English passages the most. Similarly, students whose English is weak should focus on reasoning in maths. And those whose reasoning is weak should focus on English and Maths. But if a student is very weak in English, Maths, and reasoning, then he should study and practice a little in each subject.
There are three main sections in UPSC CSAT – 1. Basic numeracy (maths) 2. Reasoning 3. English Comprehension (passages).
General mental ability and quantitative aptitude are part of basic numeracy. If your CSAT is weak then we are going to give you complete information on how to prepare for upsc csat.
An in-depth analysis of all three parts of upsc csat is as follows –
1. Basic Numeracy –
While studying this part of Basic Numeracy i.e. Maths questions, you should mainly keep some formulas in mind and practice. Topics like LCM and HCF, square roots & cube roots, average, train questions example, time and work, time and distance, number system, percentage, and basic should be studied in depth. If a student is weak in maths, he should first try to solve reasoning questions. At least a little study of basic numeracy should be done. You need to get only 27 questions out of 80 questions correct to qualify for the CSAT paper. The most weightage is given to the Basic Numeracy section in the CSAT paper. There were a total of 40 questions on basic numeracy in csat paper of 2023. Even if any average student is weak in maths, that student can solve 5 to 10 maths questions correctly.
Suppose an average student even if he gets five questions right, 15 questions in English reading comprehension and 12 questions in reasoning, he can easily pass by getting 32 questions right. Because out of a total of 80, you have to get only 27 questions correct. Even if your basic numeracy (Maths) is weak, you can easily pass by preparing English passages and reasoning well. You should not ignore the basic numeracy part. With a little practice and recitation of formulas, you can solve any question.
2. Reasoning –
Generally, 13 to 14 questions were asked from the Reasoning section in the 2023 and 2024 CSAT papers. Reasoning is the easy part for everyone in csat paper. There are two major types of reasoning -1. logical reasoning and 2. Analytical ability. Reasoning section questions are generally from this topic – blood relation, alphabet test, puzzle, setting arrangement, coding-decoding, distance and direction, classification, and 2D and 3D pie charts. Any average student can score good marks with a little preparation in Reasoning. Getting good marks in Reasoning is the most important to clear the CSAT paper because maths may take some time and English passages may take you some time to solve but Reasoning questions are very easy to solve. Students who are weak in maths should start preparation from reasoning first then solve all the questions on English passage and then solve maths questions. By solving Reasoning questions you can get good marks in CSAT and at the same time by solving these questions you can save time and you can get more time for English passages and maths questions.
3. English Comprehension (passages)-
This portion can suit all students well. English Comprehension questions may take some time to solve but with practice, accuracy will improve. If you want to get good marks in English Comprehension then you have to solve at least 100 to 150 passages and practice daily. Around 40 questions are asked every year based on Basic Numeracy topics followed by English Passage which is the most questions asked. So this topic is of unique importance.
You have to read each passage with a little bit of basic understanding and answer based on the question asked in it but keep in mind while solving this passage you don’t have to answer what you know but you have to answer what is asked in that passage. You need to speed up your reading to solve the questions on English passages. One is only possible through practice. As you read multiple passages and try to understand, your reading speed and comprehension can increase. There were generally 27 questions based on English Comprehension in the 2023 paper.
Questions based on English Comprehension are as follows – 1. Assumption of the author base questions 2. Explicit information base questions 3. Implicit information based question 4. Conclusion/inference base questions. You should start practicing English Comprehension at least one month before the UPSC Pre Exam. If your maths is weak then you can pass csat paper by studying and practicing Reasoning and English Comprehension well.