Civil Services IAS 2011 Exam

The Civil Services 2011 preliminary exams will be conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Services Commission) sometime in May 2011. Indications are that the IAS preliminary exams will be renamed as CSAT or Civil Services Aptitude Test from 2011 onwards.

• Optional paper will be done away with and there will be two compulsory common papers for all in CSAT 2011.
• One paper will be similar to the current GS paper and the other to a aptitude paper for civil services.
• It will test a candidates decision making ability, moral ability, sincerity, integrity; qualities required of a civil servant.
• CSAT will not be like CAT, this much is sure.

These should be the focus areas while preparing for CSAT 2011 or Civil Services 2011

• General Studies preparation will require thorough coverage. It can no longer be taken for granted.
• Current Issues from Jan 2010 onward need to be covered.
• Application based questions will increase as is the trend in the Preliminary for the past few years.
• Read The Hindu thoroughly and make regular notes of all latest events.
• Pay attention to mental ability questions as these have increased in proportion. Focus on Probability, Permutations and Combinations specially as these alone can fetch 6-8 marks in CSAT 2011.
• Map reading from a good Atlas is a must as map-based Geography questions are on the rise.
• Focus on Modern Indian History rather than ancient or medieval history. Go beyond NCERT and read up from multiple Historical books if possible.
• Read  Economic Survey 2011 as and when it becomes available. Scan the tables at the back thoroughly. 

• Mugging up coaching class notes.
• Over reliance on optional paper as there won't be any optional paper left.
• Only conventional study. Application based and general awareness questions will increase.
• Neglect of mental ability questions. Their proportion is constantly on the rise.

Yes most probably but not in 2011. In 2011 only the preliminary exam pattern will change but the IAS mains pattern is sure to change within the next two to three years. It is thought that optionals will be done way with in the Civil Services Mains exams as well and there will be 200 or 300 marks papers common to all candidates on Indian History, Economics, Society, Public Administration and so on. So scaling can be done away with and there will be level-playing field for all. This will be good for candidates, for UPSC as well as there will be more transparency, less court cases and more credibility among the candidates.