UPSC CSAT Latest Syllabus PDF and Important Topics

The UPSC CSAT syllabus as mentioned in official UPSC civil services notification is quite vague with no mention of the topics that one needs to cover for each subject. In this article, we have decoded the latest UPSC CSAT syllabus for your easy understanding. You will also find important UPSC CSAT topics for each subject, based on the analysis of the previous years’ question papers.

Note. To download UPSC CSAT syllabus in PDF format, click this link: UPSC CSAT Syllabus PDF.

UPSC CSAT Syllabus

The official notification of UPSC Civil Services mentions the syllabus of the CSAT paper as follows:

1. Comprehension
2. Interpersonal skills, including communication skills 
3. Logical reasoning and analytical ability 
4. Decision-making and problem-solving 
5. General mental ability 
6. Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc. (Class X level)
7. Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. (Class X level) 

For your easy understanding, the above syllabus can be divided into 5 subjects: 

1. Maths 
2. Reasoning 
3. English
4. Decision Making and Problem Solving
5. Communication Skills

Note. No question has been asked from “Decision Making” and “Communication Skills” since 2014. So the 3 subjects that you need to prepare are Maths, Reasoning and English.

Maths Syllabus for UPSC CSAT

Here is the detailed maths syllabus for UPSC CSAT paper:

• Number System
• HCF and LCM
• Percentage
• Profit and Loss
• Simple Interest
• Compound Interest
• Ratio and Proportion
• Age and Partnership
• Data Interpretation
• Time and Work
• Pipes and Cistern
• Time, Speed and Distance
• Boats and Stream
• Average
• Alligation and Mixture
• Mensuration 2D and 3D
• Permutation and Combination
• Probability
• Number Series

Most Important Topics for CSAT Maths

We have carefully analysed the number of questions asked from each topic of maths in the past years. Based on our analysis, here are the most important topics for CSAT maths:

• Number System
• HCF and LCM
• Percentage
• Profit and Loss
• Ratio and Proportion
• Age and Partnership
• Time and Work
• Time, Speed, and Distance
• Average
• Mensuration 2D and 3D
• Permutation and Combination
• Probability
• Number Series

Reasoning Syllabus for UPSC CSAT

Here is the detailed reasoning syllabus for the UPSC CSAT paper:

• Syllogism
• Blood Relation
• Direction Sense
• Alphabetical and Alphanumeric Series
• Coding and Decoding
• Analogy
• Calendar
• Clock
• Counting Figure
• Cube and Cuboid
• Dice
• Continuous Letter Series
• Ranking and Order
• Arrangement and Puzzle

Important Topics for CSAT Reasoning

Like maths, we have also analysed the reasoning questions from the previous years, and based on our analysis, here are the most important topics for CSAT reasoning:

• Syllogism
• Blood Relation
• Direction Sense
• Alphabetical and Alphanumeric Series
• Coding and Decoding
• Calendar
• Clock
• Continuous Letter Series
• Ranking and Order

English Syllabus for UPSC CSAT

Here is the detailed English syllabus for the UPSC CSAT:

• Reading Comprehension

Most Important Topics for CSAT English

• Reading comprehension is the only topic from which questions are asked in the UPSC CSAT paper.
• There are 4 types of passages that are asked. Level 1 passages consist of only 1 question after the comprehension. Similarly, level 2, level 3, and level 4 passages consist of 2,3 and 4 questions, respectively. 

Important Note: 

• Regularly read newspapers, magazines, and quality online articles. 
• Focus on diverse topics to improve your overall comprehension skills.
• Practice speed reading to develop speed reading skills, allowing you to read passages quickly.

Conclusion

There you have it, the decoded UPSC CSAT syllabus. Now, you know exactly which topics to cover and more importantly, which topics to cover on priority. Now you can create a smart preparation strategy for yourself for the UPSC CSAT paper.