CSAT in UPPCS Examination 2012

UPPCS changed its prelims exam syllabus in 2012. Now in place of an optional paper, there will be a compulsory paper-2 on the pattern of CSAT paper in UPSC IAS exam.

How CSAT in UPPCS different from UPSC CSAT

UPPCS CSAT is very much similar to the UPSC CSAT. Both examinations have Comprehension, Interpersonal skills including communication skills, logical reasoning and analytical ability, decision making and problem solving, General mental ability, English language comprehension (Class X level).

The only difference between UPSC CSAT and UPPCS CSAT is that General Hindi upto Class X level is added to the latter. Besides, General Mental ability in UPSC CSAT includes Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level) while the same section in UPPCS CSAT comprises Elementary Mathematics upto Class X level- Arithmatic, Algebra, Geometry and Statistics.

The Objectives

The Paper-2 is introduced with the objective of testing the aptitude of the candidates. The UPPCS CSAT paper is designed to test the decision-making ability of the candidate. Moreover, it also looks for the ethical and moral traits in a candidate.
For example, comprehension section tests how good a candidate is at fact-finding, interpreting text and sifting through information.

Advantages

Now, Candidates who have administrative traits will have an edge over those who are good only in academics. Candidates need not rote things while appearing for this examination.