The Civil Services Preliminary Examination is scheduled to be conducted on the 20th May. It is expected that about 35000 candidates from Andhra Pradesh would have applied for the examination. However, the number of candidates who would be actually appearing for the examination would not be more than 15,000. This is an account of the fact that every year not more than 50% of the candidates actually appear at the examination. (Last year 36000 people had applied but only around 16000 actually appeared at the exam) More over since the Group-I Screening Test is scheduled to be conducted exactly a week after the Civil Services Prelims many candidates are expected to postpone their attempt at the Preliminary this year.
However, the competition at the All India level is expected to increase and every candidate should pitch himself against the All India level of competition. In such a scenario a proper strategy for the examination is of paramount importance.
SYLLABUS: There are two papers in the preliminary
PAPER-I
This accounts for 200 marks and comprises 100 questions. Each question fetches 1 mark and there are penalty marks for wrong answers. The syllabus outlined comprises the following areas:
1. Current Affairs
2. General Knowledge
3. History of India and Indian National Movement
4. Indian Polity and Governance
5. General Science
6. Economic and Social Development
7. India and the World Geography
8. Environmental Ecology
PAPER-II
This paper was introduced last year replacing the optional so that all candidates appear at common papers. This is to ensure a level playing field. The number of questions was 80. Each question accounts for 2 ½ marks. The syllabus outlined is as follows :
General Studies – Paper-II ( 200 marks ) ( 2 hours)
1. Comprehension
2. Inter-Personal Skills including Communication skills
3. Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability
4. Decision Making and Problem Solving
5. General Mental Ability
6. Basic Numeracy ( Class X level ), Data Interpretation (Class X level )
7. English Language Comprehension Skills (Class X level)
Also Read : Why Negative Marking in Civils Prelims?