The Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), officially known as General Studies Paper 2 of the UPSC Preliminary Examination, continues to be a decisive qualifier for aspirants aiming to reach the coveted Mains stage. While it remains a qualifying paper requiring just 33% marks (66.67 out of 200), its rising complexity in recent years has turned it into a formidable hurdle—even for well-prepared candidates.

Once viewed as a mere formality, CSAT has evolved into a strategic eliminator. Candidates now need to re-evaluate their preparation approaches, regardless of academic background, to ensure they do not fall short in this crucial stage.

CSAT 2025: Paper Overview

• Total Questions: 80
  
  
• Total Marks: 200
  
  
• Time Limit: 2 Hours
  
  
• Qualifying Marks: 66.67
  
  
• Medium: English / Hindi
  
  
• Negative Marking: 1/3rd (–0.83 per incorrect answer)
  
  
• Type: Multiple Choice Questions

How to calculate your CSAT 2025 score?

Marking Scheme:

• Correct Answer: +2.5 marks
  
  
• Incorrect Answer: –0.83 marks
  
  

Example Score Calculation:

• Attempted: 80
  
  
• Correct: 60 → 60 × 2.5 = 150
  
  
• Incorrect: 20 → 20 × 0.83 = 16.6
  
  
• Net Score: 150 – 16.6 = 133.4
  
  

This score is well above the qualifying threshold. However, many candidates with good accuracy in GS Paper 1 often fall below this due to either low attempts or high negative marking in CSAT.

UPSC Prelims 2025 CSAT Question Paper Downloads

CSAT Paper 1 SET	UPSC CSAT Question Paper PDFs
CSAT Question Paper 2025 (Set A)	Download PDF
CSAT Question Paper 2025 (Set B)	Download PDF
CSAT Question Paper 2025 (Set C)	Download PDF
CSAT Question Paper 2025 (Set D)	Download PDF

CSAT 2025 Section Wise Difficulty Comparison

1. Reading Comprehension – Moderate to Tough

• Weightage: 30–35%
  
  
• Trend: RC passages are getting longer and more abstract, often covering philosophical, economic, or sociological themes.

Passage-2

In our country, handlooms are equated with a culture that ensures a continuity of tradition. This idea has become part of the public policy-framing and provides a legitimate basis for the State to support the sector. But the notion of tradition as a single, linear entity is being strongly contested today. The narratives dominant in defining culture/tradition in a particular way are seen to have emerged as the identities and histories of large sections. The discounted and, at times, forcibly stifled identities are fighting for their rightful place in history. Against this backdrop, when we promote handloom as a traditional industry, it is not surprising that large sections of our population choose to ignore it.

13. Which one of the following statements best reflects the most logical and rational message conveyed by the author of the passage?

(a) We need to free the handloom industry from the limited narrative linked to preserving cultural heritage.

(b) Continued State support to the handloom industry ensures the preservation of some of our glorious art forms and old traditions.

(c) Household units of the handloom sector should be modernized and made an economically viable organized industry.

(d) Handloom products need to be converted to machine-made designer products so as to make them more popular.

• Challenge: The questions are tricky, with options that are extremely close, requiring deep understanding and careful elimination.
  
  
• Time Pressure: Multiple questions from single passages demand long reading time, increasing the pressure.
  
  

Implication: Aspirants must practice beyond speed reading. RC in CSAT requires comprehension of tone, inference, and the ability to detect subtle nuances in the options.

2. Logical Reasoning – Moderate

• Trend: Since 2023, puzzles have become more layered and challenging.
  
  
• Common Question Types:
  
  
• Circular/linear seating arrangements
  
  
• Ranking and direction-based puzzles
  
  
• Statement-Conclusion/Assumption/Cause-Effect. For example: 

Three teams P, Q, R participated in a tournament in which the teams play with one another exactly once. A win fetches a team 2 points and a draw 1 point. A team gets no point for a loss. Each team scored exactly one goal in the tournament. The team P got 3 points, Q got 2 points and R got 1 point.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. The result of the match between P and Q is a draw with the score 0 -0.
2. The number of goals scored by R against Q is 1.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) I only

(b) II only

(c) Both 1 and II

(d) Neither I nor II

• Features: These problems require multi-step logical deductions. The difficulty arises from the time consumed in decoding the logic.
  
  

Implication: A student who hasn’t consistently practiced logical puzzles may not be able to solve more than 2–3 such questions accurately under timed conditions.

3. Quantitative Aptitude – Moderate to Tough

• Trend:
  
  
• Number System remains dominant.
  
  
• P&C appeared frequently till 2023 but was absent in 2024.
  
  
• Arithmetic topics (Profit-Loss, TSD, Percentages, Averages) appear irregularly but unpredictably.
  
  
• Rare Appearances: Geometry, Set Theory, Mensuration, and Venn Diagrams are less frequent but often come with high conceptual demand.
  
  

Implication: The quantitative section demands conceptual clarity + regular practice. Reliance on memory-based tricks or academic background is no longer enough.

Is CSAT 2025 becoming more tough?

Over the years, particularly from 2021 onwards, the UPSC CSAT paper has become significantly more difficult. Many candidates who comfortably cleared GS Paper 1 found themselves disqualified because of an unexpectedly tough CSAT paper. Notably, even aspirants from science and engineering backgrounds—who were once seen as having a natural edge—have found the paper increasingly demanding.

The 2025 paper reinforced this pattern, with a balanced mix of Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Aptitude, each demanding focus, accuracy, and time management.

UPSC CSE Prelims Cut-off: Past Years’ Trends

Past years’ trends of cut-off marks for the UPSC Prelims Exam can be seen as follows:

Category	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
General	87.98	75.41	88.22	87.54	92.51	98	98
OBC	87.28	74.75	87.54	89.12	89.12	95.34	96.66
ST	74.23	47.82	69.35	70.71	68.71	77.34	83.34
SC	79.03	59.25	74.08	75.41	74.84	82	84
PWD 1	–	40.40	49.84	68.02	70.06	53.34	73.34
PWD 2	–	47.13	58.59	67.33	63.94	44.66	53.34
PWD 3	–	40.40	40.40	43.09	40.82	61.34	40.00
PWD 5	–	33.68	41.76	45.80	42.86	61.34	45.34
EWS	85.92	68.02	82.83	80.14	77.55	90	—

Conclusion

CSAT has consistently disproved the concept of being a "easy formality." With rising difficulty and unpredictability, it is now an essential component of the UPSC preliminary exam. The pattern clearly indicates that UPSC now expects aspirants to have strong foundational aptitude—whether in understanding, reasoning, or numeracy.

As a result, CSAT should be prepared with the same sincerity as GS Paper 1, and only a balanced, well-planned strategy combined with regular practice will allow you to confidently qualify.