| Old Pattern(Till 2010) | New Pattern (From 2011) | |||
| Civil Services Prelim Examination | CSAT | |||
| Paper | Paper 1 (General Studies) |
Paper 2 (1 optional out of 23 subjects) |
Paper I (General Studies) |
Paper II (Aptitude test) |
| Marks | 150 marks | 300 marks | 200 marks | 200 marks |
| Questions | 150 | 100/120 | 100 | 80 |
| Marks Per question | 1 | 3/2.5 | 1/3rd | 1/3rd |
| Time | 120 mins | 120 mins | 120 mins | 120 mins |
| Compulsory | ||
| Paper I | One of the Indian Languages | 300 marks |
| Paper II | English | 300 marks |
| Papers I and II are of a qualifying nature only. The marks obtained in them will not count for ranking purposes. | ||
| Paper III | Essay | 200 marks |
| Papers IV & V | General Studies - (Papers I & II) | 300 marks each |
| Optional Subjects - (2 Subjects) | ||
| Papers VI & VII | Optional I (Papers I & II) | 300 marks each |
| Papers VIII & IX | Optional II (Papers I & II) | 300 marks each |
| Grand Total | (Papers III to IX) | 2000 marks |