UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2022: Analysis

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (CSE) on June 5, 2022, to fill 861 vacancies across various posts. While the overall paper was moderate to difficult, a detailed analysis shows changes introduced and continuity followed by the UPSC.

Distribution of Questions in GS Paper I

Subjects               2022

Environment                   11

Polity                           12

Economy                   14

History, Art & Culture   15

Geography                   12

Science & Technology     8

Current Affairs           28

Total                         100

Changes introduced

From the weightage given to different subjects, it can be observed that current affairs has retained its prominence. But unlike in previous years, questions from this section didn’t go after contemporary developments of the last 2-3 years. It would have been a moderate section for students who did a deep and analytical study of exam-relevant news of the last 1 year. Also, questions from the Environment section gained prominence, mainly focusing on basics, international bodies and developments. 

This year’s History section proved that one can never be fully prepared for this. Though Modern India questions were of easy to moderate level, the new weightage given to Medieval India, Art & Culture made it a challenge. 

Another change that can be observed was the nap-based questions in the Geography section. It is significant because there were zero questions of this type last year. Though they were not conventional in sense, questions were mostly in the moderate zone.

In addition to all these topics, questions on International Relations topic took a notable share in the GS paper. They were in some way linked to Current Affairs, Geography & Environment sections and tested students’ awareness of international developments.

All these changes being said, an important thing to note in this year’s question paper is the experimental side of the UPSC. A new pattern in the options can be observed this year. The introduction of the 'only one pair', 'only two pair' models in options restricted the scope of the elimination method used by students to arrive at an answer.

Continuity

UPSC’s love for testing students’ knowledge about newer technology continued as it formed a major part of the Science & Technology section with questions on Saas, Web 3.0, etc. Amidst the hurdles, students were able to breathe a sigh of relief because of the Polity section. Questions from this section were dominantly easy and direct, giving students the additional time to spend on bouncers.

With respect to the Economy section, while the trend of conceptual questions continued, they were slightly more difficult than last year. Questions on topics like NEER, the operation of e-commerce companies, tested the conceptual understanding of students. 

With overall CSAT paper also being moderate and GS paper in the moderate to difficult zone, one can expect the cut-off to be slightly higher than it was in 2021. But the wise thing for a student to do will be to focus on the Mains exam and stick to the plan, as every day counts in this preparation.

Abhishek Patil

Guest Author The author is the founder of Oliveboard, an Online+ Mobile Platform for students preparing for MBA, Banking and other government job related exams. Oliveboard uses an adaptive engine, a gamified group study platform along with traditional online learning tools to help students improve their scores faster