Interesting Statistics About the Civil Services Exam

In Prelims 2011 exam UPSC out did itself. I always thought UPSC was one step ahead of the candidates and coaching classes but today I have to admit it’s more than 2 steps ahead. Whats Prelims 2011 proved is that you can no longer take anything for granted or try to determine a pattern to the Prelims. Because the new prelims syllabus has been set in such a way that UPSC can tweak the prelims paper and pattern in any way it desires. This is just what happened today. Keep reading for the complete analysis of Prelims 2011 and for the estimated cut off in prelims 2011 at the end.

Prelims 2011 Paper 1 Analysis

After going through Paper 1 of Prelims 2011 the first question that comes to mind is where are the current affairs questions? Every year most candidates, including Prelims veterans, rely heavily on current affairs to see them though in GS but this year current affairs questions were almost completely ignored except for a few like START Treaty and Budget 2011. Otherwise there were no questions on current events. Zilch. This made the 2011 Prelims Paper 1 an altogether unexplored proposition.

The second thing to note was the number of Environment-conservation related questions. Climate change, global warming, bio diversity, ecology and environment are very important issues and UPSC has been asking quite a few questions related to these issues in GS Mains. But it set a new record for itself by asking nearly 20-25 questions in Prelims 2011. That this was unexpected is to put it mildly. In fact the entire Prelims pattern went for a toss as no Map-based questions were asked and candidates had to really know something about environment and ecology to score well in Paper 1. Such was the emphasis on it.

So Should You Solely Focus on Environment and Ecology from Now on

Far from it . UPSC has shown that mix and match is going to be the buzzword in IAS Prelims from now on. If this year they almost completely ignored current events, in next year’s Prelims you could find yourself overwhelmed with current affairs questions to the total exclusion of environment based questions. So overall coverage has to be the mantra in IAS Prelims. Not selective approach.

Prelims 2011: Paper 1 Questions Were Lengthy

Yes it took a lot more time to read the questions than actually think about the answers. Also the options provided didn’t really help either. Most of the questions had All of the Above are Right type of option and this made selecting the right option quite a challenging task.

Hardly Any Fact-based Questions in Paper 1

Most of the paper 1 of Prelims 2011 was theory based. No questions on Sports or Personalities were asked. Economy questions were also theory based. Such questions require a good understanding of the basics. A last minute study strategy focusing solely on current events, facts and figures proved completely flop in this year’s IAS prelims.

100 Questions in Paper 1 and 80 in Paper 2 => Complete Surprise!

While I got it wrong initially thinking there would be 200 questions in each paper, the number of questions actually asked beat everyone’s predictions. When you faced 100 questions in paper 1 of Prelims 2011 you might have correctly assumed to face similar number of questions in Paper 2 as well. But what a surprise. Just 80 questions in Paper 2 and that not all had negative marking. In fact, 8 questions regarding Decision Making in Prelims 2011 had no negative marking. I hope you attempted them first as they were risk free.

So What Does This Imply?

This means UPSC CAN vary the number of questions in every Prelims from now on more so as it has no where mentioned the number of questions to be asked in the Prelims. So if there were 100 questions in Paper 1 in 2011 Prelims this number could go to 120 or 80 or remain at 100 next year. No one can say for sure. Also UPSC CAN ask some questions that don’t carry negative marks just like it did in Paper 2 this year.

Tip: Attempt questions that don’t carry any negative penalty first. Don’t leave them till the end as you might make silly mistakes or won’t have enough time to attempt them in the end.

The Time Provided Was Just Right

Yes. I just have to agree to this. 120 minutes to tackle 100 questions in Paper 1 and 120 minutes for 80 long-winding questions of Paper 2 was just right. But you had to be quick. Spending too much time on a single question just didn’t make the right sense. Questions in Paper 2 required a lot of passage reading and re-reading while the math based questions were relatively easy. So to answer 80 questions 120 minutes proved just appropriate.

Lot of Passages in Paper 2 of Prelims 2011

10 to be precise. More than 25 questions out of total 80 were asked from passages. That’s something! But this also made Paper 2 relative easy as the questions weren’t too complex and a calm reading of the passages were enough to answer the questions.

Tough Areas of Paper 2

I know Hindi medium students would say the English-only passages were tough. But if your English understanding is decent the questions could be easily answered. What actually proved confusing were the questions based on Decision Making. Whether to assure ” a fair enquiry” or “take up the matter with police” are really subjective and situational questions. No wonder UPSC didn’t impose any negative penalty for these questions.

Enough Analysis Tell Me the Cut Off for Prelims 2011

For those who managed to read till the last you really deserve a bonus Usually the cut off are guessed on the basis of the difficulty criteria only. But not in Prelims 2011.

To Estimate the Cut Off for Prelims 2011 Following Factors Have to be Considered:

• Common GS based paper for all. So the optionals advantage of IAS veterans was no longer present. In fact both the beginners and past Prelims candidates were all on the same even keel in Paper 2.
• CET guys didn’t get much of an advantage in paper 2. Yes, while we all were speculating how CSAT is going to be like CAT and CET, this comparison turned out to be a dud. The data interpretation questions could be answered by any one and many of the mental ability questions were also quite generic.
• Paper 1 was very theoretical so this made it all the more difficult.
• I don’t think there will be any individual cut off in 2011 Prelims just like the previous Prelims.

Paper 1:

Assuming an average attempt of 80 questions out of 100. A minimum score of 75 out of 200 after subtracting 33% percent marks for wrong attempts.

Paper 2:

Assuming an average attempt of 70 questions out of 80. A minimum score of 85 out of 200.

So the Cut Off Marks for Prelims 2011 comes to 160 marks out of 400 (without considering individual cut offs).

Will the Cut Off Go This Low?

In fact it could actually be lower. I am assuming a safe cut off here. Why it could be lower? For these reasons:

• Hindi medium students were at a slight disadvantage in English-only passages
• Past Prelims candidates lost their optionals edge
• Paper 2 was completely new to everyone
• Paper 1 had no current affairs or factual questions. Many candidates solely rely on such questions to clear GS.

If you found this analysis about the Prelims 2011 paper and cut off useful, kindly share the article so others may benefit as well. Looking forward to your personal opinion as well!

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