Civil Services Prelims

The table below gives the comparison between the old syllabus for Paper-I and the new syllabus for Paper-II. It can clearly be observed that the test area of 'General Mental Ability' which was there in Paper-I(old syllabus) has now been taken out from Paper-I and kept in Paper-II(as the next table indicates).

Old Syllabus-Paper I or General Studies(till 2010) New Syllabus -Paper I(from 2011)
General Science General Science
Current events of national and international importance Current events of national and international importance
History of India and Indian national Movement History of India and Indian national Movement
India and World Geography India and World Geography
Indian Polity and Economy Indian Polity and Economy
General Mental Ability Economic and Social Development
  General Issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate chage

The table below gives the comparison between the old syllabus and the new syllabus for Paper-II. It can be observed that Paper-II had undergone a major change in light of the fact that lots of new areas have been included, which were earlier not there in Civil services(Preliminary) examination.

Old Syllabus -Paper II(till 2010) New Syllabus- Paper II(from 2011)
Optional Paper(any one out of 23 subjects) Comprehension
Interpersonal Skills including Comprehension Skills
Logical reasoning & Analytical ability
Decision making and Problem Solving
General Mental Ability
Basic Numeracy(Numbers & their relations, orders of magnitude etc)-Class Xth level, Data Interpretation(charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc)-Class Xth level.
English Language Comprehension Skills(Class Xth level)