UPSC had conducted Civil service and Forest service (combined) preliminary exam aka CSAT-2014, on 24th August 2014. Here are the scanned copies of Booklet no.”C” for both papers:
In above PDF files, the text is searchable and copy-able, so you can cut-paste-search it anywhere for discussion, google-ing. For example, if you want to find out which passage was lifted from which newspaper/googlebook?
- Detailed Analysis and Topicwise Answerkeys with explanations (for all sets), coming soon.
- You’re most welcome to provide your inputs, answers, observation, analysis and experience in the comments below.
- If you want to discuss then discuss MCQs, (and not cut-offs.) Everyone who had prepared sincerely, and did not risk too much negative marking, he/she has a fair chance of clearing prelims.
- Internet user sample size too short to make any predictions. So don’t lose blood pressure, if Mr.X, Y or Z says he ticked more MCQs than you.
Courtesy: An old friend Mahitosh Kumar Singh for providing the question papers.
![[Errors/discrepancy] 16 MCQs where UPSC Official Prelims-2020 Answerkey & Coaching classes differ, while 2 MCQs cancelled](https://mrunal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/csp2020-akey-differ-table-500x383.png)
FIRST ATTEMPT.. PAPER 1 ..AROUND 110
…PAPER 2 ..AROUND 150
OBC
MAINS?????
1hundred %
pray to god but I guess cutoff would be around 275.
pray to god but I guess cutoff would be around 275.
Excellent reply !!
csat era 2011–198
2012—209
2013—241
cut off getting much higher when student(eng./IIT)getting familiar with csat
so i think upsc try to cut the score for not giving unreasonable benefit to them, so in csat more emphasis on paragraph and the other GI not so hard, removing DI portion also.. so basically upsc admitting the fact on recent agitation..
I am getting 380 and I am pretty tensed what to do.. I am mulling over getting hit by a 20 tonne truck or inhaling carbon monoxide. Please help..
380? Did you multiply each GS1 question by 2 and each CSAT question by 2.5 or anything more?
If 380 is true then why the hell you should be worried?
agla FEKU yhi hai ,,,,,
260 is too less and i think this year’s cut off will go to 350 ..i am getting 349 and i am pity tensed.havent had food for couple of days..i would request you to put in hard work …its a cruel world specially for those who ‘SHOW OFF’.RIP to your common sense
hahahha..bhai kamaal hi kar di tune to
@Rishabh : haha !! good one bro.. hats off to your sense of humour !!..
ha ha ha …………. le li bhai tune to
common sense isn’t that common Rishabh.. :)
i m getting 401…shit..this time also i m going to miss GS mains exam …feeling very sad
Superlike ;)
Why there isn’t any like button here???
Any hope for total score of 190-194 in SC category?
It is apparent from the initial analysis that almost all candidates scored a range of Minus (-) 20-30 compared to the last year. As the first paper was more factual and dominated by envio, which may influence all the serious aspirants that in turn help more crammers to score more. Hence Paper I will not be a deciding factor. Paper two reduced the chance of scoring high; only because of the absence of DM questions and too lengthy non-comprehension questions. But the net 74 questions and likely less proportion of the negative marks in Paper two raise hope for the aspirants. At last more vacancy will definitely take more in to the next stage.
Now reduce your mark from the last year exam. Is it around 30? Then, I am right.
If you are scored any mark above 210 and still worried. It will be like adding salt to your injuries while you see the result.
Considering tree factor 1. total marks is 385 in place of 400, 2. decision making question is absent and 3. difficulty level of question is as difficult as 2011. In 2011 cut off was 198 for general, 175 for OBC, 165 for SC and 161 for ST. so this year cut off may be 190 for general, 170 for OBC, 160 for SC and 155 for ST. All the best start preparation for mains…….
We have to also consider the increased no of candidates appearing for the exams. Since introduction of CSAT, lot of Management and Engineering grads who had never thought of taking a chance jumped into the race from 2012 onward. Increasingly ppl are quitting jobs and preparing for this exam which was hardly the case previously. So I think we can’t make 2011 as base for cut off calculation. I believe cut off for General category would be between 210-220 and OBC 195-205.
Please dont be distracted by the claims of fraud people scoring 150 in paper 2.
My friends who have cracked CAT with 98+ %iles were not able to even complete paper 2.
I am scoring only 120 in paper 2, while last year I scored 160 in paper 2
Cut off will not be more than 185 for general.
Both the papers were tougher than last year.
Last year people were claiming cut offs at max. 210-220 level but actual cut off went 241. All these expected cut offs are based on last year cut offs while in actual it totally depends on the difficulty level of paper.
gud say u got it right
Expected cutoff
207 marks for general
192 marks for obc
177 marks for sc
yes ! I agree with u , exam of2014 have more similarities with 2012 rather than 2013 . So first u delete the memories of 2013 then predict for 2014 . According to me it will be slightly lower than 2012 (209) .
And I guess it was tougher than 2012 given the absence of english and DM!!!
230-235 this time. Last time got 251. (and didn’t qualify mains)
Last year cut-off for General Category was ‘241’
how’s it possible even after scoring 251 you could not write mains
dint qualify mains does not mean did not write mains !!
feku,,jhuth bhi bola kr to pahle stat dekh liya kro,,last year cutoff for genrl catogry was 240-241..
Dear aspirants plan for the preparation according to you not the others you are asking it’s completely a wastage of time becoz you ur potential better than others
One more thing observe urself and decide in which portion you are more comfortable, think always practically and give ur best according to your strength, don’t waste time here on commenting and argue it’s not a quality of ias officer those crack ias exam n upsc required.
All the aspirants go for the preparation for the mains in some how this thing will help you in all respect if you qualify or not.
All da best and m also going to make a plan for my mains without any suggestions.
Lastly delhi coaching like khan ias, vision and also shriram in South cut off around
General 209 marks
Obc 192 marks
Sc 182 marks
St 179 marks
So those who lies in this go for mains and give ur best
Hope you all will understand
no one is talking about ifos cut off, what can be the range for it.
Rightly said
yes paper 2 is too lengthy attended only 61 nos , paper -1 49+18 (MR), waiting for our mrunal sir answer key .but one silly( may be critical ) mistake i made in my paper 1 while bubling the roll no . bubled a wrong no then erased it and corrected . but still there is an uneven surface there .please tell if you have have some idea of OMR reader and also about the particular issue
will depend on 2 things
1) how well the bubble was erased…if it was invisible to naked eye chances of scanner picking it up are even less..but if there was a noticible shadow then OMR scanner will show an error..insuch cases (2) ideally they should go for manual verification by cross verifying it with the number written in blocks above ..i have my doubts that they will take such pains
so if you have erased the bubble well enough don’t worry
Dear friends and Mrunal sir,
I have never involved myself in any conspiracy theories but today i am bent to do so after brainstorming on this year’s paper. The pattern , marks distribution, the types of questions on adivasi rearing wool, on sarees, birds sitting on cattle didnt make sense to me being a upsc aspirant. After considering analysis of past papers, I am sensing a kind of trend in alternate papers.
2011- a person from civil engineering is able to answer good amount of questions bcoz he had ‘environmental engineering’ as a subject
2013- good enough questions pertaining to upsc ,not much proportion of environment bias
2014- bias again on environment
Dont u all feel that this in an indication of clubbing of UPSC + IFoS ?
UPSC guy- I will set the paper
IFoS- i too have a share
UPSC – ok once u set, once i well set
IFos = deal !
CSAT 2014 paper 2- Passages;
Himalaya,
Greenhouse topics
Why are we seeing environment everywhere? could it be that this year it was turn of IFoS guy to set paper?
Why are these 2 exams clubbed to have common exam and why are questions patterns varying from the time they have been clubbed??
Mrunal sir please enlighten
Good Theory… worth investigation I would say :D
Regarding why IFoS and Civils are jointly conducted is because [I might be wrong] IFoS, IAS and IPS are the 3 all india services… why create separate question for them? But in all fairness, it shud be separate… coz an engineering guy doesnt need to know abt env.., and vice versa… but UPSC wants one to be jack of all trades and master of all as well…
Enough of dabbling in conspiracy theories… I just pray to clear prelims… rest shud be cakewalk as it is all about how you study… in prelims one needs luck along with good memory, smart work, hard work, blah blah blah… where luck plays a crucial role… for mains… well it is a diff ballgame altogether accordingly to me… and is easier than prelims in my opinion as the competition is less and chances of securing a seat is higher…
To all my dear friends …dont follow anyone blindly…make your own strategy and plan ….if you are NOT competent to do that….
then, recall the quote of mrunal sir…”PREPARE WELL YOURSELF, ELSE GET MARRIED”
but yaar, dont you think if we will get a brief idea of what to start, how to start, that will be more beneficial. also, we are first time going to give mains, so it would be better if we consult someone who had already given the exam cause only he/she can tell a nice approach and where not to waste time.
Hi! can anyone tell me about the expected time of prelims result?
If you go by last 3 years, minimum 2 months + a week may be. Without considering increase in the no. of candidates.
When the result will be declared
i m oh and expecting 190 can i pass
any idea about ifos cutoff
ST getting 196 (76+120) couldn’t attempt 18 q’s cos of lack of time…last year 244 (84+160), was paper 2 lengthier this year?
In my opinion Cutoff is not going to be less than 235 for Gen Category….Reasons:
1. More number of candidates.
2. Candidates getting more used to CSAT with each passing yr.
3. Paper 1 is tough because it was more factual than conceptual nd remember a lot of people have that advantage because of simultaneous preparation of other comp exams which demand mugging up such GK type facts….so they might have found it of moderate difficulty if not easy.
4. People saying that cutoff will be down because of decision making questions not being there shud understand that almost everyone got those questions correct nd people who cudnt make it past the cutoff was because they answered other questions incorrectly compared to those who did make it…it will cause some decrease but much less in proportion to its actual value of about 15 marks.
5. In the comments only you can see so many people saying around 240+ score….nd this is a very small sample…u can extrapolate it to all candidates…nd a lot of people i talked to also said 230-240 scores.
The only important factor contributing to decrease in cutoff wud be d fact that 15 marks of english comp wont be counted….and that would be compensated to some extent by the the reasons given above….So overall a mild decrease of 5-7 marks compared to last yr.
I myself am on the borderline with about 230 marks…so i hope i m wrong ….but I m just citing my observation based evaluation.
1. more candidates – but more seats also. +5 in cut off
2. Paper 2 was much tougher and not ‘ready to eat questions’. expect a decrease of average 30 marks = -25 marks. Absence of decision making questions and increased difficulty of aptitude questions – both are respnsible
3. Paper 1 was tougher. it was as factual as last years paper and also it had out of the world questions too. expect -10
4. No english counted. -15
overall cut off = 241-55 =~ 185
SIR YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT THIS TIME 30% MORE SEATS ARE THER
Hi guys….plz kp in mind tat every question in paper 2 carries 2.7 marks now….not 2.5.so calculate accordingly.and cut off is lowest marks needed to qualify..not d highest.so dont go for ppl posting super human marks….cant verify their claims…can b even posted intentionally to demoralise others.i m a senior player….n really both papers may seem easy…bt were very tricky.agar 180 ke paas hai score…toh start preparing for mains with full gusto n dont believe in hearsay.
upsc only said that marks of those english questions will not be counted…that means that paper 2 would be of 185 marks….it doesnot mean that their marks wud be redistributed to the other questions to keep the total marks at 200.
Great observation
In yesterday’s Hindu ’25th Aug, 2014′ front page bottom, there was an article regarding UPSC Prelims… one of the guys mentioned he left all 32 questions of comprehension and focussed on remaining questions… poor fellow he must be thinking about dividing 200 amongst rest 48 questions… he was supposed to leave only 6 of those questions… infact it made me cross check multiple times whether i made the mistake of attempting those comprehension questions that were translated in Hindi!
Anyway, UPSC being UPSC, lets wait for their cutoffs… they have managed to off balance students and coaching institutes every yr time and again… so better to wait for official cutoffs rather than speculate…
Hi i am getting
GS1 (180) + CSAT (181) = 361/385
Do i have a chance?? i am too much tensed…plz help
YOU START PREPARATION FOR CSE PRE 2015 OR 2016 THIS YEAR NO CHANCE. UPSC IS NOT LIKE FAKE PEOPLE ..
True… You can never get through…Lol
no no go for a coup in usa….obama is nt doin well
no chance
u shd have scored at least 400/385 to go thru
Dude…!!! you have breached the upper cutoff…. tera koi chance nai hai….!!
NO. Bcoz thre is upper cutoff also , and upsc eliminates those pple scoring above that range
this was d best one sam out of all hilarious comments! can’t stop laughing
start preparing for next year.
kya majak bna rakha aise logon n is Site ka
hw come u have scored tht high in paper 1 share ur strategy
on this score you’ll directly be alloted rank 1 in the final merit list of selected candidates………….without even going through the pain of appearing in mains and interview…………….so just chill and go for a world tour…………..hum sab baaki to gareeb log hain, humein to ghisna hi padega :(
Maverick 1085….kyun fek raha hai bhai…dont spoil this sacred site dude….tujhse nahi ho paega upsc…rehne de…and guys, pls don’t go by the marks of such jack-asses…..why he is lying is cos of this….you can never get a score of 181 in paper 2…it is technically never possible….paper was of 185 marks…if all correct..u get a score of 185…if 1 wrong….you get 181.67…or of two correct…you get 185-6.5 = 178.5….
let this joker lie….padhai karo everyone who had scored 200+…..we all stand a chance,…..
I’m getting around 235-240 , I will probably clear civil service prelims but I have also applied for Ifos , that cut off will be higher, what do you think are my chances , should I study for that as well or focus only for cse mains? I don’t want to waste time reading forestry if I’m not certain of clearing prelims.
No chance
is SLR liquid?…I dont think so….it has to be kept in the form of gold and govt securities which are not liquid assets …what say ppl?
Yes its liquid.. Though not as liquid as currency notes yet g-secs nd gold are almost liquid as they can b liquidated in a vry short tym..
Pls frnds i want answer key for prelims 14… anybody have
is SLR liquid , it has to be kept in form of gold and govt securities and those are not liquid in any way..
STATUTORY RESERVE REQUIREMENT (CRR+SLR)—— ITS NOT JUST SLR……. PLEASE REFER RBI WEBSITE…. SO IT S NOT LIQUID. THUS THE ANSWER LL BE A ALONE.:):)
O bhai. SLR is liquid. Gold and security reserves can be revived in very short time to meet any contingency. LOL. GOD help these people. :P
Haan bhai maan gae…
Madam, please send it to me also.Thank you.. raajnexus4238@gmail.com
this is my 4 attempt ..i have given my mains twice …based on my experience cutoff for gm candidates would be 230-235
My Expected Marks Total 170.4 ST . Any chance to clear Prelims…?
plz send me also
No chance
everyone will be surprised thistime for sure
cuttoff will be around 250
1.5 lakh more candidates this time that too veterans (who get chance due to increase in age limit)
IFS ki cutoff alag se jati h kya??? Pls ye bi btana IAS se kam jati h ya jyada
My ALL FRIEND LAST YEAR SCORE WAS ABOVE 250, AND GIVE MAINS BUT IN PRE 2014 THEY HAVE ONLY BETWEEN 190 TO 200, SO EXPECTEED CUT OFF WILL BE GENERAL 220, OBC 110, SC 100
absolutely right.
With more preperation people are scoring at least 40 marks less.
So people with same perperation would be scoring 50 marks less, plus english not counted too
so cut off wd not be more than 185 for general
Well..for a remote area resident like me.. internet..specially Mrunal.org has helped a lot..thanks a ton for all the inputs. I am getting 116 in paper 1 and 147 in paper 2.. any chances for getting into the mains clan ? The total comes out to be 69 percent. Please batao bhaiyo!!!!!!
no u r getting only 263 but cut off will not be less than 363 so you will miss by 100 marks..better luck next time
there shud be a like button !!
bhai aapko bhagwan bhi nahi rok sakta agar aapne apna roll no sahi bhara hai to
No, U can not clear ,This year minimum cut off would be 350 . Don’t waste ur time here u r not destined to even appear in exam.
This is the worst thing aspirants can imagine…boundary line p marks…n unsure of clearing pre…jab tak result nai aata, padne ka mann nai karega or pass ho b gaye to mains k liye ghanta tyaari hogi 1-1.5 month me..