The UPSC prelims 2023 cut off is likely to dip as the CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal) has refused to stay the results and decided to hear a plea regarding a reduction in the CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) cut off on July 6.
Earlier, the UPSC prelims candidates filed the plea contending that the CSAT questions were excessively challenging and not aligned with the provided syllabus. They argue that the current cut off of 33 percent for CSAT is discriminatory, particularly for candidates from rural backgrounds and those with arts backgrounds. In light of this, they have requested a reduction in the CSAT cut off to 23 percent or a re-examination for CSAT as part of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023.
Why UPSC prelims 2023 cut off likely to dip?
As the number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination remains fixed, the lower number of aspirants clearing CSAT is likely to result in a dip in the cut off for UPSC Prelims 2023 GS paper.
As CAT refused to stay the UPSC prelims 2023 results and the difficulty level of the 2023 CSAT paper will lead to a significant reduction in the number of candidates meeting the 33 percent target, the overall UPSC Prelims 2023 cut off is likely to go down.
In the previous year, the cut off marks for the general category in the GS paper were 88.22, while for EWS and OBC candidates, it stood at 82.88 and 87.54, respectively.
It is important to note that since 2015, CSAT marks are no longer considered for generating the merit list for the Civil Services Mains examination. Currently, candidates must score a minimum of 33 percent in CSAT, which is not taken into consideration while creating the merit list.
Stages in UPSC Civil Services Exam
The UPSC Civil Services Exam is conducted annually in three stages: prelims, main, and interview. The exam serves as a gateway to select officers for prestigious positions in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and other esteemed government roles.
The competition is fierce, with lakhs of aspirants vying for a limited number of vacancies.
The preliminary examination is the first hurdle for aspiring civil servants. Though, it is a qualifying exam, only a few thousand students manage to clear it out of the large pool of candidates who appear each year.
