How to Qualify CSS in Six Months

INTRODUCTION:

How to qualify CSS- the biggest dream of pakistani intellectuals. Undoubtably, Central Superior Services, commonly known as CSS, is the most ambitious dream of educated people in Pakistan. Every intellectual wants to be a CSP. Most of the aspirants move towards the big cities to get better facilities at CSS academies and make their dreams come true. Every year, almost twenty to thirty thousand people register themselves for the CSS exams through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). More than half appear in exams, and the rest refuse to take exams due to insufficient preparation. The passing ratio of CSS is approximately two percent, and only one percent of applicants in total registration get the allocation after an interview or viva voice.

Before going through this Blog, how to qualify CSS in six months, keep it in mind that exceptions are always there. This blog is written on the basis of personal experience, exposure, and interaction with CSPs as well as other CSS and PMS aspirants. Mostly, CSPs believe that only 6–8 months are more than enough for getting through any competitive exam if you are good at English, have a strong academic background, and have astonishing analytical skills to understand the matters of states.

Causes of Failure:

First of all, English is the biggest hurdle for the candidates of CSS and PMS. Every year, more than 90% of candidates fail English in CSS and PMS exams. According to FPSC examiner report around 95% students get failed English essay paper in CSS. Read my blog to understand why people fail English exams (https://examinia.com/why-people-fail-english-exams/). Next, Islamic Studies is in second place in ruining the dreams of competitive exam aspirants. This subject requires a strong grip over the fundamental concepts of Islam with references of Quaran and Ahadith. Nobody can pass islamic studies paper without quranic verses or their translation and refernces of Sunnah.

Further, the third major factor is the wrong subjects’ selection as electives. How to choose better alternatives Read my blog (https://examinia.com/how-to-choose-optional-subjects-for-css-and-pms/). Make rational subject selection to perform well in competitive exams because these subjects will help you climb the barrier of 50% marks in the written part. Compulsory subjects don’t usually get high marks. Your merit fully depends on high scores in optional subject.

I have spent more than six years in this field and have taught a couple of batches of CSS and PMS. I will try my best to show the aspirants the real image of CSS. Nobody can pass the CSS; you have to crack it with a combination of smart studies and hard work. Hard work alone is not enough to qualify CSS and PMS.

Why People Think CSS is a Myth:

It is evident, a lot of candidates with good knowledge and a strong academic background fail the written part of CSS. Even M. Phil. and PhD. English pupils seem unable to qualify CSS English essay and composition papers. However, aspirants spend 4 to 5 years in preparation but aren’t successful in qualifying CSS. On the other hand, some candidates, like “Shanza Faiq”, get the first position after two months of preparation. Then, what is CSS? How to Qualify CSS? What do you need to do for CSS preparation?

Hear! CSS is not a myth. it requires consistent effort in an efficient and effective way. One needs to be persistent and hard worker. Aspirants should have analytical skills and sufficient words vocabulary to explain their ideas, rational thinking to assess the affairs wisely, and analytical approach towards the matters to reach towards the conclusion. Competitive exams demand all round performance, expertise of a single subject or domain can not make you a CSP. Applicants must be good at English language writing, and a moderate knowledge of the rest of compulsory and optional subjects is necessary.

Additionally, hard work alone is not going to work. You must have a guide, advisor or mentor to motivate and reconcile you time to time. Assessment of your work and write-ups is a mandatory thing. People think they will work hard and get through the exams, but it does not work at the end. Remember, exceptional English and moderate knowledge of every compulsory and optional subject is enough to qualify CSS exams. But everything comes after English essay and precis writing. First of all, You need to be exceptional content writer to impress the examiner with your writing skills, then the rest of the subjects will help you in gathering marks to be on merit.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR CSS IN SIX MONTHS

English Precis & Composition

English Grammar and Composition: Get a good book of English grammar and composition and divide it into three months to cover them all. Give 2 hours daily to English grammar and solve the exercises on the basis of parts of speech and sentence structure. Learn idioms and phrasal verbs by heart. Some recommended books are mentioned on the syllabus given by FPSC.

Précis Writing: Read Dawn and Express Tribune opinions and editorials daily, and rewrite any article in your own words precisely. The purpose of newspaper reading is not only to get knowledge about political affairs and other issues, but also to extract vocabulary, see the expression of good writers, note the references, and understand the approach of the writer towards a matter. These skills are required of aspirants in competitive examinations.

Likewise, write a précis daily for three months. After three months, there will be a clear difference in your writing approach and analytical skills. Your vocabulary will improve, and your expression will mature. You will have enough knowledge to write an essay on any domestic or current issue. This practice will take 2–3 hours daily. Almost 90% of the CSS précis and composition paper will be covered in only one practice. It includes MCQs (20 marks), précis (20 marks), comprehension (15 marks), translation (10 marks), sentence correction (10 marks), preposition (5 marks), and punctuation. Only phrasal verbs and idioms are excluded from this practice.

English Essay:

While you are preparing for electives, try to write one essay per week and choose the topic from the subject you will be going through those days. You must have a list of essays taken from past papers to attempt them. The list must contain the topics of different themes and subjects like education, democracy, gender studies, domestic issues, current affairs, etc.

Islamic Studies:

Basically, there are 7–8 main chapters of Islamic Studies in CSS and PMS. Make a schedule to cover one chapter in one week, and it can be done easily. Give two hours daily to Islamic studies, and within two months you will be quite confident and competent to pass this paper. The real difference in Islamic Studies for final exams as compared to other levels is Quranic references and Ahadith. You have to learn the maximum number of Ayaat and Ahadith in two months to justify your answer with references.

General Science& Ability and Affairs:

If you are an engineer or good at mathematics, then it is a blessing for you. GS&A plays a crucial role in passing the general knowledge papers in CSS. Students with a background in science get more than 70 marks easily in GS&A, and then 50 marks are required in two papers on Pakistan-Affairs and Current-Affairs. Practice as much ability portion as you can. Get precise notes on Pakistan affairs and learn timeline of event from 712. Affairs will be covered by reading articles daily. You need 120 marks overall in these three subjects to qualify for the general knowledge portion (GK 1, 2, and 3). Give one month to this subject after completing Islamic Studies. After 3 months, your compulsory subjects will be ready if you work consistently and to the point.

Optional Subjects:

Above all, Political Science must be your first choice for preparing optional subjects because it is the most fundamental subject of CSS and PMS to understand the matters and policies of states. (Keep reading newspapers editorials and opinions). Allocate two weeks to every optional subject and cover it to its maximum extent. See the syllabus and past papers first for every subject. This practice will help you realize the important topics and areas of a specific subject that need to be covered first. 12 weeks, two for each optional subject, are more than enough to cover the required syllabus. Make a study plan and start learning accordingly.

Some Tips to follow:

Study Plan: Make your study plan and schedule. Never start reading without deciding on a road map and time constraints. Assign yourself a month-long task and then divide it into weeks, then into days. Ultimately, you will have a one day plan that needs to be done by the end of the day. Make a list of “things to do” in the morning and cross check them in the evening. Make sure nothing is pending for today, and if anything is not done yet, add it to next day’s list.

Note Taking: Take your own notes on every subject and never forget this habit. Note everything you feel is important, like dates, references, names, etc. This is the key to success. Make your own data bank. People can save PDFs and other useful links to utilize them later.

Revision: the rest of the time, revise your notes as much as possible and keep writing as many essays as you can. Take mock tests or exams in the last two months to improve your writing skills.

Assessment: You need to have a senior, a tutor, a mentor, or a teacher look over your work and progress every so often. You need correction and motivation to stay on track. If you don’t have these things, it will be hard for you to keep working.

I hope this Blog on how to qualify CSS will be very helpful and interesting for the aspirants to get the road map to their dreams. You can give your opinion in the comment section and can ask for required assistance. Don’t forget to share with others if you find it interesting and valuable.

Cheers and Kind Regards
Umair Rana