JKPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam 2023: Analysis [Part-I General]
The JKPSC Civil Services Prelims Exam, a gateway to the coveted Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service, Police Service, and Accounts Service, recently concluded on October 14th, 2023. While the CSAT paper was a breeze compared to last year's brain teaser, the General Studies paper proved to be a tougher nut to crack, leaving many aspiring civil servants scratching their heads.
Now that the exam dust has settled and emotions have calmed, it's time to dissect the Prelims, extracting valuable insights for future aspirants. In this and future series of posts, we'll delve into three key aspects:
- Sectional Mapping: Unveiling the question distribution pattern across different sections
- Static-Current Affairs Matrix: Deciphering the balance between static knowledge and current affairs
- Source Mapping: Identifying the most relevant and reliable study materials
So, buckle up and let's go!
Sectional Mapping
This year's General Studies Paper comprised of 100 questions. Below is the sectional map of the paper: 
Immediately, one can discern the following trends:
- History creates history: History was the biggest section of the paper, with its sub-sections of Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Culture all making an appearance. It seems like the JKPSC wants to make sure that its future civil servants know their past.
- The underdog: Medieval History, traditionally overlooked for both UPSC and JKPSC exams, made a strong comeback in the 2023 exam, accounting for around 9% of the paper. This suggests that candidates should not ignore Medieval History in their preparation.
- Two seconds: Geography and Polity were a close second to History, with each section accounting for around 20% of the paper.
- Hum dekhenge, ab exam main hi dekhenge- no more: Science and Technology has emerged as a consistently major player in the JKPSC Prelims Exam. Some of the questions this year were outright challenging. JKPSC is taking Science and Tech seriously and candidates would be wise to prepare accordingly.
- Indian economy and environment sections held their own, contributing around ten percent each. These subjects continue to be important in the JKPSC Civil Services Exam, and candidates should focus on preparing them well.
I feel these trends would be more insightful, if we compare these across years 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Section |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient History | 02 | 05 | 06 | 13 |
| Medieval History | 04 | 02 | 09 | 15 |
| Modern History | 08 | 05 | 06 | 19 |
| Art and Culture | 02 | 06 | 01 | 09 |
| Physical Geography | 03 | 10 | 13 | 26 |
| Human Geography | 01 | 00 | 00 | 01 |
| Indian Geography | 06 | 04 | 07 | 17 |
| World Geography | 04 | 03 | 01 | 08 |
| Polity & Governance | 14 | 19 | 20 | 53 |
| Indian Economy | 10 | 16 | 09 | 35 |
| Science and Technology | 14 | 17 | 17 | 48 |
| Environment and Ecology | 18 | 11 | 09 | 38 |
| International Relations | 02 | 01 | 02 | 05 |
| Schemes in News | 03 | 01 | 00 | 04 |
| General Trivia | 07 | 00 | 00 | 07 |
| J&K Related | 02 | 00 | 00 | 02 |
| Grand Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 |
In graphical form:
So what are the key take-aways here?
- The undisputed king of the JKPSC Prelims Exam, Polity has been the largest section for the past three years.
- Science and Technology is consistently a highly asked section. Further, with nearly all emphasis on NCERT science this year, JKPSC has shown it can get tough with it.
- History and Geography are like siblings, with different subsections taking the lead each year. For example, in 2023, Medieval History was the most asked subsection in History, while in 2021, it was Modern History. Similarly, in Geography, different subsections are emphasised each year.
- Indian Economy and Environment are the twins of the JKPSC Prelims Exam, with nearly equal weightage and each carrying around 10% of the paper, if not more.
Having come this far, I want to emphasise that while sectional mapping is a good guide towards directing your preparation, the commission can and generally will throw in a few surprises every year. So be prepared for a bouncer here and a yorker there.
In the upcoming posts, I shall do a section wise analysis of the JKPSC 2023 paper, taking a look at the individual questions. So keep looking up!
For now, let me wrap up by saying Prelims Exam is like a buffet dinner; there is a little bit of every dish, question is what all can you eat!
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