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The Civil Service Program (CSP) is a breakthrough in the preparation for today's civil services examination (the civil services examination in the era of a role-based civil service). 

The competitive edge preparation (success with a high rank) requires you to take a strategic vision and restructure your thinking and mindset. It brings precision to your preparation and helps to enhance your mental energy (focus or concentration) manyfold by strengthening your capabilities to anticipate the result. Therefore, the first five weeks (5 weeks) of the program are assigned to building a crucial foundation (strategic vision and the mindset) for competitive edge preparation.

It is crucial to get clarity about today’s civil services examination and the actual competition level to take a strategic vision. Therefore, the 1st week of the program is dedicated to acclimatizing to the examination and all its aspects and the actual competition level.

In the first week, we will discuss the following topics  -

• How the Government of India's ambitious policy of adopting a role-based system in the civil service has impacted the civil services examination? 
• The suitability criteria to select the best-suited or most suitable candidates for today's role-based civil service: what UPSC expects (Right Knowledge, Higher-order skills, Right Attitude and values)
• Plan of examination, and methods of assessment (the selected response and the constructed response method) used in the preliminary examination and main (written and interview) examination
• The actual competition level faced by the candidates in this exam

The next four weeks of the program are dedicated to developing the psychology and mindset of high performance. Any change in thinking and mindset is a very challenging task. Our brain resists change and stays in the psychological safety net. It requires much cognitive effort, science and evidence-based knowledge, and workable and practical tools. 

During this period (4 weeks), we will move slowly to provide space and time for your brain to generate new thinking and understanding. Accordingly, weekly learning content and activities will be provided to fulfill the learning goals. You are advised to complete the learning content and activities on the same day, don't let them pile up, it will not work.

In four weeks, we will discuss the following topics to build the psychology and mindset of high performance -

• Strategic approach for the competitive edge preparation
• The science of learning and the best practices
• The ability to sustain attention and its importance for learning: focus/concentration, motivation, self-discipline, and consistency
• Minds Alive: information and media literacy; effective use of advanced AI; importance of textbooks and newspaper reading; making notes; high-quality answer writing; clarity, confidence, and communication

The civil services examination tests candidates’ awareness, detailed knowledge, and in-depth understanding of public life issues/problems and current happenings to assess their positive attitude toward public service or Right Attitude and values (spirit and in-depth interest in public service). 

This program broadens students' public service horizons to shape their positive attitude toward public service (Right Attitude and values) and deepen their interest in public life issues/problems and current happenings.

Throughout the program, the learning content and activities will be provided to

• Create broader awareness and deepen students' interest in public life issues/problems and current happenings
• Equip students with detailed knowledge of important public life issues/problems and current happenings
• Develop in-depth understanding and actionable insights on important public life issues and happenings.

This program will equip students with high-quality knowledge (science and evidence-based knowledge) of relevant subject areas. The requirement for each relevant subject area is different depending upon its relevance for a career in the civil service such as –

• Depth of understanding of the Indian political system and governance, its functions, objectives, conflicts, and solutions
• Depth of understanding of the Indian economic system, issues and challenges of development
• Depth of understanding of the Indian social system and challenges of transformation
• Awareness and basic knowledge of Indian history and culture and the development of historical thinking;
• Geographical features and conditions of India and the world.
• World affairs: interaction with the evolving world around us
• General awareness of technological advancements and their implications; environment and environmental impacts; security concerns; disaster and disaster management.
• Ethics, integrity, and aptitude: ethical and moral awareness, ethical reasoning, ethics in action
• Essay: broad horizons and the quality of thinking

The outstanding performance or success with a high rank in today’s civil services examination is determined by candidates' real-world understanding and Higher-order skills.

UPSC is improving its selection process and increasing the complexity and uncertainty of the civil services examination to emphasize testing candidates’ real-world understanding and Higher-order skills to select the most suitable candidates for today’s role-based civil service.

In the prelims exam, the selected response items/questions (MCQs) are used for the primary assessment of the candidates. Most of these response items/questions are higher-order questions and can not be solved by mere knowledge. These questions are designed to test candidates’ relevant knowledge and Higher-order skills (mainly critical thinking and strategic thinking skills) rather than information, facts, theories, concepts, fluency in subject matters, etc. 

In the prelims exam, many irrelevant and vague information, facts, statements, etc. are deliberately included in the questions as obstacles to make it more challenging for candidates to choose the correct response (answer). And many a time, some questions are made very difficult and time-consuming. This increases the complexity and unpredictability of the prelims. Candidates who have well-developed Higher-order skills (mainly critical thinking and strategic thinking skills) can easily solve these questions correctly with their same level of knowledge. They do not need to know this irrelevant and vague information, facts, or statements to solve these questions.

In the main (written) examination, the nature of most questions is higher-order questions based on real-world complex issues and problems. These questions may appear simple but are quite challenging to answer. Many a time, the question papers are made lengthy and unexpected to put students in unforeseen and challenging situations. Candidates can not construct high-quality responses (relevant, meaningful, and succinct answers) to these questions by book/content knowledge, pre-structured format (Introduction-Body-Conclusion), and their ability to recall/reproduce (answer writing skills). Real-world understanding and Higher-order skills enable candidates to construct high-quality responses to all questions in the exam.

The high-quality responses (answers) create a qualitative difference among candidates. Thus, the difference in the marks obtained by them in the exam.

This program provides students with relevant and high-quality knowledge and applies the science of learning and the best practices/modern learning practices (such as active and engaging lecture videos, critical reading frameworks, project-based learning and real-life case studies, formative assessments, private discussion forum, asking relevant questions facility, etc.) to develop their real-world understanding and Higher-order skills.