UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 2 Analysis: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) Paper 2 of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination (CSE) 2026 today, May 24, for over eight lakh candidates across the country. According to candidates and educators, the paper was moderate overall, with Reading Comprehension emerging as the most scoring section, while Logical Reasoning was considered conceptually challenging and Quantitative Aptitude questions were lengthy and calculation-intensive.
Sarthak, an aspirant, described the paper as moderate and said he expects to clear the qualifying cutoff comfortably. "Reasoning made a comeback with nearly 24 questions, while the maths section had comparatively lesser weightage this year," he said.
CSAT Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
According to Mr. Abhisek Karan, CSAT Faculty at Drishti IAS, this year's CSAT tested candidates mainly on calculation accuracy and analytical thinking.
"This year's CSAT was a true test of two abilities: accurate calculation and clear thinking. Quantitative Aptitude included multi-step questions from Number Systems, Average, Race, Time-Speed-Distance, Ratio, HCF & LCM and Data Sufficiency. Precision was required at every step. Some questions were lengthy and time-consuming; overall, this section was of moderate level.," he said.
Commenting on the reasoning section, he said the questions were conceptually demanding and required careful interpretation before solving.
"Logical Reasoning was conceptually challenging. The questions were layered and demanded careful decoding before solving. The real challenge was managing both Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning within the given time limit.," he added.
CSAT Reading Comprehension
Mr. Abhisek Karan further noted that Reading Comprehension turned out to be the most scoring section for well-prepared students.
"Reading Comprehension was the most scoring section this year, but only for students who had practised consistently. The passages were long and dense, and questions tested inference, tone, and analytical understanding rather than direct facts. Students familiar with RC practice on governance, economy, and environment-related themes would have found the section manageable," he said.
