What are the six CSS compulsory papers, and what does each examiner want?

The six papers at a glance

English Essay and Precis: why do these two fail most candidates?

Because they are the only papers marked primarily on how you write rather than what you know, and a graduate who has never written 2,500 words under time in English has no idea how their prose reads. The examiner sees hundreds of scripts that open with a quotation, list points under headings, and conclude that the topic is important. Those score in the thirties.

• Essay: pick the topic you can argue, not the one you know most about. Plan an outline with a thesis, four or five sections each advancing it, and a conclusion that answers the question. Write in paragraphs with topic sentences, not bullet points. Keep sentences short enough to be error-free.
• Precis: a third of the length, in your own words, every main idea, no opinion, a title that names the argument. Count the words. A precis that is too long, quotes the passage, or adds a comment loses marks it cannot recover.
• Composition: grammar, vocabulary, sentence correction and punctuation are the objective part of an otherwise subjective paper, and they are the easiest marks in the whole examination for a candidate who has drilled them. The English bank covers exactly this.

Both papers are treated in full, with a structure for each and the errors that cost marks, in CSS Essay and Precis.

General Science and Ability: how do you prepare a paper with two halves?

• The science half is everyday science at a serious level: the universe and the solar system, atomic structure, energy, environment and climate, human physiology and disease, food and nutrition, information technology and modern inventions. The Everyday Science bank covers the factual layer; the subjective questions need a paragraph of explanation per topic.
• The ability half is arithmetic, percentages, ratios, averages, simple algebra and geometry, data interpretation, series, coding, syllogisms and logical puzzles. It is technique, it is finite, and it is where a prepared candidate scores 40 out of 50 while an unprepared one scores 10. Practise on Mathematics and Analytical Reasoning.
• Show the working in the ability questions. The examiner awards method marks; an answer alone earns little.

Current Affairs: how do you write an analytical answer?

1. 1

   Read the question for the verb

   "Critically analyse", "evaluate", "discuss the implications": each asks for a judgement, not a summary. State your judgement in the first paragraph.

2. 2

   Structure under headings that advance the argument

   Background in one paragraph, then three or four headed sections each making a point with evidence, then a conclusion with recommendations where the question invites them.

3. 3

   Cite recent facts

   Named agreements, dates, figures from official reports, statements by named officials, the last eighteen months. Vague references ("recently", "experts say") earn nothing.

4. 4

   Cover Pakistan's domestic, economic and foreign affairs and the world

   The syllabus is in four blocks; the paper draws from all of them. Build a file per block from a daily newspaper and a monthly digest, and revise it against the current affairs and international affairs banks.

5. 5

   Attempt the required number of questions, fully

   Four answers of equal length beat two brilliant ones and two abandoned ones. Time is 35 to 40 minutes per answer.

Pakistan Affairs: what separates narrative from analysis?

The syllabus runs from the ideology of Pakistan and the reform movements through the Pakistan movement, constitutional development, the political and economic history since 1947, foreign policy, and contemporary issues in society, economy and governance. Every candidate knows the story; the paper rewards the candidate who can argue about it.

• Answer the question set, which is rarely "describe the Pakistan movement". It is "assess the role of", "to what extent did", "compare". Take a position.
• Cite documents and dates: the Lahore Resolution, the Objectives Resolution, the constitutions of 1956, 1962 and 1973, the Eighteenth Amendment, named commissions and reports. The Pakistan Studies bank is the recall layer for these.
• Link history to the present where the question allows. An answer on the 1973 constitution that reaches the current federal-provincial debate reads as analysis.
• Use headings and a conclusion, as in Current Affairs. The examiner is reading fast.

Islamic Studies or Comparative Religions

• Islamic Studies covers the fundamentals of faith, the Quran and Hadith as sources, the seerah, the Islamic concepts of state, society, economy and ethics, and contemporary issues such as extremism, interfaith relations and the position of women, answered from Islamic sources. Marks go to accurate references (a verse with its surah and number, a Hadith with its collection) applied to the question, and to a balanced treatment of contemporary issues. The Islamic Studies bank covers the objective part and the recall layer.
• Comparative Religions, taken by non-Muslim candidates, covers the origins, scriptures, beliefs and practices of the major world religions and their comparative study. The same rule applies: accurate references, applied.
• Do not preach. An answer that is a sermon rather than an argument scores below one that explains, compares and concludes.

How do the six papers share preparation?

• One current-affairs file feeds four papers: Current Affairs directly, Pakistan Affairs' contemporary questions, the Essay topic, and Islamic Studies' contemporary issues.
• Writing practice is the same skill on every paper. A weekly timed essay and two timed analytical answers, marked by someone who will be honest, improve all six.
• The objective parts share the MPT's material. The MPT preparation is the recall base for General Science and Ability and Islamic Studies.
• The order of preparation is Essay and Precis first, because they take longest to move and they are where the examination is failed; then General Science and Ability, because its ability half is quick marks; then the three content papers, which are built from the reading you do anyway.

How to choose the six optional papers to go with these, and which reliably score, is in choosing CSS optional subjects. The month-by-month sequence is in the CSS study plan.