There are many aspirants who have been asking me how I prepared for CSS examination, in how much time and what were my strategies etc. I personally find it an obligation to pass on the experience and knowledge that I have got throughout my journey because once it was me, striving to get my hands on any useful tips or information that could help me in achieving my goal. So, here it goes!

The preparatory phase of an aspirant depends upon the factors like availability of time, ability to grab the concepts, level of motivation and sincerity to the aim. In addition to that, a very essential feature is the skill of planning and organizing. Every subject of this exam requires a proper planning to cover it efficiently and effectively. One should be very vigilant about the time in hand and necessary requirements to get through. I had the habit to write a lot. So, I was there, always making lists and organizing study material from different sources and then used to launch the final step of memorizing and understanding. It was like, I have my weapons in hand and I am ready for the war. Furthermore, the basic trick is to "MAKE A PLAN AND STICK TO THAT NOMATTER WHAT".

I would try to give a precise, yet, useful overview of my strategy for the preparation of different subjects. I started with the preparation of Pakistan Affairs and Punjabi. I would always try to take both compulsory and optionals side by side which kept me satisfied that I am not spending too much time on any single section while keeping the other one pending. I used to make a proper topic-wise plan for each subject with appropriate allocation of time as per my ease. I did thorough research before making every study plan. Once I had my checklist in hand, I used to give one comprehensive read to the book of subject under study. Important to mention here is the fact that i didn't go for too many books for a subject. It was always one book and may be another as a second reference, but never more than that. One can use CSS Forum and past papers to prepare the checklists which I also did and it proved helpful. After completing Pakistan Affairs (alongwith its notes) and Punjabi in a month or little less, I started Islamiat and Journalism. Punjabi in particular took less days like 10 to 15. I prepared full length notes of Islamiat because I couldn't find any single book that could satisfy the whole preparation. I completely relied on the past papers for the preparation of its study plan.

I finished Journalism in a short span of time i.e. 5 days so I started Everyday Science with Islamiat. Everyday Science is a type of subject which takes quite some time because its a little lengthy and you do not necessarily have to cover it in one go. You can always cover three to four topics in a day which helps in retaining the information easily without getting bored. Once I had completed Islamiat, I started British History with EDS. Soon, it was the month of October and I was done with EDS. Now, I was left with two entirely untouched subjects i.e. Arabic and Current Affairs and one partially completed subject i.e. British History. I accelerated the pace of my preparation because I wanted to reserve December and January for revision. I quickly finished BH and started preparing my own notes for Current Affairs in November alongwith studying Arabic. In November, the study was in full swing. And my full focus was towards a December, reserved for revision. It was only mid of December that I managed to complete all subjects.
I kept on doing English Precis and Comprehension and English Essay from time to time throughout the preparation and read Dawn Newspaper daily particularly focusing Page 1,3 and the last ones related to International affairs. I also read Editorials and used to keep the cuttings of important ones from the point of view of Essay. For Essays, I selected 10 hot topics of that year and prepared their outlines (sources were internet, JWT Magazine and Dawn Editorials). While I used past papers of 10 years for English P&C.

Sources for preparation:

Compulsory
1. English Precis&Comprehension (Past papers and notes on idioms, POW, corrections from STC, PU, Lahore)
2. Pakistan Affairs (Ikram Rabbani and Trek to Pakistan, prepared notes from these two books but major focus remained on Ikram Rabbani)
3. EDS (Dr. Rab Nawaz Samo and MCQs done from Sudha Publishers)
4. Current Affairs (Notes prepared from internet, JWT, Newspaper)
5. Islamiat (Notes prepared from internet and Anwar Hashmi's Islamiat)

Optional
1. Journalism (Ilmi's Journalism by Nadeem Abbas Baghoor and also read notes by Miss Saleha, got them from STC, PU, Lahore)
2. Punjabi (Punjab Rang by Faisal Hayat Jappa)
3. Arabic (Notes of Sir Hafiz Arshad, used for poetry and grammar while prepared literature from book by Hafiz Karimdad Dilshad Chughtai)
4. British History (Prepared Paper A from P.C.Thomas and Paper B from Norman Lowe and Top 20 questions of Jahangir's. For few topics on modern British History, I had to consult internet)

For Revision

Once you are done with your detailed first read, second read should be done along with preparation of short bullet notes. Almost every qualifier would suggest you this and it is an absolute fact that these bullet notes help you in revising the night before exam without putting you in much tension and trouble. We can safely say that two revisions can get you good marks in a subject but it can always vary person to person.

Moreover, you should have a very good writing practice because you are going to attempt two papers in a day and six papers in three days. There could be your optionals in the same row as well. So, mixed with the stress it becomes a very hectic and lethargic routine that can leave you completely devoid of energy. The plight is massive for a while and only the strong ones sail through it smoothly. You only need to have a firm belief in your abilities and have faith that true hardwork is always rewarded by Almighty Allah. Do your best and leave the rest to Him.

I would try to share the lists of topics and other related material soon, InshaaAllah.

Regards

Thank you So Much..!! I'd like to ask your strategy about english essay..Wot would you recommend us..!! And do u suggest systematic preparation i mean complete outline of a subject and studying as per the outline from different book rather than using one book.

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Systematic preparation is what you must do. Just prepare a comprehensive outline of topics from different sources like CSS Forum and past papers etc. which you find enough to score good marks in the exam. You can use more than one books according to your requirement.

For Essay the pattern is quite simple with little variation as per the demand of the topic. But the basic pattern remains the same. One must start from Introduction of the topic or if I may say more appropriately "Response to the issue". Almost every essay is related to an issue and your first paragraph should tell whether you are going to write in favor of the topic or against it. It should not take you long before you tell the reader what you are writing about. The next step is the "Causes", then "Effects of the issue". After that an important step is giving "Remedies" which should be practical. In the end, you have to give a "Conclusion". You can always start an Essay with a nice quote or Quranic verse or poetic verses etc. I used blue marker to write my outline and different quotes here and there in the essay.

I spent quite some time in finalizing my outline and wrote it in a very neat manner in the very start. I had a habit of writing unique headings and not just the usual ones. The length of the Essay should be appropriate in a way that every important aspect gets covered but it simply is not the main criteria. Your paper must be neat and writing legible. Use good vocabulary, no spelling or grammar mistakes, proper sentence structure and try to keep paragraphs of almost same length (if you can). It would enhance the beauty of your Essay. And, yes, Essay is not a paper of General Knowledge or Current Affairs. There should not be many facts and figures. Examples can be given according to the demand of the topic.

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AOA madam, Your endeavor of guiding all the fellow forum members is an appreciable act of kindness. Madam i wanted to ask about your strategy for preparation of Vocabulary for the objective portion of the precis and composition paper. How did you go about it?. These days everybody just grabs the Baron's GRE vocabulary book and starts cramming the words and their meanings, I found it a very monotonous and disturbing exercise as I am very bad at cramming, so instead of that I have thought of learning vocabulary via Dawn, I try to mark all the difficult words and try to grasp their meanings by looking at the meaning of the sentence as well as by getting help from dictionary, by looking at the amount of time that I have i.e around six months. DO you think that this strategy if followed religiously can get me through the vocabulary portion of the paper or I need to go back to cramming, Please tell me what you think about it keeping in view your ow n strategy and preparation for this paper also at the same time not neglecting the fact that after the change in Syllabus most of the paper deals with one's knowledge of words.

Secondly, I am opting punjabi but I had a few queries about it, whats your analysis that has FPSC brought substantial changes in the course of this subject or not?? As I didnt check the previous course, and as You know madam Arabic had a very technical paper in 2014 and hardly a few candidates were able to opt it. So do you think that Punjabi can meet a similar fate(as it is also a language subject and since most of all do selective study of this subject) or you think that it is safe to opt this subject, what would be your advice reagrding this subject.


Thanking in Anticipation.
Regards.

Kindly suggest only one book of each subject+ Islamic history...according to new syllabus..I to believe in quality not quantity.... JazakAllah

Thank you for sharing your preparation strategies. Can you please tell me that for how many hours you used to study daily and for how many months?

I would never suggest anybody that they should waste their time cramming whole vocabulary books. It won't do anything but eat up the precious time which can be utilized in other important tasks. Your strategy is quite appropriate and you will notice that in six months you would have a large pool of words available both for P&C and for expressing your views beautifully in different papers. The words would come to you naturally without even cramming if you continue reading newspaper daily and with full concentration. I myself used to do the same. I would read Dawn and JWT, mark the words, search meanings and that's all. You will find yourself all equipped with good vocabulary in the end, InshaaAllah.

Punjabi is still of 100 marks but there are a few changes in the syllabus outline which you might find in the syllabus that has been provided by FPSC. Selective study is not a viable option anymore since the board seems fully determined to bring major changes in the paper patterns. But Punjabi is a type of subject which can be completed without selective study in 15 to 20 days. You can leave any section which you find most difficult but not more than that. The problem with Arabic was that it had to be attempted in Arabic but its not the case with Punjabi.

I did mention one book each for almost all subjects. The rest are just notes and internet. Since, Islamic History was not my subject I can't tell you exactly which book would be appropriate according to the new syllabus but previously Sohail Bhatti, K.Ali and Mazhar ul Haq were famous books for Islamic History and Culture.

7 months. 8 to 10 hours in first 4 months and 12 to 14 hours in the last 3 months.

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Thankyou madam for your response, I since the very beginning of my preparation thought it unwise to go for any of the languages, (since their is a practice among all the asspirants to have a selective study of these subjects). And it was upon insistance of a few CSPs and teachers that I thought of opting PUnjabi, but madam you put a stamp on all my fears, selective stusy of any study can be disastrous incase of a technical paper. Madam what subject should i opt from the last group, the only choice I have is of Journalism or Sociology. Please suggest something. Your score in Islamiyat was very good,I also need your recommendation about the book to prepare Islamiyat keeping in view the new syllabus

Secondly madam, I am left with some 6 months of my prep and I have devised my plan so that I write a precis and A 1000-1500 word essay of anything that I have studied throughout the day( for instance since I read about Civil Military relations and I wrote it in form of a question, I will try to increase this to 2000-2500 words as the exams approach). Madam should I continue with this work?? As I think that this exam is only about your critical analysis and the way you express it and I am trying to master expressing my thoughts, I am finding this plan very useful and I am satisfied with it, what do you say is it a good way to go ahead, as I have seen nobody around me or on this forum doing this thing.

Thankyou

Thanks.
1. I used to give 60 to 80 minutes to Dawn till December and a little less than this in January. In this time I would write meanings of difficult words during the reading, extract and write down important facts and figures. But by November I almost left vocabulary writing and just concentrated on the news because now I started understanding many difficult words without opening dictionary.
2. No. I meant that pick a subject, make a complete outline of the topics in it that you have to cover, prepare notes if you have to and then launch your endeavor to memorize it. And during your first revision, prepare bullet notes.
3. I only prepared full length notes for Islamiat and Pakistan Affairs. And only bullet notes for Current Affairs.

You can go with anyone of them, Journalism or Sociology. They can be prepared in a short time period but these are the subjects which will most likely give an average score. Anthropology on the other hand is a new subject and I think new subjects would be able to give good scores as they have just been introduced and marking could be lenient. If you have an interest you should check its syllabus.

As far as Islamiat is concerned, there are not any major changes. Infact I am feeling that the new syllabus is short. You can consult Advanced Concepts of Islamiat by imtiaz Shahid. But it would be better for you to google a topic and find good material on it.

Your strategy is brilliant to improve your writing abilities on any kind of topic. You have got time to carry on this practice.

I used to read it within few days and utilize the information as per the requirement. It holds topics related to a wide range of subjects particularly Islamiat, Pakistan Affairs, Journalism and Essay ofcourse.

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