Well, it is a really very hard question to reply, but unfortunately i know it, I mean the reason for failure in the exam.
It was my 2nd attempt, I am MBA (HR) and also done MA Economics.
Members can better understand it after having a view of my failure statement....

COMPULSORY SUBJECTS
Subject Total Marks Passing Marks Marks Obtained Total Marks Accepted
Essay 100 40 40
English 100 40 54
General Knowledge 300 120
GK1 (Everyday Science) 100 40
GK2 (Current Affairs) 100 40
GK3 (Pakistan Affairs) 100 40 120
Islamiat 100 40 41

OPTIONAL SUBJECTS
Subject Total Marks Passing Marks Marks Obtained Total Marks Accepted
Sociology 100 33 67
Islamic History and Culture 200
Paper A 36
Paper B 36 72 72
Musilm LAW and Jurisprudance 100 33 54
Urdu 200
Paper A 33
Paper B 64 97


Total Marks FAILED IN AGGREGATE 545

As you all can see I am pass in each subject, English Essay, Composition, G.K and Islamiat but failed in aggregate.
There were several reasons for my failure,
I) I had lack of time to study, I was doing job, and i had started my preparation after submitting my application form.
II) I got unexpectedly low score in EDS and Islamiat,I was estimating 60 & 55 in these two but i got 40 & 41, i dont know why...
III) I couldnt give proper time to my optional subjects,My Optionals cheat me, one should prepare well the compulsory but dont forget your optionals, they boost your aggregate, i was thinking i wud prepare Islamic History and Urdu in the last days but i couldnt, so i had to take my History papers wid blank preparation, although i cleared them, but they made my aggregate so low, also Urdu paper I, it was totaly unexpected, and quit difficult. Although I was not well prepared for Sociology and Muslim Law as well, but i attempted them easily and got good marks.
IV) I would suggest all the aspirates to give proper time to studies, so that lack of time may not a problem for them, i prepared in last two months and if i had one month more i could definately do that, but still i am not very sad, i will surely be sad for my 55 marks, but i know that i cant challenge my fate,
CSS preparation was a good experience and learning process for me and i gained a lot, but i wont prepare it for again coz it was my last chance,,, I am 28 years old, fortunately or unfortunatly,
CSS is not very tough exam, you can do it if u work hard, but if you couldn't,,, don't get disappointed, CSS is not the end of world, God has definitely chosen you for some other task which is much more important and benificial for you then CSS
Although I lost it but I gained as well, coz i am getting married next month and my husband is CSP
God bless all of us.

aoa my roll no was 667. when i first came to know that i was not among the successful candidates i thought that it may be my essay or public adm paper.the essay i attempted was ''dailogue is the best course''.it was not a prepared essay but whatever thoughts came into my mind about past present national and international scenario i gave my own words with headings.for outline i left the first page and gave that headline in last five to ten minutes.whatever i had written in the essay i made that headline .I thought that i had chosen a different topic because most of the people in the hall attempted an essay on natural resources.but luckily i got 50.in public adm. the paper i saw was something very new to me .i had done my masters 7 years before and there were many new things may be from new books but by the grace of Almighty ALLAH i did not give up and first i read all the mcq's and with the understanding of basic concepts in my mind i attempted them and long questions too .i cleared that paper too.but surprisingly i failed to clear GK aur jab se result aya hai mai ne do teen dafa check kia in science paper 30 mcq's were right which i remember ye bhi kam se kam hai rest of the paper be agar 30 ya 20 ka attempt kia ho phir be i should have passed.same is the case with gk 2 and 3 papers don't know what has happened but i am still happy i prayed ke kamyab to waisay bhi nahin hui ALLAH karay kisi ko batanay wala izzatdar result ho.ALLAH ka shukar i got 606 i am happy everything happens for good so be positive.best of luck

What I think is that Luck is really a factor.
I was quite hopeful that I would get through written at least.
But result turned out to be a nightmare.
I have not done bad at large.
see my DMS,

:: Roll Number 7643
:Candidate Name : TASWER ABBAS

COMPULSORY SUBJECTS

Essay 40
English 71
General Knowledge 126
Islamiat 29

OPTIONAL SUBJECTS
Arabic 136
Paper A 71
Paper B 65

British History 105
Paper A 53
Paper B 52

International LAW 70

Journalism 41
Total 618. (Including Islamyat)


So you can see A relatively easy considered subject brought about my catastrophe.
I know substandard books and slow and bad Urdu hand writing are chief causes of my failure in islamyat, of course besides my hard luck.

Now Plz guide me that shall I take my second attempt in 2001 or not. this was my first chance and age factor does not pose any problem to me.
Plz Guide me.........
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A man can be destroyed but not defeated.......

Unlike many others my failure was obvious.

I had not prepared for exams and the reason for this was to get the flavor of CSS. My cousins and friends had horrible stories about the difficulty of these exams but it turned out to be quite normal. I studied P.A and Indo-Pak History and I cleared two among three. I also cleared English papers. The only disappointment was Islamiat which yielded only 17

After appearing in exams, I now know that the CSS exams are not impossible to pass; what you need is to work hard and study.

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Striving to Understand!!