After FSC, Which Subject Should I Choose for CSS?

FSc – Background, and Info

Many students in Pakistan pursue ‘Faculty of Sciences’ (FSc) to complete their 11th and 12th grades of secondary education as opposed to alternative qualifications. FSc or ‘Intermediate’ is a popular option among students who plan to continue their studies or work within Pakistan, however foreign opportunities can always be availed by students of any background.

After FSC results, you can check your 2nd-year result 2021 Lahore board, and if you are from Faisalabad, you can check your FSC result here for 2021: Faisalabad board 2nd-year result 2021

In FSc, students must pass the compulsory subjects along with the electives to receive Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC). Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) provides students with the option to select from two subject groups:

1. Pre-Engineering: Students interested in engineering opt for this field. Elective subjects include Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.
2. Pre-Medical: Students with a keen interest in medical education may move forward with this. Elective subjects include Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

CSS – Introduction and Decision Making

Students who have mapped out their future plans and are completely sure of which field to pursue are always encouraged and applauded. Even though the completion of FSc doesn’t make a student eligible for CSS exams, the ambition provides a better outlook and approach towards excelling it.

Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) holds the Central Superior Service (CSS) Exam. It comprises 6 compulsory papers and 6 optional papers. The selection of electives or optional subjects proves to be a tough decision for many students as they may base it on: Past trends, Overlapping, High/Easy Scoring Benefits, Course Length, Research, or Personal Interests.

CSS examinations are a significant milestone in anyone’s career, nothing makes it reasonable to take it lightly. Students should have a clear understanding of the structure and the various subjects involved, this will help in better decision making and course selection.

Course Selection and Acceptability

The CSS exam has a total of 1200 marks divided into two parts, 600 marks for optional papers and 600 marks for compulsory papers. There are a total of 45 optional subjects categorized into 7 groups and each paper may carry 200 or 100 marks, no more than that. Hence, many combinations may be formed as per students’ preferences.

Past Trends

Any CSS student would prefer a high-scoring and relatively easy subject to enroll in. The key is to study the past and current trends of subjects in terms of their marks. A subject is considered high-scoring if past candidates have scored more than 70-75 marks in it. Contrary to this, a low-scoring subject consistently results in less than 50 marks. Anthropology, Criminology, Business Administration, and Regional Languages often fall under the category of high-scoring subjects.

Some subjects are targeted (made more challenging and difficult to pass) on alternate years. Those who followed the trends will know beforehand about any subject that might be targeted. For instance, Public Administration might be targeted every 4 years.

Personal Interest

Personal Interest holds the top priority among all the factors. If the student is fully invested in the subject and finds it interesting, passing it wouldn’t be a big problem. As interest overtakes the boring aspect of the subject, it becomes easier to prepare and ace the exam. Hence, if one student considers ‘Regional Languages’ boring and uneventful, he/she can skip group-VII completely and opt for some other.

Overlapping Subjects

Aspirants can take advantage of two or more subjects sharing an overlapping syllabus and prepare for several papers simultaneously. For example, Political Science’s syllabus overlaps with quite a few subjects including US History, Public Administration, Governance, and Public Policy and Gender Studies.

Course Length

Course length should also be taken into account by the students. If the syllabus is lengthy and requires significant time to complete, aspirants may as well skip it. For example, history subjects used to be worth 200 marks before 2016, but now they offer 100 marks with the same length of syllabus previously followed.

Research

It is impractical for an academy or institute to host all 45 optional and 6 compulsory subjects with different teachers. Therefore, it is imperative for a student to thoroughly research different academies and also the availability of books.

Conclusion

Passing CSS exams with flying colors is a dream of many but it requires will and time to identify what subjects they can take head-on and score high marks. Every student has a different mindset and one should explore each field thoroughly before pursuing it.

I hope this helps.