August 2025 Civil Service Exam Reviewer [Free Tips, Reviewers and Downloads]

Almost every year, less than 2 out of 10 examinees pass the Philippines Civil Service Commission's Career Service Examination—Pen and Paper Test (CSE-PPT).

For the March 2023 exams, only 64,420 passed, equivalent to just 16.88% out of a total of 381,607 who took the test.¹

It slightly improved to an 18.7% passing rate in the August 20 exams; a total of 64,635 passed out of the 345,194 examinees.²

This year, 57,683, or 17.20 percent out of 335,385 examinees passed the March 2024 exams.³

The sheer number of examinees makes the Career Service Examination, more popularly known as the Civil Service Exam, the most popular professional career examination in the Philippines. Passing the civil service exam is just one of the steps Filipino professionals must pass to work in the government.

Working in government is a pretty attractive prospect for many due to the security of tenure and the wages and benefits that even some private companies cannot match.

Given how competitive the civil service exams are, you must prepare for them and make sure you know the requirements and basics.

Why take the Civil Service Exam?

For those seeking to work for the Philippine government, taking and passing the civil service exam grants you Civil Service eligibility which allows you to apply for open positions in the government.

For those already working in the government, this helps you become a regular employee and helps in your career advancement.

Aside from that, students aged 18 years and above can already take the exam which can be a good thing if you are planning to work for the government or just to get a little feel on how these government exams are done.

What is the coverage of the Civil Service Exam?

Two types of civil service exams are administered by the CSC: professional level exam and sub-professional exam.

The professional level exam consists of 170 items while the sub-professional exam is composed of 165 multiple choice questions. Examinees for the professional level exam must finish it within 3 hours and minutes while the sub-professional level takers must get it done after 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Both exams have a mix of English and Filipino questions.

How can you effectively review for the Civil Service Exam?

Guided review by professionals is often the best way to prepare for any test like the civil service exam. However, we know that it can be expensive and time-consuming. That's why a lot of people resort to self-studying which is quite challenging.

That's why we are here to help. Here are some review strategies that you can use in preparation for the civil service exam.

Five-Day Study Plan⁷

This is one of the popular review strategies that came from Cornell University's The Learning Strategies Center. It shows how to prepare for an exam by breaking the material into several chunks and studying each chunk for exactly two hours a day.

While it is called a five-day study plan, the same principle works even if you spread it out over several days. For example, it can be done in 20 days and spend an hour a day reviewing. It just emphasizes the importance of spacing out study sessions over several days rather than cramming. Three key components should be present for this to be effective: preparing the materials, reviewing the materials, starting in advance, and switching things up.

This review strategy can be effective if you use a variety of active study strategies, such as making flashcards, sample tests, and study guides, and practicing with self-tests.

Active Recall⁸

One of the most popular study methods is Active Recall. A quick YouTube search will show a lot of medical students using this method to either prepare for their medical school entrance exams or pass the board exams. It is the complete opposite of what most learning strategies do. Instead of absorbing the information that needs to be learned, active recall works by forcing your memory to retrieve what you have learned or what you currently know.

While popular, there are a few studies conducted to test its efficacy. However, a lot of people are giving testimonials on how this method helped them a lot. One of the common ways to use active recall is to do practice testing wherein one answers a practice test and then reviews the incorrectly answered questions.

This is where we believe we can help civil service examinees do active recall by providing a free and comprehensive exam reviewer for all.

Where can you find quality Civil Service Exam reviewers?

Free Civil Service Exam Reviewer

We know that there are a lot of free civil service exam reviewers around. But what makes us different is that we made sure that our questionnaires have a proper layout, and sequence, and can be used for your self-review.

Our free civil service exam reviewer contains the entire coverage and 170 questions, so you will get familiar with the exam questions and get a feel for how you will answer them. It will help you strategize what parts you are going to answer first and what topics you need to focus on reviewing.

Please take note that these may not be the actual questions that would appear on the civil service exam but to help you get a feel for it.

Sample Answer Sheet for Civil Service Exam

Please take note that the following answer sheet is not the actual answer sheet used in the civil service exam. This is just an approximate look where it contains circles that would need to be marked correctly so your answers can be properly recorded. You can use this to practice your shading for the actual exam.

When shading, and since ballpen will be used for this exam, you need to make sure to shade the correct answer and if you need to change your answer, you need to cross it out.

Practice Answer Sheet for Civil Service Exam: Sample Answer Sheet

Descriptive Questionnaire

This is the first part of the civil service exam. These are questions related to your personal profile and there are no right or wrong answers here. You just need to make sure to answer all of it.

Descriptive Questionnaire Practice Test: Sample 1

Numerical Ability

Tips and Tricks

Focus on reviewing and practicing basic math concepts. According to those who have already taken the test, advanced math topics like calculus, trigonometry, logarithms, etc. will not be part of the exam. However, questions on the civil service exam can still be quite difficult so be careful answering them and try to take as many practice math problems as possible to improve your math-solving skills.
Try learning math by game-based learning. Repetition is important in remembering and mastering basic math concepts. However, it can be burdensome and even boring for some. Game-based learning is a fantastic approach to making math learning more enjoyable and memorable. There are a lot of math-based game-learning websites and apps out there that you can try.
Apply math in your everyday life. Since we just have to focus on basic concepts, a lot of these can be easily found around us. Even if we do not take time to do a one to two-hour review session, we can easily make ourselves more familiar with basic math concepts and how to solve them by helping ourselves see the math around us. For example, calculating the discount that would be applied towards your shopping, counting the number of steps needed to a destination, or how fast the bus is moving.
Practice solving math without using a calculator. The previous example will definitely help you towards this goal. Since calculators are forbidden while taking the civil service exam, you need to be confident in solving math problems on your own. Aside from the previous example, you can look up different techniques on how to easily solve basic math operations such as finger multiplication, the ’10s’, ‘100s’, and ‘1000s’ tricks, cross-division methods, etc.

Numerical Ability Sample Review Tests

Numerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 1 | Answers with Explanation 1
Numerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 2 | Answers with Explanation 2 - Will add soon!
Numerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 3 | Answers with Explanation 3 - Will add soon!
Numerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 4 | Answers with Explanation 4 - Will add soon!

Analytical Ability

Tips and Tricks

Make sure to read carefully the situations laid out when answering logic questions. The number one rule in answering these questions is to check for "common sense". Always ask yourself if the answer makes sense and is not absurd. Sentence construction can sometimes add difficulty but you just have to read it through before you choose your answer.
It would help you answer these questions by visualizing them. You may draw a simple chart dividing statements into different categories or their possible relationships. Venn diagrams can also help with showing relationships especially if you are looking for commonality.
Determine the relationship between the first set of words given. Then apply that to the question. Most of the time it is difficult to see how words are related to each other. You need to know the different ways words can be related to each other. The list below is not exhaustive and there may be other examples which may not be mentioned.

Synonyms - identical meanings happy : jolly, beautiful : pretty
Antonyms - different meanings, hot : cold, tall : short
Sequence - ex. cook : eat, plant : harvest
Effort and result - ex: write : letter, draw : sketch
Classification - the category that a word is into, ex. aircon : appliance, banana : fruit
Problem and solution - ex. headache : medicine, hungry : eat
Group - ex. forest : tree, crowd : man/li>
Function - ex. soap : clean, car : drive
Action - ex. dog : bark, vendor : sell
Measurement - ex. weight : grams, area : hectares
Description - ex. Baguio : cold, desert : hot

Number sequences can be quite difficult to figure out. But sometimes, by merely looking at them, we can already see the pattern. Most of the time, it seems very complex. You may have tried several computations to see if there is a formula or several computations done to get to the sequence. More often than not, these questions do not involve the use of complex equations. Just always remember not to make things complicated and choose the simplest solution.

Analytical Ability Sample Review Tests

Analytical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 1 | Answers with Explanation 1
Analytical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 2 | Answers with Explanation 2
Analytical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 3 | Answers with Explanation 3 - Will add soon!
Analytical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 4 | Answers with Explanation 4 - Will add soon!

Verbal Ability

Tips and Tricks

Read a lot. It is really hard to answer grammar and vocabulary questions if you do not have a working knowledge of the English language. If you do not read books, you can try to build the habit by reading news articles or even feature articles related to your interest. It could be about history, video games, travel, fashion, etc. Watching English-language movies or series can also help, but in terms of retention and repetition, reading tops it off.
Be curious and explore. Surely, you would encounter words every day that are unfamiliar to you. You may have heard it from someone else or read it in an article or book. Instead of just dismissing it, look up what the word means and how it is used.
Use what you learn. It is not enough that you can remember what words mean and how they are used. You can only master it by using it every day. It can be in everyday conversations at the office or it may sound a bit silly but you can talk to yourself in a mirror.
Go straight to the questions when answering the reading comprehension section. It can be time-consuming to answer this part of the exam. While reading it in whole can definitely help you get familiar with the context, more often than not, we tend to forget the important details. It is better to just try to answer the questions and look for the answers by reading them back. However, if you want to completely read it first, make sure to write down important details so you can get back to it later.
Take a lot of grammar and spelling tests. Practice is again key in mastering the English language so make sure to take a lot of practice tests. We have a few high quality suggestions where you can start:

Verbal Ability Sample Review Tests

Verbal Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 1 | Answers with Explanation 1
Verbal Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 2 | Answers with Explanation 2
Verbal Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 3 | Answers with Explanation 3
Verbal Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 4 | Answers with Explanation 4 - Will add soon!

Clerical Ability

Tips and Tricks

Unless stated or ordered otherwise, names are arranged based on their surnames. So it would be helpful if you rewrite the names first in this order: Surname, First Name, Middle Name, Suffix (ex. Cruz, Jose Santos III). If the surname is made up of several words such as Dela Paz, Dela Cruz, etc., these are traditionally ignored but today they are taken into account when arranging names in alphabetical order.
Multiple surnames. Some married women use their maiden surname, for example, Annabel Santos-Cruz, rewrite it as Santos-Cruz, Annabel, and consider the two surnames.
People without middle names or middle initials. Not all of us have middle names especially here in the Philippines. In this case, their names always comes first when arranging them alphabetically.
Ignore honorifics or titles. If a person has a title, such as Atty. Jose C. Santos III, it is not considered when arranging names alphabetically. If you have to rewrite them, it usually follows after the suffix (ex. Santos, Jose C III Atty.)
For business and organizations, ignore articles and punctuation marks. You have to simply arrange them alphabetically according to their names. No need to rewrite as long as you can easily ignore the articles (the, a, an) or punctuation marks (apostrophe ('),comma (,), hypen (-), period (.)).
Pratice, practice, practice. While it may look easy, you should not be overconfident and continue to practice until you can flawlessly arrange names in alphabetical order. Here are some resources which can help you:

Clerical Ability Sample Review Tests

Clerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 1 | Answers with Explanation 1
Clerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 2 | Answers with Explanation 2 - Will add soon!
Clerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 3 | Answers with Explanation 3 - Will add soon!
Clerical Ability Practice Test: Sample Test Question 4 | Answers with Explanation 4 - Will add soon!

General Information

Tips and Tricks

Be updated with current events. You don't have to make sure to know everything that happened on the news especially about politics. Just make sure you have a 'general' knowledge of what happened particularly with major events in the past year.
Read the constitution and RA 6713. There's no need to memorize every article and paragraph of the 1987 Constitution and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Reading it from time to time will help you get familiar with it. This is also helpful if you wanted to expand your verbal knowledge since there's a lot of English words there that might not be familiar with you.
Take down notes. Don't just read, write down important points you found such as penalty for corruption or the number of senators we should have. This will not only help you remember those details but also help improve your attention to detail which in important in taking the civil service exam.

General Information Sample Review Tests

General Information Practice Test: Sample Test Question 1 | Answers with Explanation 1
General Information Practice Test: Sample Test Question 2 | Answers with Explanation 2 - Will add soon!
General Information Practice Test: Sample Test Question 3 | Answers with Explanation 3 - Will add soon!
General Information Practice Test: Sample Test Question 4 | Answers with Explanation 4 - Will add soon!

That's it. We hope this will help you in your journey to pass the civil service exams! Good luck! Don't hesitate to provide us with your valuable feedback if these reviewers helped you in any way. We commit to continuously improve this reviewer for everyone.

If you enjoy and have greatly benefitted from this civil service exam reviewer, please feel free to support our mission in providing all Filipinos with more high-quality educational resources. Thank you!

Sources:

^ (2023, July 18). FULL RESULTS: March 26, 2023 Civil Service Exam CSE-PPT list of passers, top 10. The Summit Express. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://www.thesummitexpress.com/2023/04/full-results-march-26-2023-civil-service-exam-cse-ppt-list-of-passers-top-10.html
^ Parungao, A. (2023, November 3). Over 64,000 pass CSC career service exam in August 2023. Inquirer.net. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1854715/over-64000-pass-csc-career-service-exam-in-august-2023
^ Civil Service Commission (2024, June 7). NCR, Southern Luzon lead topnotchers of 3 March 2024 career service exam. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://csc.gov.ph/ncr-southern-luzon-lead-topnotchers-of-3-march-2024-career-service-exam
^ Civil Service Commission (2024, April 23). Examination Announcement No. 06 s. 2024 - Conduct of 11 Aug 2024 CSE-PPT. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://csc.gov.ph/examination-advisories/examination-announcement-no-06-s-2024-conduct-of-11-aug-2024-cse-ppt
^ Pinoy Education Resources (2024, October 5). The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Retrieved October 6, 2024, from https://pinoyeducationresources.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-1987-constitution-of-republic-of.html.html
^ Pinoy Education Resources (2024, October 6). Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (R.A. 6713) - Full Text (Downloadable). Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://pinoyeducationresources.blogspot.com/2024/10/Code-of-Conduct-and-Ethical-Standards-for-Public-Officials-and-Employees.html
^ Cornell University (n.d.). Five-Day Study Plan. The Learning Strategies Center. Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/studying-for-and-taking-exams/the-five-day-study-plan/
^ University of York (n.d.). Active Recall. Practical Guides. Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/study-revision/active-recall

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