The profile of the entrants selected on the new pattern, however, has not changed. Candidates with an engineering or medicine background have excelled, as they always have.

The batch that started its foundation course last week is the first one that cleared last year’s examination following the introduction of CSAT.

Among the top 264 entrants who last week started their foundation course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, 118, or 44.69 per cent, are from an engineering background. It actually marks a successive improvement from the 26.13 per cent of 2010 and the 34.84 per cent of 2011. The representation of those with a medicine background, too, has increased.

These 264 represent around 25 per cent of the total candidates selected for the civil services this year, with the remaining three-quarters taking their foundation courses in other academies. The profiles of these 264 have been put up on their academy’s website.

There is also a higher representation of candidates with a rural background, 70.45 per cent against last year’s 56.81, which had been lower than the 66.18 per cent of 2010. The age profile has changed only slightly. The average age is 26.79, a year below that of the previous batch. The proportion of entrants aged below 26 is 27 per cent; it was 29 per cent last time.

The representation of law-background candidates has remained largely unchanged across three batches. Commerce has dropped to three candidates from 9 last time, and arts to 20.45 per cent from 26.13.

“It is clear that even with CSAT, candidates from backgrounds such as engineering and medicine have an advantage over others,” says a Shastri Academy official who was part of team that analysed batch profiles. “CSAT has not been able to change the earlier trend.”

Says Ranjna Chopra, deputy director at the academy, “We have just put up facts provided by the entrants themselves. We cannot give an opinion.”

The analysis lists a UT along with four northeastern states — Pondicherry along with Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh — from where not a single candidate was selected. Unrepresented states numbered four last year and three in 2010.