My name is Daniyal Younas, and I am from Abbottabad, KPK. I graduated in Microbiology and Biotechnology from Superior University Lahore in 2023. Today, after qualifying the CSS 2026 Written Examination, when I look back at my preparation journey, I can clearly identify the decisions that wasted my time and the one decision that eventually transformed the way I approached this examination: joining Sir Syed Kazim Ali.

Before studying under Sir Kazim, my journey was much like that of countless CSS and PMS aspirants. I attended academies, collected notes, listened to different teachers, followed multiple strategies, and tried to absorb as much content as possible. From the outside, my preparation appeared substantial. I had notes, lectures, books, and plans. Yet whenever I attempted mocks, an uncomfortable reality confronted me: despite all that preparation, I could not translate my knowledge into an effective examination answer.

At one point, I genuinely began questioning whether I was capable of qualifying CSS at all.

When More Preparation Was Producing Less Confidence

My English writing was one of my greatest weaknesses. My sentences lacked structure, my understanding of basic grammar was inadequate, and I struggled to express even ideas that I understood well. More disturbingly, whatever little understanding I had developed of precis and comprehension had become further confused because of the contradictory techniques taught at different academies.

Essay writing was an even greater challenge. I could read extensively and collect information, but when confronted with an essay topic, I did not know how to transform that information into a focused argument.

My fundamental misconception was that competitive examination preparation was primarily about collecting information and memorizing content. Consequently, I kept moving towards academies and social-media teachers who offered more lectures, more notes, more predictions, and more material.

For some time, this created an illusion of preparation. I felt confident because I had “covered” a great deal.

But writing exposed everything.

When I actually sat down with a blank page, I realized that possessing information and being able to think, organize, and communicate it effectively were entirely different abilities.

That realization was painful because I had already invested considerable time and effort without seeing the improvement I expected.

The Decision That Changed My CSS Journey

During this period of confusion, I came across a video in which a serving PMS officer from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government discussed his English preparation. He explained how Sir Syed Kazim Ali had helped him find direction amid the confusion created by academies and conflicting preparation strategies.

By then, I was frustrated enough to consider giving English preparation one final serious attempt.

I contacted my academy friend, Ahmad, and we decided that instead of immediately joining another course, we would first attend Sir Kazim’s orientation and judge his teaching ourselves.

We joined the April batch.

I still remember our first orientation session. Within those few hours, both of us realized that we wanted to continue studying under him. Concepts that had remained unclear even after months of preparation began making sense during a single three-hour session.

The difference was not simply that Sir Kazim knew English well. The difference was that he knew how to teach a competitive aspirant to think and write.

For the First Time, English Became a System

From the initial classes, I realized that Sir Kazim’s approach was fundamentally different from what I had previously experienced.

There were no shortcuts, no ready-made essays to memorize, and no piles of notes presented as substitutes for writing ability.

He started from the foundation.

He made us understand that CSS English preparation is not limited to learning how to write an essay. Sentence construction, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, precis, comprehension, sentence correction and essay writing are not isolated components; together, they develop the command over language and thought that a competitive examination demands.

For the first time, I began seeing English as an interconnected system rather than a collection of separate rules and papers.

Sir worked on areas as fundamental as sentence structure and subject-verb agreement. However, even grammar was not taught merely as a set of rules to memorize. We were taught how those rules function in actual writing.

Gradually, I identified my real problem.

I was not failing to write because I had nothing to say. I was struggling because I lacked the clarity and linguistic control required to say it effectively.

That distinction changed my preparation.

How My Understanding of Essay Writing Changed

Before joining Sir Kazim, my approach to an essay was dangerously simple: read the topic, recall whatever information I had about it, make an outline, and start writing.

Sir completely changed this approach.

I learned that an essay begins long before the first paragraph is written. First, one must understand what the topic actually demands. Then come the direction of the topic, the stance, thesis statement, arguments, organization, evidence, coherence, and logical progression.

I stopped viewing an essay as a place where accumulated information had to be reproduced and began understanding it as a structured process of thought.

This was perhaps one of the most important lessons of my entire CSS preparation.

Sir taught us that an aspirant does not necessarily need some extraordinary reservoir of “special knowledge” for every possible essay topic. A well-prepared aspirant already possesses knowledge of contemporary, political, social, economic, and global issues. The real skill lies in knowing how to use relevant knowledge according to the precise demand of the topic.

Once I understood this, essay writing stopped appearing mysterious. It remained demanding, but it became manageable because there was now a method behind it.

Unlearning What I Had Been Taught About Precis

My experience with precis was equally transformative.

Before joining Sir Kazim, I had been taught by a well-known academy in Lahore to approach precis almost mechanically: break sentences into smaller portions, replace words, and reconstruct them in a shorter form.

The technique never made intellectual sense to me, but like many aspirants, I followed it because I assumed that an established academy must know better.

Under Sir Kazim, I learned that precis is fundamentally an exercise in understanding before shortening.

I learned how to identify the central idea, distinguish essential information from supporting detail, understand the relationship among ideas, and reproduce the author’s message concisely without distorting its meaning.

For the first time, precis became logical.

The same transformation occurred in sentence correction, translation, and other areas of English. Instead of memorizing isolated rules, I gradually developed an understanding of how English actually works.

When I appeared in the CSS 2026 examination, I could personally feel the difference between having memorized English rules and having developed command over English writing.

The Evaluation Process That Changed My Writing

If I had to identify one element of Sir Kazim’s mentorship that contributed most significantly to my improvement, it would be his evaluation process.

I still remember my first evaluation.

I submitted my work with considerable confidence, believing that I had done reasonably well. Within the first seven lines of evaluation, that confidence disappeared.

The level of scrutiny was unlike anything I had previously experienced.

Errors that I had never noticed were identified. Weak sentence constructions, unclear expressions, logical gaps, inappropriate arguments, and structural problems were not merely marked wrong; I was made to understand why they were wrong and how they could be improved.

That distinction matters enormously.

A teacher who merely circles an error tells you that you have failed at a particular point. A teacher who explains the reason behind that error gives you the ability to avoid it in the future.

And Sir’s evaluation did not end with correction.

Often came the instruction I disliked most at the time:

Rewrite it.

After spending hours writing something, being told to rewrite the entire piece was exhausting. Sometimes it was frustrating. But today, as a CSS 2026 Written Qualifier, I can say that this was probably one of the most valuable parts of my preparation.

The process was simple but demanding:

Write → Get Evaluated → Understand the Mistakes → Correct → Rewrite → Improve.

It was through this repeated cycle, not through notes or shortcuts, that my writing gradually changed.

My sentences became more controlled. My ideas became better organized. My arguments became more logical. Most importantly, I developed the ability to recognize weaknesses in my own writing.

What months of conventional academy preparation had failed to achieve began happening through systematic practice and serious evaluation.

A Teacher Who Refused to Give Me False Confidence

Another quality I deeply respect about Sir Kazim is his honesty.

Competitive examination preparation is full of people selling confidence. Aspirants are frequently told that CSS can be mastered in a few weeks, that certain essays will appear, that particular notes are sufficient, or that a few “techniques” can compensate for weak writing.

Sir never gave us that kind of false hope.

He made it clear that writing is a skill, and skills require time, practice, correction, and discipline.

Ironically, his refusal to give us artificial confidence eventually gave me genuine confidence.

I knew that whatever improvement I could see in my writing had been earned through practice. It was not based on motivational claims or predictions; it was visible on paper.

His approach also remained strongly examination-oriented. We were repeatedly taught to look at our writing from an examiner’s perspective: What exactly is the question demanding? Is the argument relevant? Does the paragraph prove what it claims? Is the expression clear? Does the answer demonstrate understanding or merely reproduce information?

This helped bridge the gap between classroom learning and actual examination performance.

More Than an English Teacher

Over time, I realized that Sir Kazim’s contribution went beyond teaching Essay and Precis.

A serious teacher changes not only what you write but also how you think about your own preparation.

Sir taught us to question weak strategies, distinguish knowledge from expression, remain disciplined in practice, and avoid the constant switching of teachers and methods that destroys the preparation of many aspirants.

Most importantly, during the final phase of CSS 2026, when anxiety was naturally increasing, his role became even more significant.

While elsewhere we were repeatedly being told to increase pressure, attempt more mocks, and put in extraordinary effort during the final weeks, Sir’s advice was different: remain calm, revise intelligently, and trust the process you have followed for months.

That stability mattered.

He continued guiding us through revisions until the final stage, but without allowing examination anxiety to destroy the preparation we had already built.

Sometimes a mentor’s greatest contribution is not another lecture. It is preventing a student from losing direction when the examination is closest.

What Qualifying CSS 2026 Taught Me

Today, after qualifying the CSS 2026 Written Examination, I can look back at my journey with far greater clarity.

My problem was never simply a shortage of notes.

I had notes.

My problem was that I had not learned how to convert knowledge into examination-quality writing.

I had mistaken content collection for preparation, memorization for understanding, and familiarity with a topic for the ability to write about it critically.

Sir Syed Kazim Ali helped me correct those misconceptions.

He took me from weak sentence construction towards controlled expression, from random essay writing towards structured argumentation, from mechanical precis techniques towards actual comprehension, and above all, from confusion towards clarity.

That is why I do not consider him merely an English teacher.

For me, he was the mentor who taught me how to use what I knew.

My Advice to Serious CSS and PMS Aspirants

I would strongly recommend Sir Syed Kazim Ali to serious CSS and PMS aspirants, particularly those who possess knowledge but struggle to express it, those who have previously failed English papers, and those who feel lost among academies, notes, social-media strategies, and conflicting advice.

If you are still searching for shortcuts, predicted essays, ready-made outlines, or another bundle of notes, my experience may not be what you want to hear.

But if you genuinely want to develop your writing, be prepared to work.

Be prepared to have your mistakes exposed.

Be prepared to rewrite.

Be prepared to discover that something you considered “good writing” may not actually be good enough.

And most importantly, be prepared to remain consistent long enough for improvement to become visible.

CSS is not simply about how much you know. It is also about how clearly you think, how logically you organize that knowledge, and how effectively you communicate it to the examiner.

Joining Sir Syed Kazim Ali was one of the most consequential decisions of my CSS journey. He moved me from memorization to understanding, from scattered preparation to a systematic process, and from doubting whether I was capable of CSS to eventually seeing my name among the CSS 2026 Written Qualifiers.

Having travelled that journey myself, I can say this with conviction:

A true teacher does not merely give you answers. He develops in you the ability to find direction when you are confused, recognize your weaknesses when you cannot see them, and eventually perform without depending on him.

For me, Sir Syed Kazim Ali has been that teacher.

— Daniyal Younas
CSS 2026 Written Qualifier
Abbottabad, KPK