This is a topic on which speculation is ripe every year.
However, given that the Central government is yet to receive the report of the committee it has constituted, there is very little chance that the pattern will change for 2017.
There are other reasons to think this way too.
- Given UP elections are due next year and the government is already on the back foot on many issues, Modi Government is unlikely to effect a sudden change in the pattern. Given that the Gangetic Belt is pretty sensitive towards the UPSC Exam and its pattern changes, it is very unlikely the government would want to invite an agitation right before the election.
- There have been multiple assurances at the ministerial level that the pattern changes, if any, will be done, in a gradual manner, so as to not cause any difficulty to the current students. This means that any change would be gradual and not immediate.
However, none of these should be reason for complacency. The ideal thing to do would be to not bother about these trivial matters and go ahead with the present pattern. If at all it changes, the things you have studied would still make you more competitive. I am yet to hear of a person who has lost something in life because he read an extra few pages.
All the Best.