SSC

CGL
PREPARATION

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 SSC CGL PREPARATION

Time taken for preparation varies based on aptitude of the student, some take 3-4
months, some take 6-7 months or even years to prepare. On average, about 1 year of preparation
is more than enough.
AIR rank one did not receive any coaching from anyone, self-study is more than
sufficient to secure a good rank.

Subject-wise:

Tier I & II:

General Knowledge:
Newspapers are a must, reading at least one English newspaper as it will also prepare
you for the English Comprehension Exam.
Lucent's General Knowledge Book is a useful resource for general knowledge studies
and helps to prepare a good base.
General Knowledge apps which provide 8-10 points every day to study are also useful.
However, GK amounts to only 25 marks in the paper. Hence, study accordingly. Concentrate
more on other subjects like English and Maths which have much higher weightage in the exam.

Mathematics:
Kiran Publication's Elementary and Advanced Mathematics is the dedicated book for
SSC Maths preparation.
Calculations are very crucial for maths, to improve basic calculation watch a 24-video
series YouTube playlist - Easy Cal to learn most of the fast calculation tricks.
R.S. Aggarwal's Quantitative Aptitude book is also good for advanced learning as well
as preparation for other exams such as Bank PO, UPSC, etc.

English:
Wren and Martin English Grammar and Composition Book is a wholesome book for
preparing the base for English.
Apart from that for other parts of English papers such as vocabulary, error findings,
antonyms and synonyms, one-word substitutions, etc. Arihant Publication's Objective General
English is a wholesome guide for SSC CGL English Preparation.

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 Intuition plays a major factor during the exam. Hence, English must be internalized
sufficiently like a native speaker of English to properly judge the right answer during English
Paper. Spoken English and reading newspaper helps us to become proficient in English Usage
which in turn shows in our rank. English movies, novels, news channels, shows, etc. help to
improve conversational English too.

Reasoning:
R.S. Aggarwal Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning is the most important book for
reasoning. Some students don't do a dedicated preparation for Reasoning since it is covered
mainly in the Mathematics preparation as well. However, reasoning was also the weak link for
most students pursuing the exam. Hence, completing only 1 book on Reasoning is adequate.
AIR 1 did 90% of his preparations through test series, mock tests, etc. Previous years
papers are also very important. He recommends to complete the preparation in 4-5 months and
dedicate the rest of the time for test series and mock tests, etc. All India Mock tests also give
you an idea of where you stand or give you an idea of your current rank among students. A
recommended amount would be to at least give 20 tests for each subject and tier. You should
be practicing mock tests for at least 3 months. If you have only 3 months to prepare for SSC,
complete the syllabus in 1 month and attempt mock tests in the last two months.
Don't give any mock tests 1 week prior to the examination. Low grades in the mock
might affect your confidence. Spend the last week revising all topics and focusing on the
weaknesses. Shortlist the questions and subjects which you are facing the most difficulty in
and study them again in the last week so that during the exam you won't face any difficulties
solving.

General Studies:
AIR 1 did not attempt the GS papers since he did not intend to pursue those posts. GS
studies are for those students who are pursuing Jobs as Statistical Investigator and Assistant
Audit Officer.

Booklist:

General Knowledge:
• Newspapers
• Lucent’s General Knowledge

Mathematics:
• Kiran Publication's Elementary and Advanced Mathematics
• R.S. Aggarwal's Quantitative Aptitude

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English:
• Wren and Martin English Grammar and Composition
• Arihant Publication's Objective General English

Reasoning:
• R.S. Aggarwal Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning

Tier III:
Essay Writing:
Subjects given for Essay Writing are mainly based on Current Affairs. Hence,
newspapers come in handy. Scan through 20-30 major current affairs of the last few months
and prepare a short write up on each and every topic which help you to create a good base while
writing the essay in the exams. You can also prepare the top 20 expected essay writing topics
given in most websites. Sample essays for SSC CGL also give you a proper guidance on how
to write an essay. Essay writing practice should be done.
You can improve your marks in the essay writing section by including facts and stats
about the topic in the beginning of the essay and by writing quotes by important people at the
conclusion of the essay.
Pre-plan the essay structure before giving the exam since you only get a small fixed
box with words restricted to only 300 words to write your essay so you can't waste words or
make too many corrections. Plan the lines you need for writing the introduction, body and the
conclusion beforehand.
Make sure the language of the essay is lucid and easy to understand and not too
pretentious. Focus more on the essence of the topic and most importantly the conclusion. Weak
conclusion or a conclusion which does not align with the rest of the essay will lead to deduction
in marks.

Letter Writing:
Format of the letter is the most important when it comes to letter writing, practice letter
writing format. 5-6 Mock tests are enough for essay writing and letter writing.

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Tier IV:
Tier 4 doesn't affect your overall rank however it can get you disqualified. Tier 4 is
mainly computer based.
You have to type a single 1000-1200 words page in 15 minutes, create a single page
PowerPoint slide, a single page Excel sheet.
Instruction for doing the same are provided to the students while giving the exam.
Accuracy and error-free typing is required as time is not generally a concern. Focus on the
borders, fonts, tables, etc.

SSC CGL Exam Structure:

Tier I: Preliminary
The Tier I exam consists of a written objective multiple-choice exam with four sections,
covering the subjects of:
Sr. No. of Total Time
Sections
No. Questions Marks allotted
1 General Intelligence and Reasoning 25 50

2 General Awareness 25 50
60
3 Quantitative Aptitude 25 50
minutes
4 English Comprehension 25 50

Total 100 200

The "online" exam is typically scored with maximum 50 Marks per section for a total
of 200 Marks. Time allotted is 1 hour to complete all the 4 sections.
There is a negative marking of 0.50 Marks for each wrong answer. There is no sectional
cut off. No point will be deducted if the question is left blank or attempted by a candidate.
Based on results from Tier I, qualified candidates can then take the Tier II and Tier III
exams.

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Tier II: Mains Exam
Also known as the Mains Exam, the Tier II exam consists of written objective multiple-
choice exam, in four sections (also called "Papers"), covering the subjects of:
Sr. No. of Total Time
Sections
No. Questions Marks allotted
1 Quantitative Ability 100 200 2 hours

2 English Language & Comprehension 200 200 2 hours

3 Statistics 100 200 2 hours

General Studies
4 100 200 2 hours
(Finance and Economics)

The "online" exam is typically scored with maximum 200 Marks per section. Most
positions required the candidate to take only the first two sections (Paper-I: Quantitative
Aptitude, Paper-II: English Language and Comprehension), but certain positions require the
third or fourth section.
There is a negative marking of 0.25 Marks for each wrong answer. There is no sectional
cut off. No point will be deducted if the question is left blank or attempted by a candidate.

Tier III exam: Descriptive Paper

A pen-and-paper "offline" exam in which candidates are to do writing in the form of
essay writing and letter writing, and sometimes précis and application writing. The exam can
be done in English or Hindi. It is for 100 marks; you get 1 hour to complete both Essay Writing
and Letter Writing.

Tier IV exam: Data Entry Skill Test / Computer Proficiency Test

The fourth tier has two possible exams depending on the positions applied:
• Data Entry Speed Test (DEST): Candidates enter data at the rate of 2000 key presses in
15 minutes. This is mainly for positions such as Tax Assistant. (Central Excise &
Income Tax)
• Computer Proficiency Test (CPT): Covering the topics of word processing,
spreadsheets, and making slides.

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Time Management:
Complete the topics which you find easier first and then go for the more difficult
options. For e.g. GK questions can be attempted first as there's no solving involved. You either
know the answer or don't. Try to complete the GK section in less 15 minutes in 5-10 minutes
and allocate more time for Maths and reasoning.
Two rounds strategy is very useful in this situation. Complete the 90%or 80% (in case
of difficult paper) of the paper once while attempting only the easy and less time-consuming
questions in 75% of the total allocated time. Come back and solve the remaining questions in
rest of the time. Thus, you can get an idea of the difficulty of the paper and also, it’s the best
strategy to improve your marks in any competitive examination.
Mock test is crucial for improving time management during the exam.

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