Sakshi Education
What is SSC CGL Exam?
Staff Selection Commission or SSC is an organization that makes recruitment to all Group – B and Group – C posts in the various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and their attached and subordinate offices. So its main function is to conduct examinations and interviews for other recruitment to the posts.
Like UPSC or any other state commission, SSC also conducts many exams to recruit employees for various departments; like SI/ Constables in CRPF / CISF, Combined Graduate Level exam (CGL), Combined Higher Secondary Level exam (CHSL), DEO, LDC’s, Stenographers, Junior Engineers (Civil & Electrical) and Delhi Police…… etc.
Through SSC CGL, they recruit Group B and Group C posts, selected candidates get jobs in various departments (more than 15) like, Income Tax (IT), Central Excise and Customs, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Vigilance Commission, Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG), Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Statistical Investigator and Ministry of External Affairs…… etc.
SSC CGL Jobs and Their Priority Order
SSC CGL recruitment happens in various departments and jobs are categorized mainly as interview posts and Non interview posts
Interview Posts
Inspectors in (Tax):
Inspectors/ Sub- Inspectors in (Police dept.):
Assistants in Various Ministries:
Under CAG:
Statistical Investigators Grade II
(Gross pay is varies from 46,000 to 42,000)
Non- Interview Posts
Auditors/ Accounts:
Tax Assistants
UDC posts in Central Govt. Offices / Compiler Post
(Gross pay is varies from 28,000 to 26,000)
You can see the below chart to get an overview on SSC CHL jobs, mainly divided into Desk jobs and Field jobs.
Desk jobs are mainly, Assistants, Accountants, Auditors, and Tax Assistants. It is like job in office only. No risks, peaceful life, generally posting will be in capital cities of all the states. These jobs are suitable for women who would not like doing field work.
Field jobs, Police and Inspectors in Tax departments are like you need to travel some places of course not regularly, need to go for raids. These are little challenging jobs.
Most of you may get confused while filling up job preference order in the application form as there are many departments coming under SSC CGL exam. Let us discuss about the nature of the jobs before applying, that you can decide what will be good preference order according to your convenience.
Job and its code in application form is given
Promotions:
We hope you got basic knowledge about various departments and job nature; some of you may be interested in Tax department, Police department, Foreign Posting (Ass. In MEA), and Home state posting. So it’s up to you to decide over the job order priorities in application form.
Why should we Prefer SSC CGL Jobs?
The following are few advantages in any Govt. Job, in brief:
SSC CGL Exam Pattern
SSC CGL exam will be conducted in three levels,
Tier I exam includes four sections which are,
Tier I Cut Offs
It doesn’t have any sectional cut off, like in bank exams, just you need to reach overall cut off.
Tier II exam pattern,
But in Tier II, Paper Wise Cut Off is there, generally cut off will be around 35% of maximum marks.
Based on total marks of Tier I and Tier II exams, you get call for Interview.
In Interview you need get at least 25 marks out of 100 marks to get Interview post otherwise you will get Non Interview post but job is must irrespective of your performance in Interview.
For posts like Tax assistants (Central Excise & Income Tax) you need to give Data Entry Test (Typing), Data Entry Speed Test (DEST) at 8, 000 (eight thousand) key Depression per hour on Computer. The “Data Entry Speed” Skill Test at 2000 (Two thousand) key depressions for a duration of 15(fifteen) minutes will be of qualifying nature.
The Commission will hold Computer Proficiency Test (CPT), comprising of three modules- Word Processing, Spread Sheet and Generation of Slides, for applicants for the post of Assistants of CSS.
Physical Standards for the post of inspector (Central Excise / Examiner / Preventive Officer/ Inspector & Sub- inspector in CBN)
Physical Standard (Male) : Height 157.5 cms, Chest 81 cms.
Physical Test: 1600 meters in 15 minutes (Walking), 8 kms in 30 minutes (Cycling).
Physical Standard (Female): Height 152 cms, weight 48 kgs.
Physical Test: 1000 meters in 20 minutes (Walking), 3 kms in 25 minutes (Cycling).
Physical Standards for the Post of Sub-Inspector in Central Bureau of Investigation:
Height
For men – 165 cms.
For Women – 150 cms.
Height relaxable for Hillsmen and Tribals : 5 cms.
Chest:
76 cms. With expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)
Vision:
Eye- Sight (with or without glasses)
Distant vision : 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye.
Near Vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eye.
Physical standards for the post of Sub-Inspector in National Investigation Agency:
Height
For men – 170 cms.
For women – 150 cms.
Height relaxable for Hills men and Tribal’s : 5 cms.
Chest
76 cms, with expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)
Vision
Eye- Sight (with or without glasses)
Distant vision: 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye.
Near vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eye.
Please Note: Candidates are advised to make sure before opting for any category of post that they fulfill the requirements for that category. The physical measurements (including vision test) for candidates will be conducted by the concerned Indenting Departments and only those candidates who fulfill the specified physical measurements will be eligible for the respective posts. No request from candidates for allotting to any other service/ category of post will be entertained by the commission if the nominated candidates fail to meet the physical requirements.
No need to worry about Physical test that will be very easy, but you should meet physical requirements.
Strategy to Crack Tier I Exam
Tier I exam pattern. Total four sections.
Time Management is essential as there is negative marking in each section, try to solve easy ones first then solve time taking and tricky questions.
Between the notification date and the prelims exam you will be effectively have 3 months to prepare. Use this time properly and it will be sufficient to clear prelims.
Preparation Plan for CGL exam
Sources
Read from standard books, and restrict to few. You need not to read each and every page in the book, just find out how they can help for this exam. We recommend you few standard books. Now we look into different sections of Tier I exam
General Intelligence (Tier I) – 50 Marks
This is easiest section and it doesn’t have much theory. In general few practice sets are sufficient for this. Practice maximum number of questions from any standard book. One of the best books for this is “A modern Approach to Verbal and Non- Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal” from this book read only selected topics. If you observe previous SSC CGL Tier I Paper, more weight age will be for the topics like Number series, Odd man out, Coding / Decoding, Analogy, and Classification…. Etc. Few from images model questions also important like Mirror images….. etc.
First workout on them then solves previous papers and few practice sets so that you will be covering all the different questions.
General Awareness (only for Tier I) – 50 Marks
Read NCERT (CBSE) books. For Science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Computer basics) NCERT books will be more than enough. In general studies we get questions from topics like polity, Indian Geography, History (only Indian History that too modern history is important) and straight forward questions from economy based on definitions and simple concepts. Lucent or Arihant books are good.
For current affairs read newspapers daily and few magazines (Your English also improved especially vocabulary part). Practice a few old papers.
No need to worry about Economy, they will ask simple basic questions.
General English for SSC CGL (50 marks in Tier I and 200 marks in Tier II)
In the SSC CGL exam, English will be at two stages, in Tier I (50 marks / 50 questions / 0.25 negative marking) and in Tier II (200 marks / 200 questions / 0.25 negative marking).
English part can be divided into three areas.
A. Vocabulary
B. Grammar
C. Comprehension
In Vocabulary area, we get questions in the following areas, one word substitutions, Idioms/ Phrases; fill in the blanks with most suitable words, Synonyms / Antonyms……. Etc. My suggestion is don’t pay much attention to Antonyms / Synonyms, as they are endless in number, difficult to remember and weight age is also less. For practice one can fallow, “Objective General English by R.S. Agarwal” or General English by SP Bakshi or General English by Pearson Publications. Don’t read many books, follow any one book and revise it for at least 2 times.
Quantitative Abilities (50 marks in Tier I and 200 marks in Tier II)
Coming to the math’s don’t try to remember any shortcuts, learn the concepts very well and then solve maximum questions use some simple tricks and smart ways as they save lot of time.
If you observe recent SSC papers, out of 25 Math’s questions in Tier-I, almost 15 questions are from just Geometry, Trigonometry, Percentages applications, Algebra.
Some people say, Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra and Menstruation are called advance math’s, however there is nothing like advance in it. SSC asks only basic questions up to 10th class standard. If you are preparing for banking, if any one says Banking math’s = SSC math’s, that is not correct as these two competition exams have totally different pattern. Some questions are very good they will test your subject knowledge.
Books for Math’s Pearson publications by Dinesh Kattar or Arihanth Publications will be good. Quantitative Aptitude by R.S. Agarwal book is not ‘up to the mark’ for this exam as topics like geometry, trigonometry…. etc, is not given. Data interpretation is also important.
Full Length Practice Tests
So before final exam you have to write few length grand tests papers. Start with topic wise test and go for grand tests. It is very important to keep note of time while practicing the exam. The only secret is how you manage 120 minutes efficiently.
One of the best strategies to attempt the paper is given below:
Try to follow the timings for each section as said above. If you waste time on other sections it will impact on Quant Part. So, be careful in handling the paper. Many aspirants prepare well but even many fail in time management, so they will not qualify for Tier II.
Advantage of Solving Practice / Previous Papers
While writing tests evaluate yourself with negative marking and focus on your mistakes. If you are doing silly mistakes try to eradicate them. Skip the questions if you are really weak, nobody will attempt more than 80% of the questions in the given time. Attempt only the ones which you find easier and solvable.
HOW TO CRACK Tier I and Tier II Exam
Here we discuss the strategy for this exam, let us see the breakup of the Tier II papers. Which are the topics are important for Tier I and Tier II papers? Which are the easier sections?
General English Sections Topic Wise break up for SSC Tier I and Tier II Exam
In this section, addition to Tier I, you need to work on Active / Passive voice, Direct / Indirect speech and arranging sentences in a correct order. Reading Newspapers will help you a lot in preparing for SSC Tier – I and Tier – II, as many error detection questions are generally made on the basis of Grammar that is used in Newspapers. Read more and more papers, so that your speed in reading will improve.
Marks Weight Age
Quantitative Abilities Topic Wise break up for SSC Tier I and Tier II Exam
Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra and Percentages should be given more importance. Because most of the questions (More than 50%) appear from the above four chapters.
60% of the questions will be easy. 30% will be moderate and 10% will be tough. Strategy is simple, how you manage first one hour is important. In first one hour attempt 50 to 60 easy questions which are comfort for you. If you done 50 + your confidence will boost up and in 2nd hour if you solve 20 to 30 questions, that will be a good for you.
You need to be very smart while attempting the questions, some questions require common sense for some, concepts are required and for some you should try with options. You will know this only if you solve few good practice sets.
Marks Weight age
If you see Tier I (200 marks) and Tier II (200 marks for each Math’s & English). Math’s and English are the most important sections, so it is required to prepare them very well. You need to manage your mostly time in most important sections.
Percentage wise break up of weight age for different sections (Tier I + Tier II)
Divide the time according to your need, how much for English and how much for Math’s. fix a time table according to your suitability.
Staff Selection Commission or SSC is an organization that makes recruitment to all Group – B and Group – C posts in the various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and their attached and subordinate offices. So its main function is to conduct examinations and interviews for other recruitment to the posts.
Like UPSC or any other state commission, SSC also conducts many exams to recruit employees for various departments; like SI/ Constables in CRPF / CISF, Combined Graduate Level exam (CGL), Combined Higher Secondary Level exam (CHSL), DEO, LDC’s, Stenographers, Junior Engineers (Civil & Electrical) and Delhi Police…… etc.
Through SSC CGL, they recruit Group B and Group C posts, selected candidates get jobs in various departments (more than 15) like, Income Tax (IT), Central Excise and Customs, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Vigilance Commission, Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG), Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Statistical Investigator and Ministry of External Affairs…… etc.
SSC CGL Jobs and Their Priority Order
SSC CGL recruitment happens in various departments and jobs are categorized mainly as interview posts and Non interview posts
Interview Posts
Inspectors in (Tax):
- Income Tax (CBDT)
- Central Excise (CBEC)
- Preventive Officers and Examiners in Custom offices (CBEC)
- Enforcement Officer in Enforcement Directorate (ED)
Inspectors/ Sub- Inspectors in (Police dept.):
- Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
- Narcotics
- National Investigation Agency (NIA)
Assistants in Various Ministries:
- Intelligence Bureau (IB)
- Ministry of External Services under IFS
- Vigilance Commission
- Central Secretariat Services (CSS)
- Railway Board
Under CAG:
- Divisional Accountant in Offices under CAG
Statistical Investigators Grade II
(Gross pay is varies from 46,000 to 42,000)
Non- Interview Posts
Auditors/ Accounts:
- Auditors / Accountants in Comptroller Audit General (CAG)
- Auditors / Accountants in Controller General of Accounts (CGA)
- Auditors / Accountants in Controller General of Defense Accounts (CGDA)
Tax Assistants
- Income Tax
- Excise & Customs
UDC posts in Central Govt. Offices / Compiler Post
(Gross pay is varies from 28,000 to 26,000)
You can see the below chart to get an overview on SSC CHL jobs, mainly divided into Desk jobs and Field jobs.
Desk jobs are mainly, Assistants, Accountants, Auditors, and Tax Assistants. It is like job in office only. No risks, peaceful life, generally posting will be in capital cities of all the states. These jobs are suitable for women who would not like doing field work.
Field jobs, Police and Inspectors in Tax departments are like you need to travel some places of course not regularly, need to go for raids. These are little challenging jobs.
Most of you may get confused while filling up job preference order in the application form as there are many departments coming under SSC CGL exam. Let us discuss about the nature of the jobs before applying, that you can decide what will be good preference order according to your convenience.
Job and its code in application form is given
- Income Tax Inspector (ITI) (job Code J):
Better Promotion chances. Promotions will be in order are like Income Tax Officer (ITO), Assistant Commissioner, and Deputy Commissioner and so on. Posts are available all over India so better chances for Home (State) Posting. If you join as Inspector, you will be reaching IRS (Civils) cadre in future.
- Central Excise Inspector (K):
Executive work e.g. augmentation of Central excise & Service tax etc., detection of evasion of taxes etc. Uniform is there but generally optional to wear. His promotions in the order are superintendent, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and so on. These posts are everywhere in the country. So chances are better for Home posting.
- Preventive Officer or Custom Officer (PO) (L):
Executive work, e.g. Prevention of smuggling, assessment of customs duty on goods, can arrest, seize, search, detain etc. on any kind of doubt of smuggling, and etc. His promotions in the order are superintendent of customs, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and So on.
- Inspector Examiner (M):
Executive work, e.g. to examine the goods imported or to be exported and assessing duty on that Best Promotion chances. His promotions in the order are Appraiser, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner and so on. Faster promotions as compared to the other posts of CGLE. But Examiner posts lie in coastal cities only.
For Inspector (Preventive Officer, Examiner and Central excise) Physical test is prescribed.
- Assistant Enforcement Officer (AEO in ED) (N):
This is an inspector post also; one of the most powerful job in SSC CGL. Prevention of money laundering, to conduct searches of suspected persons, conveyances and premises and seize incriminating materials (including Indian and foreign currencies involved), to arrest and prosecute the person suspected to be involved in the act of money laundering…. Etc.
Better Social Stature. Good Promotion Options. His promotions in the order are Enforcement Officer, Assistant Director, and Deputy Director and So on. Posting limited to certain cities only. There are ten Zonal Offices of the Directorate at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.
- Divisional accountant (DA under CAG) (Q):
This is one of the best positions in CGL. This post comes under CAG and this organization only allocates the States/ Zones to DAs. The allocation is made to different states’ AG offices as per the position of merit. Regarding the work, he basically acts as an auditor for all expenses and receipts that go through the Public Works Departments, meaning he has to sign off each and every bill. No need to report anyone. The next promotional post is Divisional Accountant Officer. In few states this job is taken up by their state governments, like in Telugu states and Karnataka. So, there is no chance for local posting for people from aforementioned states.
- Inspector of Posts (IP) (P):
Inspector of Posts is there with every postal division. There must be 2 or more divisions in each district. Presently IP must go to canvass people for getting Postal Life Insurance and also they have to acquire a huge sum for the department. People say this is worst job in SSC CGL.
- Assistant in Central Vigilance (B): Better Social Stature, Adequate Promotion Chances.
- Assistant in IB (C), Assistant in AFHQ (G), and Assistant in other Ministries (H, I): File Work
- Assistant in MEA & Assistant (Cypher) in MEA (E, F):
The most sought after assistant post under CGLE due to charm of foreign posting. Cypher Asst. is a little different from Asst. (general) because they have to do the task of coding and decoding of some highly confidential language in addition. Cypher Assistant gets more foreign postings than. In MEA the promotional chances are very less and one can go up to the level of under Secretary (US). Through promotions one can reach IFS (Civils) cadre.
- Assistant in CSS (A): Mostly File work, Posting only in Delhi. Better Promotions
Promotions:
- Assistants
- Section Officer
- Under Secretary
- Deputy Secretary
- Joint Secretary
- Assistant in Railway (D):
Only Benefit is that you would get railway benefits like AC passes and all.
- Statistical Investigator- II (R):
Applicable only for Statistics graduate. Work is data collection of any type of area like agriculture, ration etc. preparing rough sketch maps of areas to be enumerated etc. Good job. Promotions: Statistical Investigator- I, Assistant Director, Deputy Director, Joint Director and so on.
- Inspector in Central Bureau of Narcotics (S):
Tough job, but good social stature and lots of awards and emoluments for making seizures and all.
- SI in Central Bureau of Investigation (O):
This is supposed to be a very powerful and influential post due to very nature of work. No uniform required. There will be 32 weeks of training.
Promotions: The first Promotion is for the post of Inspector and it takes 4-5 years normally. The next is for the post of DSP, which takes about 10-12 year after becoming Inspector.
- SI in National Investigation Agency (%):
This the first time SSC is introducing this job through this exam. This has been established after 2008 Mumbai blasts.
- Auditor in CAG/ CGDA/ CGA (T, U, V):
Good Promotion Opportunities and Satisfactory work load. Better chances for Home Posting.
- Accountant / Jr. Accountant in CAG/CGA (W, X):
Moderate promotion chances Accountant / Jr. Better Chances for Home Posting.
- Tax Assistant in CBEC:
Moderate work load but better promotion chances up to the level of Inspector. Better chances for Home Posting.
- Tax Assistant in CBDT (Z):
Moderate Work load, lesser promotion chances than CBEC but up to the level of Inspector only. You need to give Data entry test. Better chance for local posting.
- UDC in various ministries (Y): Moderate work Load. All Clerical work.
- Compiler in Registrar General of India ($): Limited for eligible candidates only.
We hope you got basic knowledge about various departments and job nature; some of you may be interested in Tax department, Police department, Foreign Posting (Ass. In MEA), and Home state posting. So it’s up to you to decide over the job order priorities in application form.
Why should we Prefer SSC CGL Jobs?
The following are few advantages in any Govt. Job, in brief:
- Job Security- Unlike a job in the private sector, which is easily affected by recession and in which layoffs is very common, a government job is secure by its very definition.
- Salary- The pay structure of government jobs is now on par with the corporate private sector. This, coupled with the job security, makes any government job irresistible.
- Additional Benefits- Unlike the private sector, the government sector gives you a guaranteed pension now it’s New Pension Scheme (NPS), a must after retirement. Other benefits include attractive financial services, low-interest-rate loans, etc.
- Holidays- National and state holidays are compulsorily observed. Leave time for vacations, etc., is freely permitted.
- Further Studies- What more! For those who want to enhance their knowledge or improve their skills, the government sector facilitates fully paid higher studies.
Advantages in SSC JOBS- Top most jobs after Civils cadre
- Less workload, you get time for yourself and family
- Weekly five working days like corporate sector.
In SSC CGL Exam- No Sectional wise cut off like in Bank exams, where you need clear all the sections. But in SSC only over all cut off is required.
- Questions in English section are simple when compared to other exams like Bank (IBPS, SBI) / CAT…. Etc., as they prepare the paper by considering all kinds of people.
SSC CGL Exam Pattern
SSC CGL exam will be conducted in three levels,
- Tier-I (Prelims) – Written Examination (Objective Multiple Choice Type)
- Tier-II (Mains) – Written Examination (Objective Multiple Choice Type)
- Tier-III – Written Examination (Descriptive Paper in English/Hindi )
- Personality Test cum Interview/ Computer Proficiency test / Skill Test (Wherever applicable) / Document Verification.
Tier I exam includes four sections which are,
- General Awareness
- General English
- General Intelligence (Reasoning)
- Quantitative Abilities
Tier I Cut Offs
| Tier I cut Off | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| Open / UR | 86.75 | 82 | 96 | 96.50 |
| OBC | 70.25 | 70 | 81.50 | 82 |
| SC/ST | 63.50 / 63.25 | 64/62 | 75.25 / 70.25 | 77.0 / 69.50 |
It doesn’t have any sectional cut off, like in bank exams, just you need to reach overall cut off.
Tier II exam pattern,
- Paper I Quantitative abilities (100 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours’ time, 0.50 marks negative marking)
- Paper II English Language and Comprehension (200 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours’ time, 0.25 marks negative marking)
- Paper III Statistics only for two posts (Optional for other posts)
But in Tier II, Paper Wise Cut Off is there, generally cut off will be around 35% of maximum marks.
| Tier I + Tier II cut off for Interview / Non Interview post | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 (Re-exam) |
| Open / OC | 424/406 | 254.25/315.25 | 349.5 / 333 | 424.50 / 401.00 |
| OBC | 398/378 | 323.5 / 283.5 | 319/ 281.5 | 395.75 / 368.50 |
| SC & ST | 364/ 353 & 343/333 | 281.25/ 290.50 & 247/251.5 | 284/282.25 & 269/256 | 359.25 / 334.0 & 345.75 / 314 |
Based on total marks of Tier I and Tier II exams, you get call for Interview.
In Interview you need get at least 25 marks out of 100 marks to get Interview post otherwise you will get Non Interview post but job is must irrespective of your performance in Interview.
For posts like Tax assistants (Central Excise & Income Tax) you need to give Data Entry Test (Typing), Data Entry Speed Test (DEST) at 8, 000 (eight thousand) key Depression per hour on Computer. The “Data Entry Speed” Skill Test at 2000 (Two thousand) key depressions for a duration of 15(fifteen) minutes will be of qualifying nature.
The Commission will hold Computer Proficiency Test (CPT), comprising of three modules- Word Processing, Spread Sheet and Generation of Slides, for applicants for the post of Assistants of CSS.
Physical Standards for the post of inspector (Central Excise / Examiner / Preventive Officer/ Inspector & Sub- inspector in CBN)
Physical Standard (Male) : Height 157.5 cms, Chest 81 cms.
Physical Test: 1600 meters in 15 minutes (Walking), 8 kms in 30 minutes (Cycling).
Physical Standard (Female): Height 152 cms, weight 48 kgs.
Physical Test: 1000 meters in 20 minutes (Walking), 3 kms in 25 minutes (Cycling).
Physical Standards for the Post of Sub-Inspector in Central Bureau of Investigation:
Height
For men – 165 cms.
For Women – 150 cms.
Height relaxable for Hillsmen and Tribals : 5 cms.
Chest:
76 cms. With expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)
Vision:
Eye- Sight (with or without glasses)
Distant vision : 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye.
Near Vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eye.
Physical standards for the post of Sub-Inspector in National Investigation Agency:
Height
For men – 170 cms.
For women – 150 cms.
Height relaxable for Hills men and Tribal’s : 5 cms.
Chest
76 cms, with expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)
Vision
Eye- Sight (with or without glasses)
Distant vision: 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye.
Near vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eye.
Please Note: Candidates are advised to make sure before opting for any category of post that they fulfill the requirements for that category. The physical measurements (including vision test) for candidates will be conducted by the concerned Indenting Departments and only those candidates who fulfill the specified physical measurements will be eligible for the respective posts. No request from candidates for allotting to any other service/ category of post will be entertained by the commission if the nominated candidates fail to meet the physical requirements.
No need to worry about Physical test that will be very easy, but you should meet physical requirements.
Strategy to Crack Tier I Exam
Tier I exam pattern. Total four sections.
- General Intelligence (Reasoning)
- General Awareness
- General English
- Quantitative Abilities
Time Management is essential as there is negative marking in each section, try to solve easy ones first then solve time taking and tricky questions.
Between the notification date and the prelims exam you will be effectively have 3 months to prepare. Use this time properly and it will be sufficient to clear prelims.
Preparation Plan for CGL exam
- Sources
- Full Length Practice Tests
- Own Strategy
Sources
Read from standard books, and restrict to few. You need not to read each and every page in the book, just find out how they can help for this exam. We recommend you few standard books. Now we look into different sections of Tier I exam
General Intelligence (Tier I) – 50 Marks
This is easiest section and it doesn’t have much theory. In general few practice sets are sufficient for this. Practice maximum number of questions from any standard book. One of the best books for this is “A modern Approach to Verbal and Non- Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal” from this book read only selected topics. If you observe previous SSC CGL Tier I Paper, more weight age will be for the topics like Number series, Odd man out, Coding / Decoding, Analogy, and Classification…. Etc. Few from images model questions also important like Mirror images….. etc.
First workout on them then solves previous papers and few practice sets so that you will be covering all the different questions.
General Awareness (only for Tier I) – 50 Marks
Read NCERT (CBSE) books. For Science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Computer basics) NCERT books will be more than enough. In general studies we get questions from topics like polity, Indian Geography, History (only Indian History that too modern history is important) and straight forward questions from economy based on definitions and simple concepts. Lucent or Arihant books are good.
For current affairs read newspapers daily and few magazines (Your English also improved especially vocabulary part). Practice a few old papers.
No need to worry about Economy, they will ask simple basic questions.
General English for SSC CGL (50 marks in Tier I and 200 marks in Tier II)
In the SSC CGL exam, English will be at two stages, in Tier I (50 marks / 50 questions / 0.25 negative marking) and in Tier II (200 marks / 200 questions / 0.25 negative marking).
English part can be divided into three areas.
A. Vocabulary
B. Grammar
C. Comprehension
In Vocabulary area, we get questions in the following areas, one word substitutions, Idioms/ Phrases; fill in the blanks with most suitable words, Synonyms / Antonyms……. Etc. My suggestion is don’t pay much attention to Antonyms / Synonyms, as they are endless in number, difficult to remember and weight age is also less. For practice one can fallow, “Objective General English by R.S. Agarwal” or General English by SP Bakshi or General English by Pearson Publications. Don’t read many books, follow any one book and revise it for at least 2 times.
Quantitative Abilities (50 marks in Tier I and 200 marks in Tier II)
Coming to the math’s don’t try to remember any shortcuts, learn the concepts very well and then solve maximum questions use some simple tricks and smart ways as they save lot of time.
If you observe recent SSC papers, out of 25 Math’s questions in Tier-I, almost 15 questions are from just Geometry, Trigonometry, Percentages applications, Algebra.
Some people say, Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra and Menstruation are called advance math’s, however there is nothing like advance in it. SSC asks only basic questions up to 10th class standard. If you are preparing for banking, if any one says Banking math’s = SSC math’s, that is not correct as these two competition exams have totally different pattern. Some questions are very good they will test your subject knowledge.
Books for Math’s Pearson publications by Dinesh Kattar or Arihanth Publications will be good. Quantitative Aptitude by R.S. Agarwal book is not ‘up to the mark’ for this exam as topics like geometry, trigonometry…. etc, is not given. Data interpretation is also important.
Full Length Practice Tests
So before final exam you have to write few length grand tests papers. Start with topic wise test and go for grand tests. It is very important to keep note of time while practicing the exam. The only secret is how you manage 120 minutes efficiently.
One of the best strategies to attempt the paper is given below:
- Reasoning (Maximum 35 minutes, try for 40 + marks)
- General Awareness (Max 10 minutes, try for 30 + marks)
- General English (Max 20 minutes, try for 30 + marks)
- Quant (Reasoning 55 minutes, try for 35 + marks)
Try to follow the timings for each section as said above. If you waste time on other sections it will impact on Quant Part. So, be careful in handling the paper. Many aspirants prepare well but even many fail in time management, so they will not qualify for Tier II.
Advantage of Solving Practice / Previous Papers
- Will learn how to avoid Negative Marking
- Improves Your speed and Accuracy
While writing tests evaluate yourself with negative marking and focus on your mistakes. If you are doing silly mistakes try to eradicate them. Skip the questions if you are really weak, nobody will attempt more than 80% of the questions in the given time. Attempt only the ones which you find easier and solvable.
HOW TO CRACK Tier I and Tier II Exam
Here we discuss the strategy for this exam, let us see the breakup of the Tier II papers. Which are the topics are important for Tier I and Tier II papers? Which are the easier sections?
General English Sections Topic Wise break up for SSC Tier I and Tier II Exam
In this section, addition to Tier I, you need to work on Active / Passive voice, Direct / Indirect speech and arranging sentences in a correct order. Reading Newspapers will help you a lot in preparing for SSC Tier – I and Tier – II, as many error detection questions are generally made on the basis of Grammar that is used in Newspapers. Read more and more papers, so that your speed in reading will improve.
Marks Weight Age
| Topic | Tier I | Tier II | Total |
| Error Detection | 05 | 20 | 25 |
| Spelling Test | 02 | 03 | 05 |
| Passages | 10 | 30 | 40 |
| Fill in the Blanks | 05 | 05 | 10 |
| Synonyms | 03 | 03 | 06 |
| Antonyms | 03 | 03 | 06 |
| Idioms & Phrases | 05 | 10 | 15 |
| Sentence Improvement | 10 | 22 | 32 |
| One Word Substitutions | 07 | 12 | 19 |
| Cloze Set | 00 | 25 | 25 |
| Scrambled Sentences | 00 | 20 | 20 |
| Voice – Active / Passive | 00 | 20 | 20 |
| Speech – Direct / Indirect | 00 | 27 | 27 |
| Total | 50 | 200 | 250 |
Quantitative Abilities Topic Wise break up for SSC Tier I and Tier II Exam
Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra and Percentages should be given more importance. Because most of the questions (More than 50%) appear from the above four chapters.
60% of the questions will be easy. 30% will be moderate and 10% will be tough. Strategy is simple, how you manage first one hour is important. In first one hour attempt 50 to 60 easy questions which are comfort for you. If you done 50 + your confidence will boost up and in 2nd hour if you solve 20 to 30 questions, that will be a good for you.
You need to be very smart while attempting the questions, some questions require common sense for some, concepts are required and for some you should try with options. You will know this only if you solve few good practice sets.
Marks Weight age
| Topic | Tier I | Tier II | Total |
| Geometry | 09 | 22 | 53 |
| Trigonometry | 08 | 12 | 32 |
| Algebra | 06 | 11 | 28 |
| Percentages Applications | 08 | 21 | 50 |
| Averages + Allegations | 03 | 05 | 13 |
| Number Systems | 02 | 06 | 14 |
| Ratio and Proportions | 03 | 06 | 15 |
| Time & Work | 02 | 05 | 12 |
| Time, speed and Distance | 02 | 05 | 12 |
| Misc. | 02 | 02 | 06 |
| Data Interpretation | 05 | 05 | 15 |
| Total | 50 (Q) | 100 (Q) | 250 Marks |
If you see Tier I (200 marks) and Tier II (200 marks for each Math’s & English). Math’s and English are the most important sections, so it is required to prepare them very well. You need to manage your mostly time in most important sections.
Percentage wise break up of weight age for different sections (Tier I + Tier II)
Divide the time according to your need, how much for English and how much for Math’s. fix a time table according to your suitability.
Published date : 19 May 2015 02:23PM
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