Updated on 28 December 2019
I have spent a lot of time to research the best books for SSC CGL exam preparation and write this very long post and I am really thankful to the great response. The only way you can make use of this post is when you read it thoroughly.
I take it that the only reason you are still reading this post is because you really want to know about SSC CGL Tier 1 books and that you agree with me that selecting the right books is the first step to your success.
IMPORTANT NOTE – In this post I will discuss books for SSC CGL Tier 1 exam, if you came here looking for Tier 2 details – go to this link. Also, before reading this post, I hope you are aware of the basic SSC CGL notification details.
If you are really in a hurry and can’t read the whole post, I have provided a summary of the best books for SSC CGL exam in one place. You can not go wrong with these books.
to skip the gyan and directly go to my safe choice for SSC CGL books recommendation. But I’ll advise that you read the SSC CGL Tier 1 exam books, section wise, recommendations provided in this post as you will find a good comparison of multiple books.Some important points before I start talking about books,
- Don’t waste time looking for free SSC CGL books or study material.
- You only need a few good books which you can use to prepare for your exam – Don’t buy everything.
- Get actual books. The ones which you can hold in your hand and turn the pages. Don’t buy ebooks.
- You don’t need to buy all the books yourself! Go and speak to your seniors and friends who may have appeared for the SSC CGL exam and they can perhaps loan or gift you the books.
For your own good, avoid the trap of free SSC CGL study material. Majority of the candidates waste a large part of their limited time to search for ‘FREE’ study material and books for SSC CGL exam on internet.
Often they will open their laptop with Facebook/Youtube in one tab and start searching for PDF or other freely (and mostly useless information) available SSC CGL books in another tab. I sincerely hope that you are not one of them.
The time you will save by avoiding this useless activity, and use it actually study and practice books will mean the difference between success and failure.
SSC CGL Paper Pattern
I will jump deep into the various book options available for different sections of the SSC CGL exam, but before that let me quickly give you an overview of the SSC CGL exam paper pattern.
- SSC CGL Tier 1 serves as a screen for the remaining stages, so you have to clear it with good marks in order to appear for the following stages.
- It is a computer based online test.
- You will have 60 minutes to complete 100 questions. The section wise breakup of questions is given in the table below.
- There is a negative marking of 0.50 Marks for each wrong answer. And,
- There is no sectional cut off.
SSC CGL Exam Paper Pattern
| SSC CGL Tier 1 Section | Number of Questions | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Aptitude or Maths | 25 | 50 |
| General Intelligence & Reasoning | 25 | 50 |
| English Language | 25 | 50 |
| General Awareness or GK | 25 | 50 |
| TOTAL | 100 | 200 |
Now, I’ll take you through a brief summary of SSC CGL books suggestions, and then we will look at the books section wise.
Safest Choices For SSC CGL Books — If You Are Confused
At the time of writing this post, Amazon had the best deals. But you can compare the prices on and before you order. If you want to save money, you can check out my suggestions on tips for free shipping on Amazon.
In the Table below I have listed the books which I would buy for someone preparing for SSC CGL exam.
Finally, it is time to take a deep dive!
Best Books for SSC CGL Maths (Quantitative Aptitude)
Are you afraid of Maths? If Yes, then it would be a problem. It is OK to be bad at maths, but to be afraid is to accept defeat without even trying. Quantitative aptitude is one of the highest scoring section in the SSC CGL Tier 1 exam. To go from bad to good, you need only two things
- Clear understanding of the concepts and
- Enough practice so that you solve majority of the questions accurately and fast.
SSC CGL Maths section contains questions only up to the high school level. How difficult can that be? If the word ‘maths’ does not scare you, and you are OK with the subject up to high school level, then there is nothing to worry about.
Your level of comfort with math will decide which SSC CGL maths book is suitable for you.
Does Math Love You?
Thinking about math does not give you a nightmare? Congratulations! You don’t need to buy a study book for Maths.
I would suggest that you simply revise using NCERT maths books from class 8 to 10. Just go to and you can download the PDF files for free.
TIP – you can download the entire math book in a single PDF as well (check the image below).
If you are confident about these topics, then you can simply practice previous years papers to increase your speed in solving exam oriented questions. Something like M Tyra (check links below) will however still be useful as you can learn a number of useful shortcuts.
You Like Maths, But Need Practice
In case you think you know most of the topics, but need to practice a lot of problems, then you need – Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by R.S. Aggarwal. It is the largest selling book in this category.
It provides lots of practice questions. However, the only problem you may face is that the explanations may not always be very detailed. But if you only need practice, this should not be a problem.
In case you think R S Aggarwal is a little costly, then you can go for – Arihant’s Fast Track Objective Arithmetic. It is an equally good book, at a lesser cost, with great reviews on Amazon.
You Need More Than Practice?
So math gives you butterflies? Don’t worry. Whenever I hear people say that they don’t feel confident solving math problems, the solution is always the same — al they need is practice.
You just need to understand the basics and also practice problems.
In terms of book recommendation, your best bet would be – Magical Book On Quicker Maths by M. Tyra. This book covers the basics, and also covers two ways of solving a problem – normal method and short cut method! That is why it is MAGICAL.
M Tyra, however, does not have a lot of practice questions. After learning from this book, you will have to practice questions from actual previous years papers, which I have covered in the second last section of this post.
SSC Mathematics Type wise solutions by Rakesh Yadav – – has chapter wise solutions to questions from previous papers. The author has also provided video based solutions to the questions through a mobile app. However, there have been complaints about the app not working properly.
Bonus Section — How To Prepare Maths For SSC CGL — What To Study & From Where
I have also compiled this fantastic table for you which has details on how to study.
NOTE: Use the NCERT book (link above) and the book you decided to buy. I have only written R S Aggarwal because more people use it. In case you are buying Arihant, use it wherever I have suggested Aggarwal.
Click to view topics and book suggestions
| Chapter | Topics | Books To Refer |
|---|---|---|
| Number System | Divisibility LCM and HCF Fractions & Decimal fractions | NCERT Class 7 Chapter 2, 9 NCERT Class 10 Chapter 1 M.Tyra Chapter 4,7,8, 9 and 12 |
| Basic Mathematics | BODMAS | NCERT Class 8 Chapter 1 |
| Surds and indices | NCERT Class 8 Chapter 12 NCERT Class 9 Chapter 1 M.Tyra Chapter 11 | |
| Square & Cube Root | NCERT Class 8 Chap 6 and 7 M.Tyra Chapter 5 & 6 | |
| Algebra | Linear equation Graphs of Linear Equations ? | NCERT Class 8 Chap 2 and 9. NCERT Class 9 Chap 4 NCERT Class 10 Chap 3 |
| Quadratic equations Polynomials Basic algebraic identities | NCERT Class 8 Chap 14 NCERT Class 9 Chap 2 NCERT Class 10 Chap 4 | |
| Average, Ratio & Proportion | Alligation | M.Tyra Chapter 24 Quantitative Aptitude by R.S Aggarwal?Chapter 20 |
| Average | M.Tyra Chapter 19 | |
| Ratio & proportion | NCERT Class 8 Chap 13 M.Tyra Chapter 16 | |
| Partnership | M.Tyra Chapter 17 | |
| Percentage | Percentage | NCERT Class 8 Chap 8 M.Tyra Chapter 18 |
| Time & Distance | Time, speed & distance Problems on trains Boat & streams Time, Work and Wages Pipes and Cisterns | M.Tyra Chapter 25 to 30 Quantitative Aptitude by R.S Aggarwal?Chapter 15 to 19 |
| Profit & Loss & Interest | Profit & Loss Simple Interest & Compound Interest Discount | M.Tyra Chapter 21 to 24 |
| Geometry | Triangle and its centres Congruence and similarity of triangles Circle and its chords Tangents & angles subtended by chords of a circle Common tangents to two or more circles | NCERT Class 9 Chapter 6, 7, 8 and 10. |
| Mensuration (Area and Volume) | NCERT Class 8 Chap 3 & 11. NCERT Class 9 Chap 9, 12, 13. NCERT Class 10 Chapter 13 M.Tyra Chapter 31& 32 | |
| Trigonometry – Trignometric ratios, Degree and Radian Measures, Standard Identities, Complementary angles, Heights and Distances | NCERT Class 10 Chapter 8 and 9 Quantitative Aptitude book M.Tyra Chapter 36 | |
| Data interpretation | Data sufficiency & analysis Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar diagram & Pie chart | M.Tyra Chapter 34 & 35 Quantitative Aptitude by R.S Aggarwal?Chapter 36-39 |
| Miscellaneous | Progression (AP + GP) | NCERT Class 10 Chapter 5 |
| Series | M.Tyra Chapter 33 |
Books For SSC CGL English Section
As far as the SSC CGL English preparation is concerned, it is quite easy, and should not take a lot of time to prepare. In the post linked above (the one I asked you to read), I have given a detailed breakup of the expected questions for the SSC CGL English, as well as other sections.
If your English is mediocre, just practice using the previous years solved question papers of SSC CGL exam. If, however, you think that you need more focused practice, let me recommend you some books.
English Books For Exam Pattern Questions Practice
There are two good exam-oriented English books which adequately cover different types of questions. Choose any one and you are good to go — Objective General English by S P Bakshi (Arihant) OR Objective General English by RS Aggarwal & Vikas Aggarwal.
Apart from these, there is another book which has great reviews — Blackbook of English Vocabulary by Nikhil Gupta. The book has a compilation of English questions from several SSC CGL and other related exams. Some people complain about the information being copied but I think all such books are similar as they rely on past question papers.
Are you confused, about which English book to choose?
Well, I think all the three would be of a similar level. To be honest, if your basics are clear, all you need is practice. So choose anyone which is most recently updated and is also within your budget.
| Book | Publisher | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Objective General English by S P Bakshi | Arihant | |
| Objective General English by RS Aggarwal & Vikas Aggarwal | S. Chand | |
| Blackbook of English Vocabulary by Nikhil Gupta | Gupta Edutech |
Do You Also Need To Revise Grammar?
In case you need to work on your basics, then you HAVE to revise English grammar. There is no other option.
And to revise grammar, there has never been a book better than Wren And Martin (it has remained the top seller in multiple categories on Amazon for as long as I can remember). The book is available in two editions – one has colorful illustrations the other one is the regular black and white.
High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin – Buy on Flipkart (New Version) or Buy on Amazon (New Version).
Need To Build Your Vocabulary?
Check out Word Power Made Easy on Amazon or Flipkart. New Edition is available on both the sites. Not much to say – nothing compares to this one!
Books For SSC CGL Tier 1 General Intelligence & Reasoning Section
There are two important factors which will decide how fast and accurately you can solve reasoning problems — a logical thought process, and exposure to different types of problems.
If you are naturally good in mathematics, chances are high that you will do great with reasoning as well.
Practice, as you will learn, is very important. Your brain’s capacity to solve reasoning questions increases exponentially when you try to solve different types of questions. For practice you should include both verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions.
And the best part is that the questions in the SSC CGL reasoning sections repeats or are very similar to previous years questions. So focus on practicing previous papers thoroughly.
R S Aggarwal is the best selling book for reasoning. It is a good choice if you don’t need a lot of explanations and are mainly looking for practice questions. If you need more explanations, I suggest you go with M K Pandey.
In case you are also aiming for CAT or other MBA entrance exams, you can also conisder “How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT” by Arun Sharma over R S Aggarwal.
If the cost is an issue, and you are only focusing on SSC and bank exams, I would suggest choosing either of “Shortcuts in Reasoning” by Disha Experts or “How to Crack Test Of Reasoning” by Arihant. But then make sure that you practice previous years questions thoroughly.
Books Available For General Awareness
General awareness (more commonly called as General Knowledge or GK) is not something you can expect to master in a day. But from an exam point of view, if you spend time consistently, you will reach a good level in a month or so.
But it is very important that you base your preparations around a good book. Otherwise, you will be wasting time here and there collecting a list of this, and an article on that.
The most important Tip I can give you is to focus mostly on the static general knowledge (static GK) parts. You cannot possibly learn everything under the sun.
Most aspirants are confused when it comes to preparing for the SSC CGL General Awareness section. They spend waste their time either for memorizing stupid lists or for collecting them. So I have put together an exhaustive post to prepare for SSC CGL General Awareness Section.
Among the options available here, nothing comes close to Manorama Yearbook. It is THE best book to prepare for GK section in competitive exams. Check out our detailed review of the book. If you are allergic to Manorama, then you can try India (published by Government of India).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Before buying GK book, carefully check the year of publication. And I don’t mean the year published in the name! For marketing purpose, publishers sell books with next years name in the current year. For example, a book may have its name as “General Knowledge 2017” even though it was published in 2016! . So look for the actual ‘year of publication’.
Newspapers these days are not worth the paper they are printed on. So even though many people would advise you to read papers (even I have done in my several articles, but I’ll remove those when I get a chance to update those articles), it’s better that you use your time more efficiently elsewhere. This post would be more useful to you than reading one month of newspapers.
What About SSC CGL Solved And Practice Test Papers
CAUTION: Solved-papers books tend to have some errors and mistakes, higher as compared to sectional books. But people don’t complain because of the price at which these things sell. Just keep this at the back of your mind.
If you are not buying ANY of the books above, you have to buy, study and thoroughly practice through solved papers. Questions that are asked in SSC CGL repeat from year to year – just like many other exams.
So by practicing solved papers, you will prepare yourself for exactly the type of questions which are asked in the exams.
Kiran’s SSC CGL Combined Graduate Level Exams Question Bank (solved papers of previous year exams) is undoubtedly the best book for solved papers –
Full Length Or Chapter Wise?
Solved papers are available in two flavors – full length solved papers and solved questions from previous years papers which are categorized chapter wise. Which one you should use will depend on when you plan to solve previous years questions.
Some people like to study all the sections individually and then they start practicing full-length previous years papers. The other kind of people, read the fundas of a chapter in a section, for eg. Algebra in Quantitative aptitude, and then they practice solving previous years questions from this topic.
I would personally prefer the second method. But what really matters is that you actually practice solving previous years questions.
Full-Length SSC CGL Previous Years Solved Papers
The books listed below provide full length SSC CGL solved papers organized year wise.
SSC CGL Solved Papers – Organized section-wise
As I said earlier, some people (including me) prefer that previous years papers are arranged section wise – topic wise. Especially if your fundas are good, you are comfortable with the syllabus and you feel that all you need is practice – it makes sense to choose the books listed below. Of course, if you want solved questions from all the sections better stick to the options above (single book to buy).
All in one books covering both Tier 1 and Tier 2
As per the new online format of the SSC CGL exam, several publishers have updated their books to come out with a combined book for Tier 1 and Tier 2. These books provide some concepts, chapter wise solved examples, practice questions, and also access to online tests.
I would personally prefer choosing reference books for important sections to learn concepts and chapter wise previous year questions for practice. But if you want you can try out the following two books.
What Not To Do
If you want to know what to do, it is equally important to know what not to do. Even though I am suggesting you to buy books, I want to explicitly caution you to not buy “all in one” type of books (apart from solved papers). The problem with these all in ones is that they don’t cover the subject material properly.
On the other hand, section/subject books will come handy for multiple exams. And you can pass them to your juniors or friends, or also keep them with you for later reference.
The other thing which you should not do is buy too many books and not study them at all. Be realistic.
Final Words On Books for SSC CGL
Thank you for reading this really long article! It has taken me a lot of time to put together this post on the best books for SSC CGL exam preparation. Hope you will use this to prepare well for the exam. Since you liked this post, would you also like to know about why many aspirants fail to clear SSC CGL exam? You can read it here.
In case you have any questions, suggestions or remarks – let me know in the comments below.
Best of Luck.
Manish says
Thanks
Arvind says
This is the most complete review of books for SSC CGL exam I could find anywhere. Please cover more and more exams if possible.
admin says
Thank you Arvind. We are trying our best to add more exams
Rishabh says
I want to know about the tier 2 books. Which one to buy ???
admin says
We will be soon covering tier 2 books in our new post. Please subscribe to competitiondigest.com to receive updates.
chhoteesingh says
Thanks
lakshmi says
Actually im scared of maths so pls give me suggestion how to prepare ssc cgl quantitative apptitude k so pls give me idea abt books to follow
admin says
The reason you think you are scared is because you lack confidence. So all you need is some good old practice. Use the details in the section “Books for SSC CGL Quantitative aptitude section”. Apart from this, you may also like to go through our detailed post on How To Prepare For Quantitative Aptitude
indrajeetsingh says
Thank you. Very nice compilation of books.
amarendra says
sir, if anybody weak in english then how to start for preparation for ssc cgl and which books should be preferred
admin says
Please look at the section “Books For Tier 1 English Section” above. If you feel you are weak in English, you will need to practice a lot so that you can build your confidence – this is very important. For the purpose of the exam, just practice exam oriented questions. However, diverging from the topic if I were to give you some free ki advice, I would say that you cannot learn a language unless you start using it. So start reading English books/periodicals, try to talk to people in English. And even when you are talking to yourself, try to do that in English – this will improve your language skills immensely in the long run.
Vikas says
Thanks
Sangam Agarwal says
Thanks a lot for your info
math books description is really good
Alok Kumar says
Very helpful.
Thanx.
shivam says
Sir,i just want to know that which monthly magazine is best fo gs current affairs for ssc? Their are so much books available in market like pratyogta darpan,arihant samsamayki,safalta,etc. Now i am totally confused. So sir please help me to suggest a good monthly magazine. …thankyou sir.
admin says
Hi Shivam,
To answer your question, Competition Success Review would be a good choice. But I think this would be too much to prepare for SSC. If you are preparing for other exams as well, then go for CSR. Otherwise, Manorama Yearbook should be sufficient.
Also please note that GK consists of both static content (science, history, geography etc.) and current affairs. Generally speaking, it is better to give more time to static content than to current affairs. Going through previous years papers is very useful.
Ankit says
Sir I wish to prepare for SSC CGL for next year. I know that tier 1 is easier than tier 2. Your review regarding books is very helpful. Right now I have arihant master guide for tier 1. Please suggest me how to prepare for both exams and what should be the time division strategy for next year exam.
Thanks
admin says
Hi Ankit, please check our site for other posts on SSC CGL. Since you are targeting 2016 exam, you have a lot of time in your hand, and I am worried that you may waste a lot of this precious time. If you really want to crack the exam, start preparations now. Complete a topic before you move on to the next one and spend time based on the weightage of the questions asked from a section. Memorizing list of capitals/places etc. etc. is a big no-no at the moment. Spend more time on topics where you are week and plan to finish your basic study 2-3 months before the exam. This time should be devoted only to full-length papers. At the moment you have the biggest advantage with you – time! don’t waste it.
surender garathi says
Dear sir i am start preparation for ssc cgl 2016 my English grammar and vacab both parts are weak but i am try to learning grammar part so this part is covered me but the vacab part is veryy very weak so just tell me about how to improve my vocabulary part
admin says
Hello Surender,
Thanks for stopping by. The fool proof method to increase English vocabulary is to read, read and read some more. But I understand this will take a time. If you are looking for a book it would be a good idea to buy “Word Power made easy“. The book has organised words in a meaningful way – this makes it easy to learn them. Also, it approaches words through the root method and then goes in prefix and suffix. This I believe is a very smart method to follow. Right now Amazon is running a free delivery on books.
A useful method is to learn only a few words every day (5 to 10). Write the words down somewhere with their meaning, and practice creating sentences using them throughout the day. At the end of the week revise all the words you have learnt, right from the very first one. This method is very powerful if you can use it diligently.
Anil says
these books are more than enough to prepare for ssc cgl. thank you so much for the comprehensive list!
admin says
Thank you Anil, do let us know if we have not included your favorite book!
Aftab says
Hello sir, I have a diploma in electrical from an AICTE approved college, but I have completed my diploma in a duration of 4 years…… Duration of my diploma course was 4 years…..m I eligible for Any GOVT. Jobs like SSC, RRB, DMRC.
Please reply
admin says
Hi Aftab, the primary requirement in most of the exams which we cover on Competition Digest is a bachelor’s degree. But there are plenty of technical jobs which open only for diploma holders. For example at the moment if you check DMRC website they have at least 2 openings for which you can apply – check “Station Controller/ Train Operator (SC/TO) (NE01)” and “Jr.Engineer/ Electrical (NE03)”.
So I would suggest that you search accordingly.
nishant says
This is the most genuine info I found while searching for books…… When will you cover books for tier 2?
admin says
Thank you so much. We are working on the tier 2 post, should be out soon.
Janarthanan says
thanks for useful information
Niket says
Thank you very much ,it is really very helpful information in detail…
admin says
Thank you Niket, glad we could help 🙂
priti sharma says
thanks!!
Pooja jain says
Tll me the books for tier1ssc cgl 2016
admin says
Please scroll to the top of the page and read this post. Let me know if you need help.
Mismanna says
Sir, i have a complete basic idea in math, but slow in math, which book should be recommended for me to speed up?
admin says
Magical book on quicker maths by M Tyra (link above) has shortcuts for almost all types of problems. But I personally think that it is difficult to learn (and remember) all of them. So either you can try Tyra above, or I would suggest the good old way of practicing a large number of questions by actually solving them (don’t glance through). For this, you can use any of the solved papers books. Also do note that some of the questions in these books are not solved correctly!
vikash babu says
sir,i really like ur book collections and ur suggestions to study them. a big thanks to u for helping those students which are at initial stage including me and not know more about these…..sir i want to know cgl preparation coaching institute in delhi or anything related to this which helps for my preparation…sir is coaching institute helps at any level or self study is enough to crack it???
admin says
Thank you, Vikash!
Coming to your question, I would say it depends totally on you. If you think about it there are two main advantages of joining a coaching class. One, assuming they have some experience, they know the strategy of preparing for competitive exams. And secondly, if you attend classes regularly and practice what they give diligently, then you follow a good daily studying pattern.
Can you do both these things yourself? For example, there are two main things when it comes to strategy. You have to sit through and analyse what type of questions are asked in the exams and practice accordingly. Normally everything in life follows the 80/20 rule )also called Pareto principle). preparation for 80% of the paper requires 20% of your effort. The key thing to know is what all comes within this 80%!!! For example, many aspirants will waste their time collecting information, notes, books (which they will never study), or waste their time memorizing needless GK lists. Some people also keep solving questions they already know! because of the feel good factor it gives. It only takes some common sense to get the right strategy – in fact, a lot of books analyse the questions topic wise over the years.
As for the second point, do you think you have the discipline to sit down and study every single day? Now, this one is easier said than done. So you will have to answer for yourself.
If someone can figure out a good strategy and have enough discipline to follow it, they don’t need to attend any coaching. Can you do this?
vinod kumar says
Thanks
Rishabh says
Thanking u vry much…….
admin says
May the force be with you! 😀
selvaperumal says
Wonderful explanation. Cheers!
admin says
Thank you 🙂
yasmeen says
i m not good in maths , should i go with ncert books or m.tyra which one is better ?
admin says
If you are saying you are not good, what this really means is that you need a lot of practice. I would prefer something like RS Agarwal in your position, it has lots of exam oriented practice material. M Tyra is meant for learning shortcuts, but before learning shortcuts you should know the logical long method. NCERT books are good for concepts but they will not have enough practice material. Dont’t worry, practice regularly, try to understand the ‘why part’, you will do fine. Best of luck!
Inky says
Hello sir,
I have cbse patteren maths book of class IX and X , is it sufficient to preparing of ssc cgl?
admin says
That’s a tough question you have asked me! Technically yes. All the concepts would be covered in CBSE 8-10 books. BUUTTT, the thing is you need at least solved papers to practice ssc cgl exam pattern questions. Cracking any standard competitive exam is not so much about the clarity of concepts than it is about speed and precision. Also, do remember that most of your competitors would be using exam oriented material/books. Some would also be taking coaching. This is all I can say, you would be the best person to make the call. (Hope I have confused you enough 😛 )
dileep says
Is fast track arithmetic by arihant publication good??
admin says
I am a little biased in favor of M Tyra, but to be honest, Fast Track Arithmetic by Arihant is also a great book. A small advice, which you can use depending on how much time you have. Before learning shortcuts it really helps a lot to learn the logical (sometimes long) method. Because even if you forget the shortcut method, once you have mastered the logical method you will always remember it. Happy preparations!
Prince kumar says
Sir, I have a question which book is the best for tire 1exam practice, plz suggest me
admin says
If you are only looking to practice, I would suggest you go for a solved papers questions bank. If you practice them properly, you will get a lot of exposure to exam pattern questions. Kiran’s SSC CGL combined Graduate Level Exams Question Bank would be a good choice – get it on Amazon. However, do note that books like these are prone to some errors.
Solanki Rajani says
Thank You Very Much. I have not get this type of guidance till now. I am so grateful to you. Your guidance remove my all confusion. Again thank your very much.
admin says
You are most welcome! Thank you for the appreciation.
shilpi kanchan says
Thanks for this helpful post.
I shall complete my graduation in May and shall get Provisional degree. However, the result will be out by July. Am I eligible for the exam taking place place in May ? Kindly relpy.
anshul gupta says
What is good book for general awareness for ssc I have shortage of time
Pooja Singhal says
Hello sir
I am doing BE in information science..m I eligible for ssc cgl exam?
Arav says
Since you are still ‘doing it’, I understand that you have not yet finished the course. In such a case you will not be eligible for the exam. You need to know marks for all of your years/semesters while filling the application form.
Arav says
In terms of covering the latest content, Manorama Yearbook 2016 will be the call. Get it through the link. Free shipping on Amazon at the moment.
Arav says
The simple rule for eligibility is this, if you will have
1. marks for all the years/semesters of your graduation degree at the time of filling the application form
2. all degrees/marksheets at the time of document verification
Arpit Awasthi says
Sir what about General Studies like history, geography, polity, etc.,
Where to study them from..?
Arav says
Both Manorama and Lucent are good books. Though I would prefer Manorama as it is more recently updated. Stealing a famous phrase from Mrunal Patel of mrunal.org, these topics can be divided into static, science and crap or s s c! You should focus more on the static and science part. Hope this helps.
Anubhav Prakash says
Hello sir !!! I am in B.tech(ECE),final year,last sem ……am i eligible for SSC CGL 2016???
Harjeet Singh says
Sir what book should i follow instead of lucent gk to cover my static gk part???
Arav says
Manorama Yearbook will be a good choice.
Arav says
SSC normally announces a cut-off date for having the eligible qualifications.
Candidates who clear the complete exam process successfully are required to have acquired the minimum educational qualification on or before this cut-off date. Otherwise, they will not be considered for appointments.
Even if you can prove through some official document (mostly coming from your college/university) that the result of your qualifying exam was declared on or before the cut-off date. And that you have passed the exam. You are good to go.
For the SSC CGL Exam 2015, the cut-off date was 1 August 2015. Those who had cleared their exams and had their results declared before this date were eligible.
Vijay U says
Hi,
Should I buy different books by KIRAN for solved papers of Reasoning, English, Awareness and Mathematics Or just go with Kiran’s SSC CGL combined Graduate Level Exams Question Bank 1999-2014 (48 solved papers of previous year exams) by Think Tank of Kiran Prakashan ?
rahman says
I have an doubt regarding applying for the SSC cgl,i did BBM as UG course, and MBA( marketing and finance) as PG course, I want to know whether iam eligible to apply for Audit and compiler post..if so can I apply for two posts at the same time..
Thanks in advance..
Vicomte de Valmont says
should i go with ncert for math , ss and science? (std 7th – 10th)
thanks for ur answer
Vicomte de Valmont says
i have been spending a lot of time on mrunal recently so i am taking his word for it, any suggestions?
Arav says
Totally depends on your confidence level. If you think that all you need is a little brush-up, then definitely yes.
Sagar kashwani.. says
Good evening sir.First of all very very nice post sir.Thanks for such a fine guidance.Actually i am confused between two things,The first one is to study from the books such as RS Agrawal,MK Pandey,bakshi,and manorama for maths,reasoning,english and gk respectively and then solve arihant solved papers.The other one is to solve all the kiran’s solved papers of each subject seperately i.e kiran’s maths,kiran’s reasoning and so on..which according to u will be better whether 2 go for books then arihant solved papers OR kiran’s solved papers of each subject seperately..?
Arav says
Hi Sagar,
Both are good methods. The actual choice should depend on whether you are buying subject books (RS Agarwal, Manorama etc.) or not. If you do buy subject books, then only solved papers will be sufficient.
But if you are not buying subject books, then it is better that you go for subject wise solved papers as available from Kiran. The logic being that if you are not buying subject wise books, you will still be covering all the topics systematically.
Let me know what you think!
Sagar kashwani.. says
thank u so much for rplying but the thing is i am actually confused between these two.i am asking which one is better.i also know both are good but still i have 2 choose between one.so wats ur suggestion whether 2 go for subject wise books or kiran’s solved papers seperately..?
Sagar kashwani.. says
i can follow anuy of the two methods.there is no prblem in buying books or buying kiran’s solved papers..but which one will be beneficial for me and give me better results.?
Arav says
For history and civics, you will have to do it slowly and steadily over a longer time. Please don’t expect to finish it in a short duration. So pick up something like Manorama/Lucent divide the history + civics part into equal parts over the number of weeks you have minus one (if you have 5 weeks then divide it over 4 weeks, daily basis) now every day read the daily part and revise what you had learnt the day before. Plus, every weekend revise what you had studied over the past week.
This method works perfectly. The only way it won’t work is if you don’t follow it.
On a daily basis, your GK preparation should not take you more than 2 hours (maximum!). Look for the comments in this post for Static+Science+Crap logic in preparing for GK.
Arav says
In that case, prefer the first method – subject books + solved papers.
Sagar kashwani.. says
ok but second method is also good na..?sorry but i am very very confused..
Arav says
😀
Take it easy. Yes. Both the methods are good. Since you said buying will not be a problem and you also wanted the better deal, I suggested the first method. Having ready access to reference books (subject books) would mean that you can completely devote your time to study and won’t have to go looking anywhere for concepts/doubt.
Sagar kashwani.. says
ok thank u so so much.it was lovely talking to you,so nice of you that you helped me..thanx a lot..
Arav says
Best of luck!
mahaan bharat says
Dear sir
plys help me with theb cgl tier 1 prepration.we have hardly 1 month..usulaly i do prepare for others exam and i am in touch with subjects(quantz,gk,reasoning).sir i have rfecently bought rajesh verma for quatntz ,lucent and sajiwal for reasoning.are these book enough..suggest one book for gk(manorama??)…how to prepare for algebra,trigo,geometry??any best practice book-error free..??
Arav says
If you are not buying any other books, then Kiran’s solved paper for different sections is very helpful for covering entire syllabus. Amazon links above have better deals at the time of comment.
Otherwise, choose single book covering solved papers. As of now Arihant covers latest papers. Check the links above.
Heena says
Sir, please suggest any monthly magazine for current affairs..? Reading about all the current affairs from December to april would be enough for ssc 2016?
Arav says
Competition Success Review is a good choice. However, from exam point of view, something like Manorama/Lucent would be more useful.
As far as whether December to April would be good enough – your guess is as good as mine. The examiners ask as they wish, but the important thing to know is that ‘current affairs’ constitutes a very small part of the General awareness section. So, remember to work smart. Your time and efforts for any section/topic should directly be proportional to its weightage in the exam paper. Focus more on the static + science part.
Heena says
I have Lucent for GK. Which topics are more important and need to be covered first from this book?
Arav says
Please refer to our detailed post on ssc cgl eligibility – https://competitiondigest.com/ssc-cgl-eligibility-in-simple-english/
Arav says
Chapters to be covered – Indian history, Geography, Indian polity & constitution, Indian economy, Physics, Chemistry, Biology
Chapters that can be ignored (or don’t spend too much time here) – World history, Miscellany, Computers. (Did I miss something?)
Heena says
Thanks 🙂 by the way I haven’t received any email regarding that Telegram app yet..
Arav says
Launching tomorrow! Do check your email. Don’t forget to check your email tomorrow.
Jyoti says
Hello sir
I am applying for newly added post of AAO for CA.
I will start my preparations now i mean will try to cover up in dese 2 months.
Could you suggest something like how to proceed n books i hv read in your post but fr such short period can you some suggestion for material as well?
What about tier 2 books this is only about tier 1 material.
Waiting for your reply.thanks in advance ?
Arav says
Hi Jyoti,
The Tier 2 post will take a few days. However, I will give you some simple advice. Cover the common topics thoroughly. This will save time when preparing for Tier 2. Of course, you should realise that Tier 2 will matter only when you clear Tier 1. As for which books to use for SSC CGL Tier 1, for reasons explained in the post, personally I favor Kiran’s section wise solved papers. Best of Luck.
rahul chawla says
hello sir i am applying first time for ssc cgl; this is my final year of B.E ;
so sir after reading these books any need of going any institute for ssc cgl;
sir i m confused what i buy for G.K manorma or Lucent
Arav says
Try to solve some previous year full-length papers within the time limits. Then check your answers. This way you will have a fair idea of your level your preparations. Since you are an engineering student, I hope you won’t have too many conceptual doubts. If this is the case, then just build up your speed and accuracy by solving more and more number of previous papers.
If you only need practice, then there is no point in joining any coaching class.
Coming to GK, your preparation should focus more on science and static part(history + geography). Don’t invest too much time on current affairs. Hope this helps. Best of luck!
NAMAN GAUR says
All free ssc books pdf go
to
(link removed)
Just check yourself no spam
KARANAM RAVI VARMA says
Hello sir.I am applying ssc for first time.I am good at aptitude and reasoning.As for general awareness,I bought manorama .but i am in confused state in where to start and where to end in it.please help me and how much time should i spend on it daily
Arav says
Sorry, I was in the middle of updating the general awareness post, so I thought I’ll share it with you once I’m done. Read this post and let me know what you think – https://competitiondigest.com/ssc-cgl-general-awareness-books-syllabus-strategy/
MAYANK says
Hello sir,
My English, Quant , Reasoning is good and I am avg. in General Awareness. I want to ask you if i prepare for Quant from CAT level book like Arun Sharma wouldn’t it be easy for me to solve ssc cgl questions ??
amit chowdhury says
Good evening sir.I am an power engineer in power sector about 2 years.I want to go for SSC cgl preparation. Plz suggest me limited books which is needs to read.I know that I don’t have more time for cgl 2016,but I am interested.Please mention the minimum time to get prepare.
Arav says
Hi Mayank, for preparation (concepts) you can use any book, but it is important that you practice previous year’s papers. Since you believe that you are good in all the important areas I would suggest you try solving full-length test papers to confirm your confidence, and to also improve your speed. Best of luck.
Arav says
Hi Amit. The simplest preparation method is to start from previous year’s solved papers and practice them. In case you get stuck at some point due to a conceptual doubt, you can use subject books to gain clarity. If you can dedicate 2-3 focussed hours to study every day and use a good exam day strategy you will get great results.
Arav says
Please don’t share sites with copyrighted content.
Sindhu N says
Hello sir,
Im applying cgl exam for the first time..
Im in final year b.com now.
Am i eligible to write this exam?
when is the exam?
how to pay the exam fee ? (i have fee exemption claimed)
Kindly reply,
SINDHU N
PASSION says
Good evening sir. I am confused which practice set should I purchase…??
Actually sir few days before I bought kiran publication +70 set practice book…I solved 5-6 tests but sir level of question is much easy And lot of questions are repeated and incorrect ….so please help me sir which book should I bought to correctly judge myself
Arav says
Thank you for asking this question Seema. Hopefully other reader’s will benefit from your question. The best option would be to use previous year’s full-length papers. In those, however, you can ignore the current affairs questions because current affairs questions are mostly only asked from the past one year.
Another thing to remember when you are solving full-length papers is that you are not doing this for practice. For practice, you should solve questions topic wise. The goal of solving full-length papers is to develop your strategy for solving the SSC CGL paper – which section will you attempt first, how much time will you give to a question, how many questions will you attempt and so on.
PASSION says
Thank you sir for your great suggestion
Saiqa Parveen says
sir please suggest a good objective type gk book…….
Arav says
Saiqa, you can use “SSC General Awareness Chapterwise Solved Papers 1997 – Till Date by Kiran Prakashan” – http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00XTSON62/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24822&creativeASIN=B00XTSON62&linkCode=as2&tag=tfs0b-21
But use it only for static/science part. Also, read this post for SSC CGL general awareness preparation tips – https://competitiondigest.com/ssc-cgl-general-awareness-books-syllabus-strategy/
Arav says
I hope this post will answer your queries – https://competitiondigest.com/ssc-cgl-notification-released/
Seema Bhukar says
Can you please suggest me how should I improve my english. Even though I have crammed a number of idioms/vocab/synonymous but still I do not score good in english.
Kartik Bhatt says
Hello Sir,
How is English Is Easy by Chetananand from BSC publication…????
Arav says
It is a good book. Comes from a great publisher. But I think it’s a bit dated. The most recent version is 2009. Given a choice, I would prefer S P Bakshi – http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/9351768449/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24822&creativeASIN=9351768449&linkCode=as2&tag=tfs0b-21
Kartik Bhatt says
but flipkart shows its a 2012 edition, here is the link-
http://dl.flipkart.com/dl/english-easy-if-you-follow-book-english-2nd/p/itmdyv7dndb7gh4b?affid=001anandgm
Arav says
Thanks for the update. I did not know about this. You can choose between the two.
Kartik Bhatt says
Ok thanks…
Arav says
If you are only looking to improve your English for the exam then dedicate efforts on practicing and learning previous year’s exam pattern questions. Only focus on this part rather than aimlessly mugging up. If, however, your desire is to get more fluent in the language for life purpose – that would be a long road. You will have to start talking, reading, writing and thinking in English. Especially the thinking part.
Pavan Sai Kapavarapu says
Hey @competitiondigest:disqus,Nice post.
Can you write a post on OMR filling strategies?
Arav says
Thank you! 🙂
I have added this to my to-do list.
Pavan Sai Kapavarapu says
Hello Sir,
I have a query regarding gk section.
Does a reference book with previous papers be useful over Manorama?
I want to concentrate only on science and social studies sections.
Do i have enough time to prepare given that kiran prakashan’s general awareness consists of 1000 pages?
Can you strategize a schedule for me?
Thanks.
Arav says
Hi, would you mind posting this question on this article – https://competitiondigest.com/ssc-cgl-general-awareness-books-syllabus-strategy/
Pavan Sai Kapavarapu says
Done,sir
Pavan Sai Kapavarapu says
@competitiondigest:disqus, Im scoring around 30 marks in english and losing around 10 marks in synonyms,antonyms and idioms topics.Any remedy?
thank you.
Arav says
Two things can help you.
1. Increase your accuracy – people normally take this to mean that your answers should be correct, but it also means that you should not attempt the question if you know that you don’t know the answer.
2. For synonyms/antonyms, you need a large vocabulary. If time allows (and that time can’t be used for other topics) try a crash course on Word Power Made Easy. For idioms do some googling, you will find several books.
Pavan Sai Kapavarapu says
Thanks for the reply,@competitiondigest:disqus sir.
I have Word Power by Norman lewis. But the book is very lengthy.I thought that instead of wasting so much time on that(Antonyms,synonyms),I concentrated on Maths so that it yields accurate results.
Is there any book which is meant only Antonyms,synonyms?If so,please name it(It should not be lengthy as the exam is not so far away).
Does mugging up previous papers’s Antonyms and synonyms help?
Thank you.
Dr.House says
sir,NCERT books link is nt working….plz provide another link
Arav says
Thank you, Dr. House! You really are a ray of hope 😛
It seems NCERT has done a major revamp of their website. To download books, you will now have to go to http://epathshala.nic.in/e-pathshala-4/flipbook/ and download each chapter.
The alternative is to search on the internet for complete book PDF.
Dr.House says
Thanku sir…
Arav says
1. Great decision on concentrating on Maths!
2. Previous paper’s questions would be the best thing to do I think. Don’t buy a book for this, there are several large PDF available online. Just Google them.
One tip I can give is that when you are solving previous year’s questions, you should learn all the options in any MCQ, For eg. consider the following question (asked in 2015):
Q. What is the antonym of ZENITH? — a) Shallow b) Nadir c) low d) bottom
So here, not only should you know what is the answer (nadir), but you should also know some antonyms of the other three options. Solving a question by ruling out options is a good thing to do in the exam, but not during preparation. Hope you find this useful.
Sree Kiran says
how to prepare for the geomentry section?
Arav says
NCERT books would be the best bet. Use the download links in the article.
SUNIL says
VERY NICE EXPLANATIONS WITH REVIEWS ALONG WITH SOLUTIONS.
Sparsh says
Informative blog must check before buying useless loads of books
Ramesh Patel says
Nice Post Sir, the list of books that you have mentioned is good. Which book would be best for practicing maths for tier1? R S Aggarwal or Kiran?
Arav says
Thank you Ramesh. Either of Kiran’s previous years solved papers or chapter wise solved papers for Maths would be abetter option as it will give you practice similar to what is expected in the exams.
Prakash says
Sir as u suggested to solve previous year papers for SSC CGL. The book contains solution since 1999 to till date.Isn’t there any change in syllabus since 1999 to 2017??
Arav says
As such the syllabus is more or less the same. But the number of questions from different sections and their difficulty keeps on changing over a long time. Never the less, you should try to practice different types of questions as this will help you improve both your speed and confidence.
Harshit Bindal says
Respected sir,
Syllabus for ssc cgl (commercial stream ) is not proper anywhere. Please provide it for removing confusion.
Thanks
Arav says
Sure, I will try to add more information on that.
sunil kumar sharma says
Sir ko namaskaaR
Sir me ssc cgl ki taiyari karna chachta hu
Sir plz mujhe ssc cgl ki important books batao
Nitu Shetty says
Thanks for sharing amazing information about the best suggest books for SSC CGL Examination etc. Please update us on other bank exams as well.
Keerti says
Greetings sir,
Is this list applicable for cgl 2021 too??