SSC CGL Tier 1 Paper Pattern And Analysis

(Updated on 29 June 2017)

In this post, I plan to cover SSC CGL Tier 1 paper pattern, along with the analysis of previous year’s papers. The CGL notification details have already been covered in the previous post. I have also written a thorough post on what SSC CGL books to use for Tier 1.

The SSC CGL Tier 1 exam will be the toughest part of the exam process. Not necessarily due to the level of questions, but because of the very high competition. In 2016, about 35 lacs aspirants over the country are expected to fight for the vacant seats. If you go by the success ratio of 2015, only 1 in 200 of the candidates who appeared for Tier 1 ended up getting a job!

So if you really want that SSC job, you have to work very smartly and very hard.

Let’s first get acquainted with the SSC CGL Tier 1 paper pattern.

SSC CGL Paper Pattern For Tier 1

The Tier 1 exam is a single paper of 200 marks which has to be answered in 1 hour. The breakup of the sections is given in the table below.

Section	Number of questions (each question is for 2 mark)
General Intelligence & Reasoning	25
Quantitative Aptitude	25
General Awareness	25
English	25

Every incorrect answer takes away 0.50 mark from your score. So strictly avoid gambling, more often than not it will go against you.

The types of questions in each section have been covered along with previous years papers analysis in the remaining part of this post.

SSC CGL Paper Pattern Analysis

In any standardized competitive exam, the type of questions and the topics they come from tends to repeat over a number of years. This ‘knowledge’ should be at the heart of your preparation strategy for the SSC CGL exam.

Of course, I am not claiming that all the questions in the exam will come from previous papers. But even if half of the paper consists of questions which are very similar to the ones you have thoroughly practiced – It will be a huge advantage for you.

Over the next sections of this post, I’ll discuss the analysis of SSC CGL previous year’s question papers. This will give you a fair idea of the recent trends of questions and how the papers are set. I hope you will use this list to set your priority topics and make strategies for the examination.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Previously, SSC CGL used to have 50 questions in each section

SSC CGL Tier 1 General Awareness Section Analysis

The Table below shows how the questions have varied over the past few years. General awareness is the most confusing section and people end up wasting a lot more time than on it than anyone in their right mind should.

The basic idea is to focus more on Science + Social studies, compared to current affairs – most of the people do the opposite. I have covered the preparation strategy for general awareness in detail over here.

Sub Topic	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Biology	06	04	08	06	08
Chemistry	04	04	03	09	03
Computer	01	02	02	02	02
Economy	11	07	04	06	05
Geography	06	11	06	06	07
Indian History and Culture	05	06	05	06	05
Miscellaneous GK (Includes sports, honours, awards, current affairs, important dates)	03	05	10	08	10
Physics	07	06	04	03	04
Polity	07	05	08	04	06
Total	50	50	50	50	50

SSC CGL Tier 1 Quantitative Aptitude Section Analysis

Success in quantitative aptitude comes 20% from knowledge and 80% practice. It is not sufficient to know the formula of the concept. If you have not practiced enough you will make simple mistakes and take more time to solve the problem. But more importantly, you will fail.

In fact, many a time it also happens that people know the formula perfectly, but don’t have any idea of how to use it 😀

Don’t be that person, cover one topic at a time, fix it and move on. The table below will give you some idea of the important sections.

Sub Topic	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Algebra	06	00	05	05	05
Average	03	03	02	02	02
Percentage, Profit and Loss, Interest	06	14	05	06	07
Trigonometry	00	00	09	08	07
Geometry	03	05	12	09	14
Basic Maths	11	11	05	01	03
Ratio & Proportion	03	03	01	03	01
Number System	06	05	02	02	03
Data Interpretation	03	04	05	07	05
Time & Distance	06	05	02	05	03
Miscellaneous	03	00	02	02	00
Total	50	50	50	50	50

SSC CGL Tier 1 General Intelligence & Reasoning Analysis

It is a fact that those who do well in maths, do well in the reasoning section. But there is another interesting fact, those who practice reasoning do better than those who don’t 😛

Seriously. Reasoning is like solving puzzles. If you solve 10 different types of puzzles, your brain’s abilities increase much more than that. Preparation strategy for reasoning is similar to quantitative aptitude. Take a topic, understand the theory and practice like your world depends on it.

Sub Topic	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Analogy	08	09	09	08	04
Blood Relations	01	02	00	01	00
Symbols & notations	03	01	02	00	02
Direction & distance	02	04	02	04	02
Day, date & time	01	01	01	00	00
Coding-decoding	02	02	04	03	03
Syllogism	02	01	02	02	05
Sitting arrangements	02	02	02	01	00
Cubes &dices	01	00	00	02	00
Venn diagram	02	01	01	02	03
Miscellaneous	02	02	02	02	03
Alphabetical arrangements	02	02	01	01	03
Mirror image	01	01	01	01	01
Paper cutting and folding	01	01	01	01	01
Figure problems( deviation, embedded, completion)	01	02	02	03	07
Classification	06	06	07	06	06
Series	08	05	05	05	04
Arithmetic problems , Trends, and operations	02	06	05	06	05
Word formation	01	02	03	02	02

SSC CGL Tier 1 English Comprehension Analysis

The section is surely called ‘English comprehension’ but it is much more than that. As you can see from the table below. 

You may feel that you know English. But are you sure? Many a time, the English we ‘use’, is not grammatically correct. Especially, what people speak. In the age of auto-spellchecks and “how r u, im gr8” it can get difficult to judge what’s right and what’s wrong.

While maths and reasoning have a simple logic to them, language (even though it’s based on grammar rules) is quite different. You actually need to have a lot of experience in terms of writing and speaking it correctly. Some little errors here and there can be rectified, but otherwise, you would be needing special help.

To complicate matters, in the vocabulary questions, many times words can be asked which are not used in our day to day lives. I’m not trying to scare you, just trying to paint a realistic picture of what you should expect. So don’t rely on ‘I think I know it’, practice questions while you still have time.

Sub Topic	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Common Errors	05	05	05	05	05
Synonyms	05	05	05	03	03
Antonyms	05	05	05	03	03
Fill in the blanks	05	05	05	05	05
Spelling mistakes	05	05	05	02	02
One word substitution	05	05	05	07	07
Idioms & phrases	00	05	05	05	05
Sentence Transformation	05	00	00	00	00
Sentence Arrangement	05	00	05	00	00
Sentence Improvement	05	05	05	10	10
Cloze Test	00	10	00	00	00
Comprehension	05	00	05	10	10
Total	50	50	50	50	50

Final Words

The level of questions asked in the exam (syllabus-wise and difficulty-wise) is not more than 10th standard level. But keeping in mind that it has been at least five years since you were in 10th and that a few million candidates will be in the race for a few thousand (prestigious) vacancies, don’t take things too lightly.

Study with a focused mind, study every day and study smart. Next, you would want to read about SSC CGL exam books.