SSC CGL 2023: Subject-Wise Preparation Strategy

SSC CGL 2023 Preparation Strategy: Every year Staff Selection Commission conducts SSC CGL exam which is one of the most sought after exams for Group B and Group C posts in Ministries and Departments under Government of India.

CGL stands for Combined Graduate Level and it is a golden opportunity for all graduate aspirants who want a decent government job. Hence, thousands of candidates apply for the exam every year, leading to fierce competition among the candidates.

Staff Selection Commission released SSC CGL 2023–24 Exam Calendar in December 2022 and soon they will release SSC CGL 2023–24 Recruitment Notification on its official website www.ssc.nic.in.

Before preparing for SSC CGL exam candidates must have proper knowledge about its selection process, exam pattern etc. and then a good and effective preparation strategy to crack the exam.

SSC CGL 2023 Selection Process

The SSC CGL 2023 selection process consists of two stages, namely, Tier I and Tier II. The table given below will give you the details of all the ranges.

SSC CGL Tier	Type of Examination	Method of Examination
Tier I	Objective Multiple Type Question	Computer Based Test (Online)
Tier II	Bankruptcy I: Compulsory for all posts Paper II: For the candidates applying for the post of Junior Statistical Officer (JSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation Paper III: For the candidates applying for the post of Assistant Audit Officer/Assistant Accounts Officer. (Objective type and multiple choice questions except Module-II in Section III of Paper I).	Computer Based Test (Online)

SSC CGL 2023 Exam Pattern- Tier I & Tier II

The revised SSC CGL 2023 exam pattern is divided into two parts, namely, Tier I and Tier II. While the marks obtained by the candidates in Tier I will be of qualifying nature, the marks obtained by them in Tier II will be considered for final merit only.

SSC CGL 2023 Tier I Exam Pattern

The first stage of SSC CGL 2023 exam is Tier I which is compulsory for all. It consists of 100 questions with 25 questions each from four different sections: English, Quantitative Aptitude, General Awareness and General Intelligence & Reasoning. Each wrong answer carries negative marks of 0.5 marks.

Category	Number of questions	Maximum marks	Length of time
General Intelligence & Reasoning	25	50
General awareness	25	50
Quantitative Aptitude	25	50
English Comprehension	25	50
total	100	200	Combined time of 60 minutes (1 Hour 20 Minutes for Candidate’s Writers)

SSC CGL 2023 Tier II Exam Pattern

The SSC CGL 2023 Tier II exam will be conducted in three stages: Paper I, Paper II and Paper III. Each wrong answer in Paper I carries a negative mark of 1 mark and each wrong answer in Paper II and Paper III carries 0.5 marks.

Paper	Sections	Time
Paper 1	Section I Module 1: Mathematics (30 questions) Module 2: General Intelligence and Reasoning (30 Questions) Total Questions: 30+30= 60 Total Marks: 60*3= 180 Section II Module 1: English Language and Comprehension (45 questions) Module 2: General Awareness (25 Questions) Total Questions: 45+25= 70 Total Marks: 70*3= 210 Section III Module 1: Computer Knowledge (20 Questions) Module 2: Data Entry Speed ​​Test (a date entry task) Total Questions: 20 Total Marks: 20*3=60	2 hours 30 minutes
Paper 2	Statistics Total Questions: 100 Total Marks: 100*2= 200	2 hours
Paper 3	General Studies (Economics and Finance) Total Questions: 100 Total Marks: 100*2= 200	2 hours

SSC CGL 2023 Topic Wise Preparation Tips

If you are preparing for SSC CGL 2023-24 exam, you must understand the syllabus. The topic wise preparation strategy given below will help you to improve your preparation.

English Language and Comprehension

• This section consists of 25 questions of 2 marks each in Tier I and 45 questions of 3 marks each in Paper I of SSC CGL Tier II.
• To prepare for the English section, candidates need to understand the three main components of this section, namely, Grammar, Comprehension and Vocabulary.
• To get an edge in this section, candidates need to start reading newspapers daily, especially the editorial section.
• Make a list of important words you find while reading the newspaper and practice understanding them regularly.
• Practice mock tests and quizzes regularly and make sure to analyze them to assess your strong and weak points. This will increase your problem solving ability.

Quantitative Aptitude

• Quantitative Aptitude section in SSC CGL exam is considered the toughest among all sections. It consists of 25 questions of 2 marks each in Tier I and 30 questions of 3 marks in SSC CGL Tier II paper.
• This section requires a lot of consistent practice to master the basic concepts. It is divided into three components namely Arithmetic, Advanced Maths and Data Interpretation.
• Once you understand the basic concepts, practice quizzes every day to assess your strong and weak points and analyze them later.
• Identify your weak subjects and give more time to those subjects so that you can crack this category.

Reasoning

• Reasoning section assesses the candidate’s skills in problem solving, decision making and analytical thinking.
• This section consists of 25 questions in Tier I, carrying 2 marks each, and in Tier II of SSC CGL, this section is included in Paper I, which is compulsory for all and consists of 30 questions of 3 marks each.
• To score well in this section, a candidate needs to practice regularly in puzzles, matrix, coding-decoding, kinship, classification, analogy, etc.
• Also, having a good knowledge of directions, shapes and diagrams will help you in this section. So, practice daily with mock tests and quizzes to increase your speed and clear the basic concepts.

General awareness

• General Awareness section consists of 25 questions of 2 marks each in Tier II and 25 questions of 3 marks in Tier II.
• This is a high-scoring and less time-consuming section that includes questions on current affairs, statistics, general knowledge, and science.
• To prepare for General Science, read NCERT textbooks for Science and Social Science from Class 6 to 10 along with Class 11 and 12 for Geography and History.
• For current affairs, read national and international news related to Sports, Summit & Conference, Appointments, Science & Defence, Appointment, National & International, Important Days, Government Schemes etc.

Computer proficiency

• Computer proficiency section is asked only in Tier II exam of SSC CGL 2023. It contains 20 questions of 3 marks each.
• This section covers Computer Organization, Input/Output Devices, Computer Memory, Memory Organization, Backup Devices, Ports, Windows Explorer, Keyboard Shortcuts, MS Office, Web Browsing & Search, Downloading & Uploading, Managing an E-mail Account, e.g. -Banking, networking tools and protocols, fundamentals of networking and cyber security.
• You can prepare this section from Lucent’s “Computers”, Arihant’s “Computer Awareness” or any other famous author or publication material.

Statistics

• “Statistics” is Paper II of Tier II conducted for candidates applying for the post of Junior Statistical Officer (JSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.
• This section consists of 100 questions of 2 marks each and the duration of the exam is 2 hours. 0.5 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer.
• Candidates are advised to solve Statistics practice books of reputed authors/publications like “Fundamentals of Statistics” and “Programmed Statistics”.
• Focus on scoring topics like skewness and kurtosis, time series, probability, correlation and regression.

General Studies

• This is paper III of SSC CGL Tier II which is mandatory for those who are applying for the post of Assistant Audit Officer/Assistant Accounts Officer.
• It consists of 100 questions of 2 marks each and the time allotted for the paper is 120 minutes. There is a penalty of 0.5 marks for each wrong answer.
• Candidates who have a basic understanding of class 11-12 economics can easily study this section, which includes topics like demand and supply of foreign exchange, national and international economic issues, economic development, Indian tax structure, economic terms, five. -Year Plans, Money and Banking, Economic Reforms in India.
• You can also refer books like “Accounting and Finance for Bankers” by Macmillan Education, “SSC CGL Finance and Economics (Tier-II)” by Rph Editorial Board and “Indian Economy” by Ramesh Singh.

SSC CGL 2023 FAQs