How To Prepare For SSC CGL Exam 2023

The SSC exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission require a lot of hard work and an efficient study plan to start the preparation. There are multiple posts for which the SSC exam is conducted. Each exam differs slightly from the other, and so does their preparation. Since the SSC CGL exam is just around the corner, we shall discuss the preparation tips for candidates who are starting the preparation for the Combined Graduate Level exam conducted by the Staff Selection Commission.

5 Tips For SSC CGL Preparation

SSC CGL preparation strategy for beginners should be comprehensive and detailed. If you are unsure of how to start SSC CGL preparation, we’ve given some tips below that may prove to be beneficial:

1. Understand the Exam Pattern & Syllabus Carefully

Get acquainted with the pattern and syllabus of the SSC CGL exam, keeping the weightage of each subject in mind. The candidates must make a note of subject-wise cut-offs to create a strategy that will help boost their SSC CGL preparation.

Earlier the SSC CGL exam was conducted in four stages: Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III, Tier IV, however from this year onwards the exam conducting authorities have revised this year’s exam pattern and selection process. Below we are going to talk about how you can prepare for the SSC CGL exam 2023:

How to Prepare for SSC CGL Tier I?

This is the first and the most crucial stage of the SSC CGL exam as most of the candidates are filtered at this stage. This is the reason, candidates must give maximum time for their preparation. If the candidate scores even one mark less than the cutoff, he or she gets rejected. For Tier-I preparation, the candidate must focus equally on General Awareness, General Intelligence & Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English. To know the best books for SSC CGL Tier I preparation, you can check the linked article. 

How to prepare for General Intelligence and Reasoning?

1. Practice General Intelligence and Reasoning questions, every day to see a considerable improvement in your accuracy level within a few weeks.
2. Work more on high-scoring topics like Puzzles, figure-based problems, analogies, coding-decoding, and series.
3. Usually Nonverbal reasoning questions are time-consuming, but regular practice can help reduce solving time. Try to solve at least 15-20 questions in 20 minutes with reasonable accuracy. 
4. Don’t waste your valuable time answering a single question. Try to attempt the next question, and if time allows, return and answer the left-out question.

How to Prepare For General Awareness? 

1. Concentrate on static GK (Culture, Indian History, Economy, Geography (India and the World), Politics, and the Environment) while remaining updated with current events.
2. Try to answer a minimum of 75 GA questions in 30 minutes per day.
3. Read newspapers, blogs, and periodicals daily. Instead of cramming, make notes and mind maps to learn facts, figures and a timeline of historical events.

How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude?

1. Prepare a list of all formulas and concepts. Try to memorise all key formulas by heart and solve a variety of questions.
2.  In Quantitative Aptitude, the shortcut tactic is key to helping you save a lot of time. So focus more on the fundamentals and acquire shortcut approaches to boost calculating speed for effective time management.
3. Start with percentages, profit & loss questions, speed, time & distance, boat and stream problems, ratio and proportion, and then cover the data interpretation, and so on.
4. Practice Quantitative Aptitude at least two hours a day.
5. On exam day, do not spend more than 25 minutes on this section. 

How to Prepare English for SSC CGL ? 

1. If you master vocabulary and grammar, you have won half the battle.
2. Improve comprehension skills by reading articles and opinion pieces in editorials and periodicals etc. Also, try and solve at least two comprehension pieces per day. 
3. Get the best books for SSC CGL English preparation.
4. Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this section during the exam.
5. Every day, read the newspaper and look up any new words you come across to ace antonyms and synonyms. 

How to Prepare for SSC CGL Tier II?

Let’s talk about the paper-wise SSC CGL preparation tips for Tier II below:

Paper-I (Quantitative Aptitude) and Paper II (English Language and Comprehension)  

The topics for tier-I (Quantitative Aptitude and English Comprehension) and tier-II (paper-I and -II) are similar, however, the difficulty level of the questions asked in the tier-II exam increases. But the candidate can follow the same preparation strategy for Tier-II paper I as discussed above for Tier-I. 

Paper-III (Statistics) 

SSC CGL Tier-II paper-III exam includes questions on topics such as Collection, Classification and Presentation of Statistical Data; Measures of Central Tendency; Measures of Dispersion Moments, Skewness and Kurtosis; Correlation and Regression; Probability Theory; Random Variable and Probability Distributions; Sampling Theory; Statistical Inference; Analysis of Variance; Time Series Analysis and Index Numbers.

Paper-IV (General Studies – Finance & Accounts and Economics & Governance):

The paper-IV is divided into two parts: Part-A (General Studies – Finance & Accounts) and Part-B (General Studies – Economics & Governance). 

These papers are usually of 80 and 120 marks each respectively. Part A includes questions on fundamental principles and concepts of accounting. Some of the important topics are 

• Rectification of Errors, 
• Profit & Loss Appropriation Accounts, 
• Non-profit Organisations Accounts, 
• Valuation of Inventories, 
• Income & Expenditure Accounts, 
• Trading, 
• Depreciation Accounting, 
• Receipts and Payments and Bills of Exchange,
•  Self-Balancing Ledgers, etc.

Part B includes questions on topics such as

• Constitutional Provisions of Comptroller & Auditor General of India; 
• Role and Functions of Finance Commission; 
• Introduction to Microeconomics; 
• Theory of Demand and Supply; 
• Theory of Production and Cost; 
• Forms of Market and Price Determination; 
• Indian Economy; Economic Reforms in India; 
• Money and Banking;
• Role of Information Technology in Governance; etc.

2. Prepare a Systematic Study Plan

Once the candidate gets a clear idea about the SSC CGL exam pattern and syllabus, he or she must figure out a proper study plan. Before that, the most crucial step is to know the SSC CGL exam difficulty as this analysis will help you make an informed decision. Make sure you plot to get the maximum output in the minimum time. 

3. Choose the Right Study Material

The next step is to collect the best study material and books to prepare for the SSC CGL exam. We’ve compiled a list of a few books for SSC CGL. Please take a look at the table below:

Tier-I Preparation Books 

Tier-II Preparation Books 

For more details on the books, aspirants can check the linked article. 

4. Solve SSC CGL Exam Previous Year Question Papers & Mock Tests

Refer to the previous year’s question papers to apprehend the difficulty level of the exam which in return will help an aspirant attempt more questions and be more confident with the questions. It’s also recommended to attempt as many Mock Tests to increase your speed and accuracy.

5. Look For Coaching

Candidates who can rely on self-study need not look for any coaching or Institute for help and can consider getting free online help. But if the candidate is not confident enough to prepare for the exam on their own, they should look for a reputed coaching centre. To pick the right coaching for yourself, you must look at online reviews, past results etc.

In a nutshell, a candidate should keep in mind the time left for the SSC CGL exam so they don’t end up making unachievable plans. Remember that at the end of the day, if you run out of time, even the best-laid plans will come to waste.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – 

Question 1: How many attempts are there in SSC CGL Exam 2022?

Ans: The SSC CGL exam allows multiple attempts. But there are certain age limit restrictions based on which the candidates can appear for the exam. SSC CGL aspirants must not be less than 18 years and cannot be more than 32 years of age (as of 1st January 2022).

Question 2: How many stages are there in the SSC CGL 2023 exam?
Ans: Earlier the SSC CGL exam was conducted in four stages, commonly known as Tiers, but the exam conducting authorities have revised this year’s exam pattern and selection process. 

The SSC CGL selection process 2023 is divided into two stages i.e. Tier I, and Tier II. Based on the marks scored in Tier 1 i.e. Computer Based Examination, candidates will be shortlisted category-wise, to appear in the Tier 2 exam. This means candidates who will clear SSC CGL Tier 1 2022 will be eligible to appear for Tier 2 as well.

Question 3: When will SSC release the CGL admit card for 2023?
Ans: The Staff Selection Commission will release the CGL admit card 2023 online mode on the regional websites in March/April 2023 three weeks before the exam.

Question 4: Is there a negative marking in the SSC Combined Graduate Level Exam?
Ans. Yes, there is a negative marking of 0.50 for every wrong answer in the SSC CGL Tier I exam and Tier II exam.

Question 5:  What is the highest post in SSC through CGL – Combined Graduate Level Exam?
Ans. The highest post is Assistant Accounts Officer or Assistant Audit Officer. SSC CGL AAO is a Group “B” Gazetted (Non-Ministerial) post offering the grade pay of 4800. An aspirant who qualifies for this post gets to work in the Indian Audit & Accounts Department under CAG.

Written by 

Mr Anubhav Luthra
Career Mentor

He has over 20+ years of experience in teaching, motivating and counselling students to get their dream job, 10,000+ students mentored by him have succeeded in the field analytically chosen by him. He follows the slogan Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached by Swami Vivekananda.