How to Prepare for SSC CGL in the Last 1 Month for First-Timers? SSC CGL 2020 Exam Dates, Revision Plan.

To fill the vacancies in various ministries of the central government, every year staff selection commission conducts SSC CGL Exam (COMBINED GRADUATE LEVEL examination). These vacancies include group-B and group-C posts such as assistants in ministries/departments, inspectors, preventive officers, examiners, sub-inspectors, audit officers, accountants and compilers etc. The pay level for these posts fall under pay level-8 to pay level-4.

 The notification for combined graduate level examination for the year 2020(SSC CGL 2020) was released on 29^th December 2020. There are four stages in this examination and they are called tier-1, tier-2,tier-3 and tier-4. The date for the tier-1 exam is scheduled on 29^th may 2021.

This article is by a Guest Author on Thought Scroll: Mr. Amruth- IIT BHU Alumnus

Will SSC CGL 2021 Exam Be Postponed by Staff Selection Committee?

While the exam dates for various exams conducted by the staff selection commission which were scheduled to be conducted in April and early May were postponed as a measure of controlling the Covid19 pandemic by the commission, there is no official notification regarding the postponement of SSC CGL 2020. Hence the aspirants are advised to not lose the pace of preparation.

Many candidates who are attempting SSC CGL 2021 Exam for the first time and those who haven’t started the preparation yet but applied for the exam might think that the exam is meant only for the toppers and an average student cannot clear this exam. But this thought is wrong. Every year many freshers are able to clear this exam without any coaching. With the right approach and reasonable preparation strategy  one can easily Clear the SSC CGL exam in 30 days of Preparation. To make this happen one thing which has to be removed from yourself is self doubt and two things which has to be adapted are persistence and patience. 

SSC CGL 2021 Exam Pattern & SSC CGL Complete Syllabus.

Before going to the preparation strategy and exam plan, let’s go through the syllabus and exam pattern for tier-1 so that you don’t waste your time on unnecessary topics.

SSC CGL Tier-1 is a computer based examination(CBE) consisting of four sections each consisting of 25 objective type questions. Each right question is awarded 2 marks and the wrong answer has a penalty of 0.5 marks. Hence maximum marks for each section is 50 and maximum marks for tier-1 examination is 200. There is no sectional timing and cumulative time allotted for these 100 questions is 60 minutes. The four sections are as follows:

1. General Intelligence and Reasoning 
2.  General Awareness
3. Quantitative Aptitude
4. English Comprehension

1. General Intelligence & Reasoning: It would include questions of both verbal and non-verbal type. This component may include questions on analogies, similarities and differences, space visualization, spatial orientation, problem solving, analysis, judgment, decision making, visual memory, discrimination, observation, relationship concepts, arithmetical reasoning and figural classification, arithmetic number series, non-verbal series, coding and decoding, statement conclusion, syllogistic reasoning etc. The topics are, Semantic Analogy, Symbolic/ Number Analogy, Figural Analogy, Semantic Classification, Symbolic/ Number Classification, Figural Classification, Semantic Series, Number Series, Figural Series, Problem Solving, Word Building, Coding & decoding, Numerical Operations, symbolic Operations, Trends, Space Orientation, Space Visualization, Venn Diagrams, Drawing inferences, Punched hole/ pattern- folding & unfolding, Figural Pattern-folding and completion, Indexing, Address matching, Date & city matching, Classification of centre codes/ roll numbers, Small & Capital letters/ numbers coding, decoding and classification, Embedded Figures, Critical thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence.
   
2. General Awareness: Questions in this component will be aimed at testing the candidates’ general awareness of the environment around him and its application to society. Questions will also be designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of every day observations and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of any educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighbouring countries especially pertaining History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General Policy & Scientific Research. 
   
3. Quantitative Aptitude: The questions will be designed to test the ability of appropriate use of numbers and number sense of the candidate. The scope of the test will be computation of whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and relationships between numbers, Percentage. Ratio & Proportion, Square roots, Averages, Interest, Profit and Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture and Alligation, Time and distance, Time & Work, Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra & Elementary surds, Graphs of Linear Equations, Triangle and its various kinds of centers, Congruence and similarity of triangles, Circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords of a circle, common tangents to two or more circles, Triangle, Quadrilaterals, Regular Polygons, Circle, Right Prism, Right Circular Cone, Right Circular Cylinder, Sphere, Hemispheres, Rectangular Parallelepiped, Regular Right Pyramid with triangular or square base, Trigonometric ratio, Degree and Radian Measures, Standard Identities, Complementary angles, Heights and Distances, Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar diagram & Pie chart. 
   
4. English Comprehension: Candidates’ ability to understand correct English, his/their basic comprehension and writing ability, etc. would be tested. Questions in this component will be designed to test the candidate’s understanding and knowledge of the English Language and will be based on the spot the error, fill in the blanks, synonyms, antonyms, spelling/ detecting misspelled words, idioms & phrases, one-word substitution, improvement of sentences, active/ passive voice of verbs, conversion into direct/ indirect narration, shuffling of sentence parts, shuffling of sentences in a passage, cloze passage & comprehension passage.

SSC CGL 2021 1 Month Strategy- How to prepare for SSC CGL in 1 Month?

Importance of Mock Tests for SSC CGL 2021 Exam

MOCK EXERCISE: All aspirants are strictly advised to attempt one mock exam or previous year paper every day. One should also go through their mistakes and the questions which are not attended. Mocks in Testbook and Grade up are up to the standards and all aspirants are advised to get subscribed to any of them. Comprehensive analysis is provided after each exam and detailed solutions to the questions are available. So these mocks make it easy to complete the post mock exercise in less duration. Initially to complete the mock exercise it takes about 3 hours or less which is huge. But while days pass you get stronger with topics and it hardly takes less than 1 hour 30 minutes to complete the whole exercise. The remaining time can be spent on other exercises. One might get very less marks in the mock but it should be kept in mind that this mock is not the exam that gives you the job and this is just a practice session. No matter the marks one gets in this mock he/she must not get discouraged and unmotivated. This exercise is the game changer. Hence one must perform this regularly to reach his/her goal.

How to prepare for SSC CGL 2021 Current Affairs?

CURRENT AFFAIRS EXERCISE: Last 3 months current affairs are very much important for the exam and candidates are advised to cover 6 months current affairs if time is available. For current affairs, Cloud mobile app and Paracham Classes channel on YouTube will be good enough. There are other applaudable resources on the internet. But to keep ourselves precise in preparation these sources are advised. Revision is a must. 

General Studies Strategy for SSC CGL 2021 Exam

GS EXERCISE: In this exercise important topics from polity, history, geography and economy will be covered. A separate article on important topics will be uploaded on this website. Aspirants are advised to read all the topics from Lucent’s GK book. Reading NCERT’s at this time will make it harder to cover all the topics in short time

QUANT EXERCISE: Geometry, mensuration, algebra and trigonometry has more weightage in quantitative aptitude section. These topics should be given more time. Any source would be good but chapter wise tests which are found in mock test websites which you get subscribed to must be done as a part of this exercise. So in this exercise one must complete 50 questions on a topic and chapter wise mock test.

ENGLISH EXERCISE: 20-30 questions from selected topic and chapter wise test, 5 synonyms and antonyms, 5 one word substitution, 5 idioms and phrases of that topic are done in this exercise. Plinth to paramount by Neetu Sing covers all essential topics for English section of the exam. 

REASONING EXERCISE: There is no need to follow any source for the reasoning section. Reasoning part in the mock exercise and chapter wise tests would be good enough. If time permits and if you find difficulty with this topic you may practice questions from previous year papers published by Kiran’s publications. To save time aspirants are advised to spend minimum time for this exercise due to the section’s simplicity and moreover it has the same weightage as other sections.

Aspirants must divide their day accordingly to perform all these 6 exercises. One who religiously and diligently practices these exercises will definitely get through this examination.

1 Month ( 30 Days) Plan for SSC CGL 2021 Exam ( SSC CGL Time Table)

Check The Table in Landscape Position of Your Mobile Device

Work hard, have success and give yourself a bright future.

Before ending the article I want to say this again that “one thing which has to be removed from yourself is self doubt and two things which has to be adapted are persistence and patience.”

Best of luck,

Amruth M- IIT BHU Alumnus.