SSC CGL 2018 Exam Pattern

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SSC CGL Detailed Exam Pattern

As we already know that the SSC has announced the recruitment process of Combined Graduate Level for the year 2018, the students also have started preparing really hard. But for getting selection in SSC CGL, the right preparation is very much required and for that, knowing and understanding the exam pattern is a must.

SSC CGL Exam 2018

Most of the students get confused because of the number of tiers that the CGL exam has been divided into. Also, all the tiers are very much different from the others, thus making it even difficult to make a perfect balance in between what to study and what not to study, how to manage all these different tiers and how to deal with them all at the same time.

Well, the first thing here is to know the detailed exam pattern for the various tiers of SSC CGL.

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SSC CGL Tier – I

Tier – I is a computer-based objective online exam of a total of 200 marks. Candidates will get 60 minutes to solve these questions. The questions are divided into 4 sections or categories. First is the reasoning, second being as aptitude, third as general awareness and last is the English language.

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There will 25 questions in each section and each question will be of 2 marks. Attempting questions from all the four sections is not compulsory. There is no hard and fast rule like sectional cut off in SSC CGL, unlike banking exams. You just need to clear the overall cut off.

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There is negative marking as well. You will be charged 0.5 or one – fourth of the marks allotted to the question, for every wrong answer. No marks will be given or deducted to the questions you have not answered.

VH candidates will get 80 minutes instead of 60 minutes for all other candidates. There is no time has been allotted to individual sections.

The scheme for SSC CGL tier – I is as given below –

S. No. Subject Number of Questions Marks Allotted Time Duration
1 General Intelligence & Reasoning 25 50
2 General Awareness 25 50
3 Quantitative Aptitude 25 50
4 English Language 25 50
Total 100 200 60 minutes

SSC CGL Tier – II

Tier – II is also a computer-based objective online examination. There is a total of four papers in this tier and not all of these papers are compulsory for all of the candidates who have got selected for tier – II.

Each paper is of two hours in the Tier – II. Out of these four papers, only two papers are compulsory for all the candidates. The paper – I, which is a paper of Quantitative Ability and the paper – II, which is a paper of English Language, are compulsory to all the candidates getting selected for the Tier – II examination.

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The paper – III, which is an exam of Statistics is only for the candidates who have applied for the post of Statistical Investigator Grade -II and Compiler. Paper – IV is for the Assistant Audit Officer candidates only. This fourth paper is of General Studies – Finance and Economics.

Three out the four papers will contain 100 questions for 200 marks and the English Language will have 200 questions for a total of 200 marks. Negative marking is also there. But the negative marking varies with different papers. Paper – I will have a negative marking of 0.5 marks. Paper – II will have the negative marking of 0.25 marks and the paper – III and paper – IV will both have negative marking as 0.5 marks.

VH candidates will get a total time of 2 hours and 40 minutes for each paper, while all the other candidates will get a total time of 2 hours for each paper.

S. No. Paper Name Number of Question Marks Allotted Total Time
1 Quantitative Ability 100 200 2 hours
2 English Language 200 200 2 hours
3 Statistics 100 200 2 hours
4 General Studies – Finance & Economics 100 200 2 hours

Tier – III

Tier – III is a descriptive test. This descriptive test is a pen and paper mode examination and is not a computer-based descriptive test as we see in some banking exams.

This exam is of English or Hindi language as per your choice of language while filling the form. There will be questions related to essay writing, letter writing, application writing, precis writing, etc.

The number of questions in the examination are not fixed. This tier – III examination will be of 100 marks. You will get only 60 minutes to complete this descriptive paper. The VH candidates will get 80 minutes to complete the exam.

There will be no negative marking in the SSC CGL tier – III examination.

S. No. Subject Marks Time
1 Descriptive Paper in English/ Hindi (essay writing, precis writing, letter writing, application writing, etc.) 100 60

SSC CGL Tier – IV

Tier – IV is an exam that will consist of Computer Proficiency Test, which is not for everybody/ Skill Test, wherever applicable/ Document Verification (compulsory for all). The Tier – IV exam is a qualifying exam only. You are not supposed to get really good marks (although if you do so it’s great), but you are just supposed to qualify the paper.

As it is a computer test or the data entry skill test, it is obviously a computer-based test. There is no negative marking in this tier – IV exam.

The computer proficiency test is for the candidates, who have applied for the post of Assistant Section Officer in CSS and MEA post.

On the other hand, the data entry skill test is for those, who applied for tax assistant post.

Candidate will get a total time of 45minutes to complete the tier – IV paper. The computer proficiency test will a test related to Microsoft Office, which includes MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Excel.

The data entry skill test, for tax assistants only, is a test where the candidate has to enter the data into the computer system with a great speed. The qualification condition here is to have such a speed so that you can enter 8000 key depressions in an hour.

The document verification is compulsory for all the candidates reaching up to this level.

S.No. Subject Time Syllabus
1 Computer Proficiency Test ( for the post of Assistant Section Officer in CSS and MEA only) 45 minutes MS Word/ MS PowerPoint/ MS Excel

If you have any quires regarding the exam scheme or exam pattern, you can let us know by asking your question in the comments section down below.

All The Best!!!

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