SSC CGL Syllabus 2023 Tier 1 2 3 4 Exam Pattern

Combined Graduate Level (CGL) is an examination conducted by Staff Selection Commission (SSC) for recruitment to posts in various government ministries and departments. Those candidates who are preparing for C.G.L. should start preparing for this exam around notification. 
If they prepare well before exam, then they can qualify this highly competitive test by clearing all stages and score better marks. 
Every year, this exam is conducted by Staff Selection Commission for filling various vacancies. The selection of eligible candidates is done through four tiers. A large number of graduates appear for this test but very few qualify all its tiers. 

SSC CGL Exam Pattern

Tiers:

Tier 1
Objective type examination having 1 paper (CBT)
Tier 2
Objective type examination having 2 papers compulsory and 1 for specific posts (CBT)
Tier 3
Descriptive Type Paper in English/Hindi
Tier 4
Computer Proficiency Test/ Skill Test (wherever applicable)/ Document Verification

    SSC CGL Exam Pattern

    SSC CGL have 4 Tiers. Tier 1 and 2 objective tests will be held online. Tier 3 will be descriptive type test. Tier 4 is CPT, DEST, Document verification. 
    Here you can check Syllabus & Pattern of SSC CGL Each Tier / Paper to be held in 2023. Here you can also check preparation strategy and more details.
    The final merit will be prepared on the basis of overall performance in Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III. Also the candidate need to qualify all the tiers i.e. Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III separately. There is no sectional cut-off in each test. Document Verification will also be conducted in the last.
    Check SSC CHSL Syllabus and exam pattern here

    Tier 1


    Part 1
    Subject
    No. of Questions
    Max. Marks
    Time Allowed
    A
    General Intelligence & Reasoning
    25
    50
    60 minutes (For VH and candidates suffering from CP: 80 Minutes)
    B
    General Awareness
    25
    50
    C
    Quantitative Aptitude
    25
    50
    D
    English Comprehension
    25
    50
    Total
    100
    200


    There will be negative marking of 0.50 for each wrong answer in Tier-I and tier 2 all papers except Paper II. Candidates have to select one answer out of 4 choices given. 

    SSC CGL 2023 Syllabus of Tier 1, 2, 3, 4 Exams


    Tier 1

    1. Quantitative Aptitude (Q.A.):
    This section will test ability of a candidates in appropriate use of numbers and number sense. This includes whole numbers, Square and Cube roots, Averages, decimals and fractions, LCM & HCF, Number relationship, Profit and Loss questions, Time and work, Discount and its types, Partnership, Mixture and Allegation, Percentage, Time and distance, Ratio & Proportion, Interest, Algebra & Elementary surds, Graphs of Linear Equations, Triangle and its various kinds of centers, triangles congruence and similarity, Circle, Circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords of a circle, common tangents to two or more circles, Triangle, Quadrilaterals, Sphere, Hemisphere, Regular Polygons, Right (Prism, Circular Cone, Circular Cylinder), Heights and Distances, Bar diagram & Pie chart, Rectangular Parallelepiped, Regular Right Pyramid with triangular or square base, Trigonometric ratio, Complementary angles, Degree and Radian Measures, Standard Identities, Histogram, Frequency polygon.

    2. General Intelligence & Reasoning:
    This section includes questions from both verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Questions in this section are asked from analogies, arithmetical reasoning and figural classification, syllogistic reasoning, similarities and differences, space visualization, spatial orientation, problem solving, analysis, judgement and decision making, visual memory checking, discrimination, observation, relationships, series, coding/decoding, statement conclusion,  etc.
    The topics are Semantic, Symbolic/ Number, Figural Analogy, Semantic Classification, Symbolic/ Number and Figural Classification, Semantic Series, Number and Figural Series, Critical thinking, Emotional and Social Intelligence, Problem Solving, Word Building, Coding & de-coding, Syllogism (Venn diagrams), Drawing inferences, Punched hole/ pattern and Figures - folding & un-folding, Indexing, Address and Date & city matching, Embedded Figures, Numerical Operations, symbolic Operations, Trends, Space Orientation, Space Visualization, Other sub-topics, if any.
    3. English Comprehension:
    Through this section, a candidate's ability to understand and correct English etc. would be tested.
    The syllabus includes Fill in the Blanks, Idioms & Phrases, Jumbled sentences (ordering), One word substitution. Synonyms, Antonyms, Spellings/Detecting Mis-spelt words, Common errors, sentence improvement, Passage, Cloze test are asked. 
    4. General Awareness (G.A.):
    General Awareness section is the one that can give you marks in less time. But you have to prepare very hard to have decent marks. General Awareness will have questions on current events, India and its neighboring countries. Also ques. from History. Geography, Economic Scene,Culture, General Polity & Scientific Research are asked. Scientific research includes physics, chemistry and Biology. Current affairs of Last 6 months are asked.


      Tier 2 Exam Pattern

      Paper
      Section
      No. of Questions
      Max. Marks
      Time Allowed
      Paper 1
      Quantitative Ability - for all posts
      100
      200
      120 minutes for each paper (For VH and candidates suffering from CP: 160 Minutes)
      Paper 2
      English language & Comprehension - for all posts
      200
      200
      Paper 3
      Statistics (only for Statistical Investigator & Jr. Statistical Officer posts) 
      100
      200
      Paper 4
      General Studies (Finance & Economics) (Only for Assistant Audit Officer and Assistant Accounts Officer posts)
      100
      200
      SSC CGL Tier 2 Exam Pattern
      There are four papers in 2nd Tier.
      • Paper-I & II are compulsory for all the categories of posts.
      • Paper-III is only for those candidates who apply for the post of Junior Statistical Officer (JSO) and Statistical Investigator.
      • Paper IV is only for those candidates who apply for the post of Assistant Audit Officer (AAO)/Assistant Accounts Officer(AAO).

      Difficulty Level:
      Paper-I would be of 10th Standard level, Paper-II of 10+2 level and III & IV of graduation level.

      Note: For the post of Sub-Inspector in Central Police Organizations, the Examination will consist
      of only one paper i.e. English language.

      SSC CGL Syllabus of Tier 2

      Paper-1 :

      Quantitative Ability :

      The questions will be designed to test the ability of appropriate use of numbers and number sense of the candidate. The syllabus of this one will have questions based on following:
      Note: The number of questions in a section may increase or decrease as decided by SSC.
      Topic-wise Distribution:

      i. Simplification: 3-6 Qs.
      Fraction, BODMAS, Surds & Indices, Roots, Approximation, Percentages, Fractions, Decimal etc.

      ii. Number System: 6-8 Qs.
      LCM/HCF, Divisibility / Remainder, Factors & Multiples etc.

      iii. Percentage: 2-4 Qs.
      Questions involving increase / decrease etc. percentages.

      iv. Average: 5-6 Qs.
      Finding Average of Numbers / Height / Age / Speed / Marks / Weight etc.

      v. Ratio & Proportion: 1-6 Qs. Simple & Compound Ratio and Direct / Indirect Proportions, Componendo and Dividendo.

      vi. Alligations & Mixture: 1-4 Qs.
      Two or Three entities Mixture problems.

      vii. Interest: 3-5 Qs.
      Simple & Compound interest, Mixed Interest, Installments.

      viii. Data Interpretation: 5-7 Qs.
      Involves questions on Table, Pie chart, Bar / Line Graph, Various graphics involving terms, Missing data types, Histogram, Frequency Polygon etc.

      ix. Profit & Loss: 8-12 Qs.
      Profit & Loss in Buying selling & its percentages, Successive Selling, Partnerships, dishonest dealing, Discount, Gains, Prices, Sales Tax.

      x. Time Speed & Distance: 4-6 Qs.
      Average / relative / Uniform speed, Questions on Trains, boat & train.

      xi. Time & Work: 5-7 Qs.
      Wages, Pipes & Cistern, Work Efficiency, questions like Time taken by X people in doing a work etc.

      xii. Number Series: 0-1 Qs.
      Series Completion, Finding Wrong / Missing term.

      xiii. Trigonometry: 8-10 Qs.
      Trigonometric ratios and Identities, Height and Distances etc. Trigonometric function's values Max. & Min., Measurement of Angles.

      xiv. Geometry: 12-17 Qs.
      Triangles & their Congruency, Centres, Similarity; Quadrilateral, Circle (tangent, Chords, Segment), Co-ordinate geometry, Degree & Radian measures, Complementary Angles etc.

      xv. Algebra: 4-9 Qs.
      Linear Equations, Functions, Quadratic/Algebraic Identities.

      xvi. Mensuration: 10-12 Qs.
      Problems on Sphere, Hemi-sphere, Rectangular Parallelopiped, Prism, Trapezium, Square, Rectangle, Rhombus, Semi-Circle, Circles, common tangents to two or more circles Circle chords, angles subtended by chords of a circle, Cylinder, Cone, Right Circular Cone, Cube, Cuboid, Parallalogram, Right Circular cylinder, Triangle, Pyramid with triangular or square base, Regular Polygons, Quadrilaterals etc.

      Tier 2 - Paper-2

      English Language & Comprehension:

      i. Comprehension Passage: 30 Qs.
      Passage can be asked from any topic like Economy, Business, Moral Stories, Social Issues etc. The paragraphs are usually longer and candidate have to read it to give answer to one questions. This time to solve and requires practice and trick. Questions includes finding the best answer, meaning, false/true etc.

      ii. Para Jumbles (Ordering of Sentences): 20 Qs.
      Arranging of sentence parts in proper order.

      iii. Direct / Indirect Speech: 25 Qs.
      Questions on Narration of Direct / Indirect Speech.

      iv. Active Passive Voices: 20 Qs.

      v. Sentence Improvement: 10-15 Qs.

      vi. Phrase / Idiom / One Word Substitution: 20-25 questions
      Choosing one word which can be substituted for the given words/sentence.

      vii. Spelling Error: 2-3 Qs.
      Finding one word out of given which is correctly spelt.

      viii. Synonym / Antonym: 6 Qs.

      ix. Common Error / Sentence Error: 20 Qs.
      Finding error in the part of a sentence.

      x. Cloze Test / Fill in the blanks from paragraph: 25-30 questions
      Fill the blanks in a passage or sentence, involves knowledge of Grammar / vocabulary based questions.
      Important topics for questions: Verbs, Tense, conjunctions, prepositions

      The standard of the questions in English will be of 10+2 level). SSC may increase / decrease no. of questions asked from any topic.

      Tier 2 Paper-3 :

      This paper is only for Statistical Investigator or Junior Statistical Officer post. There are 100 questions in this paper carrying 200 marks. 2 marks are assigned to each question while wrong answer gets -0.50 mark. The questions are of graduation level.
      Statistics for Investigator Grade-II, Ministry of Statistics & Programme
      Implementation & Compiler in RGI.
      Collection Classification and Presentation of Statistical Data – Primary and Secondary data, Methods of data collection; Tabulation of data; Graphs and charts; Frequency distributions; Diagrammatic presentation of frequency distributions.
      Measures of Central Tendency- Common measures of central tendency – mean
      median and mode; Partition values- quartiles, deciles, percentiles.
      Measures of Dispersion- Common measures dispersion – range, quartile
      deviations, mean deviation and standard deviation; Measures of relative dispersion.
      Moments, Skewness and Kurtosis – Different types of moments and their
      relationship; meaning of skewness and kurtosis; different measures of skewness
      and kurtosis.
      Correlation and Regression – Scatter diagram; simple correlation coefficient;
      simple regression lines; Spearman’s rank correlation; Measures of association of
      attributes; Multiple regression; Multiple and partial correlation (For three variables
      only).
      Probability Theory – Meaning of probability; Different definitions of probability;
      Conditional probability; Compound probability; Independent events; Bayes’
      theorem.
      Random Variable and Probability Distributions – Random variable; Probability
      functions; Expectation and Variance of a random variable; Higher moments of a
      random variable; Binomial , Poisson, Normal and Exponential distributions; Joint
      distribution of two random variable (discrete).
      Sampling Theory – Concept of population and sample; Parameter and statistic,
      Sampling and non-sampling errors; Probability and non-probability sampling
      techniques(simple random sampling, stratified sampling, multistage sampling,
      multiphase sampling, cluster sampling, systematic sampling, purposive sampling,
      convenience sampling and quota sampling); Sampling distribution(statement only);
      Sample size decisions.
      Statistical Inference - Point estimation and interval estimation, Properties of a
      good estimator, Methods of estimation (Moments method, Maximum likelihood method, Least squares method), Testing of hypothesis, Basic concept of testing,
      Small sample and large sample tests, Tests based on Z, t, Chi-square and F
      statistic, Confidence intervals.
      Analysis of Variance - Analysis of one-way classified data and two-way
      classified data.
      Time Series Analysis - Components of time series, Determinations of trend
      component by different methods, Measurement of seasonal variation by different
      methods.
      Index Numbers - Meaning of Index Numbers, Problems in the construction of
      index numbers, Types of index number, Different formulae, Base shifting and
      splicing of index numbers, Cost of living Index Numbers, Uses of Index Numbers.

      Tier 2 Paper IV Syllabus:

      General Studies (Finance and Economics) for the post of Assistant Audit Officer in Indian Audit & Accounts Department under CAG.

      Part A: Finance and Accounts-(80 marks)
      1. Fundamental principles and basic concept of Accounting.
      Financial Accounting: Nature and scope, Limitations of Financial Accounting, Basic
      concepts and Conventions, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
      Basic concepts of accounting: Single and double entry, Books of original Entry,
      Bank Reconciliation, Journal, ledgers, Trial Balance, Rectification of Errors,
      Manufacturing, Trading, Profit & loss Appropriation Accounts, Balance Sheet
      Distinction between Capital and Revenue Expenditure, Depreciation Accounting,
      Valuation of Inventories, Non-profit organisations Accounts, Receipts and Payments
      and Income & Expenditure Accounts, Bills of Exchange, Self Balancing Ledgers.

      Part B: Economics and Governance-(120 marks)
      2. Comptroller & Auditor General of India- Constitutional provisions, Role and
      responsibility
      3. Finance Commission-Role and functions
      4. Basic Concept of Economics and introduction to Micro Economics
      Definition, scope and nature of Economics, Methods of economic study and Central
      problems of an economy and Production possibilities curve
      5. Theory of Demand and Supply
      Meaning and determinants of demand, Law of demand and Elasticity of demand,
      Price, income and cross elasticity; Theory of consumer’s behaviour-Marshallian
      approach and Indifference curve approach, Meaning and determinants of supply,
      Law of supply and Elasticity of Supply.
      6. Theory of Production and cost
      Meaning and Factors of production; Laws of production- Law of variable proportions and Laws of returns to scale.
      7. Forms of Market and price determination in different markets
      Various forms of markets-Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition
      and Oligopoly ad Price determination in these markets
      8. Indian Economy
      Nature of the Indian Economy Role of different sectors-Role of Agriculture, Industry
      and Services-their problems and growth;
      National Income of India-Concepts of national income, Different methods of
      measuring national income
      Population-Its size, rate of growth and its implication on economic growth
      Poverty and unemployment- Absolute and relative poverty, types, causes and
      incidence of unemployment
      Infrastructure-Energy, Transportation, Communication
      9. Economic Reforms in India
      Economic reforms sice 1991; Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation and
      Disinvestment
      10. Money and Banking
      Monetary/ Fiscal policy- Role and functions of Reserve Bank of India; functions of
      commercial Banks/RRB/Payment Banks
      Budget and Fiscal deficits and Balance of payments
      Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003
      11. Role of Information Technology in Governance.

      IMPORTANT NOTE: The questions in Paper 1 of exam will be of 10th class level, Paper-II of 10+2 level and Paper-III of graduation level.
      Check SSC CGL Exam Analysis Tier 2 to know how much questions had been asked from various topics.
      The marks obtained by the candidates in Tier I & Tier II, together, would determine the eligibility of the candidates to appear in Tier III & Tier IV.

      Tier III: Descriptive Type Paper Pattern

      Tier III will be a descriptive type Pen and Paper mode examination. The Descriptive Paper will be in English/Hindi (writing of Essay/Precis/Letter /Application Writing etc. It will be of Total 100 marks and 60 minutes time is given  for it (For VH and candidates suffering from Cerebral Palsy: 80 Minutes).
      This test has been introduced to assess the writing skills of the candidates which is necessary in Government jobs. It would comprise writing of an Essay / Passage of 250 words and Letter / Application Writing of approximately 150 words. The qualifying marks in Tier-III would be 33 per cent. This will have to be written either in Hindi or in English. Part paper written in Hindi and Part in English will not be evaluated. The questions would be of 10+2 standard.

      Tier IV: CPT / DEST Syllabus / Pattern

      Skill Test is conducted for tax assistant posts in Central Excise & Income Tax. CPT is conducted for Assistants in CSS.
      Data Entry Speed Test (DEST): speed of data entry must be 8,000 Key Depression/hr. on Computer.
      Data Entry Speed Skill Test at 2000 key depressions in 15 min will be tested and candidates will have to qualify it as it will be of qualifying nature.
      All candidates have to appear for document verification. Candidates have to submit their documents at this time.

      Tips to Qualify SSC CGL Exam :


      1. Do maximum no. of questions but only do those you know well.
      2. Always do those question first which you see easy to you.
      3. Don't be in a hurry when solving the paper.
      4. Use all the shortcuts / concepts you know to solve the paper as quickly as you can. The more questions you solve correctly, the more are the chances of you getting the test qualified.
      5. Always do the easy section first and then move on to the tougher one.
      6. If a question is found tough, leave it and move on to other question. Dont't stuck on a question.
      7. Keep yourself updated with time.
      8. Don't do those question in which you seems confused as there is negative marking.
      Official Website: ssc.nic.in
      The candidates can join a coaching center for better preparation. That will help them in easily clearing the exam with better marks. Familiarity of Exam Pattern and knowledge of Syllabus is needed if you want to prepare well.
      It is very important for every candidate to have the syllabus of the exam for better preparation.