SSC CGL Tier-I 2016 exam was flagged off on August 27, 2016. The exam is scheduled to be conducted in three time slots. For the first time, the Staff Selection commission (SSC) has introduced a Computer based Test (CBT) of 100 objective type questions to be answered in 75 minutes.
There are four sections, namely, General Intelligence & Reasoning, General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude and English Comprehension consisting of 25 questions each. All sections, except the English Comprehension section are available bilingual i.e. in both Hindi and English medium. Every correct answer will fetch 2 marks and 0.50 marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. No marks will be deducted for unanswered questions.
The pattern of the test was as follows:
| Section | Total Questions |
Total Marks |
Level of difficulty |
Good |
Approximate time taken |
General Intelligence and Reasoning |
25 |
50 |
Easy |
20-22 |
20 |
General Awareness |
25 |
50 |
Moderate |
13-15 |
10 |
Quantitative Aptitude |
25 |
50 |
Easy - Moderate |
19-21 |
30 |
English Comprehension |
25 |
50 |
Easy - Moderate |
18-20 |
15 |
Total |
100 |
200 |
Easy - Moderate |
70-78 |
75 |
Expected Tier I Cut-offs (Out of 200 Marks)
For All Posts
| UR (General) | OBC |
SC |
ST |
105-115 |
90-95 |
80-85 |
72-77 |
General Intelligence and Reasoning
The level of difficulty of this section was easy. There were questions both from verbal and non-verbal reasoning. The pattern was similar to the last year and options could be easily eliminated to arrive at the correct answer.
The break-down of the section is as follows
Topic |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
Analogy |
2 |
Moderate |
Blood relation |
1 |
Easy |
Coding-decoding |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Number of triangles |
1 |
Easy |
Directions |
1 |
Easy |
Matrix based |
1 |
Easy |
Meaningful order (Dictionary based) |
1 |
Easy |
Missing number |
1 |
Moderate |
Odd one out |
2 |
Moderate-difficult |
Number/Alphabet Series |
4 |
Easy |
Statement-conclusion |
1 |
Easy |
Venn diagram |
1 |
Moderate |
Visual Reasoning (Mirror Image, Embedded Figure, Paper Folding & Number of Squares) |
5 |
Moderate |
Word formation |
1 |
Easy |
General Awareness
The level of difficulty of this section was moderate. Overall, the paper was on the same pattern as last year. The paper was dominated by science and GK questions.
The breakup of this section is as follows-
| Topic | Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
History |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Geography |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Polity |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Science (Biology, Chemistry & Physics) |
7 |
Difficult |
Ecology/Environment |
2 |
Difficult |
Miscellaneous GK /Current Affairs |
6 |
Easy |
Quantitative Aptitude
The section comprised questions from a variety of topics. Unlike last year, this section was dominated by Arithmetic, Algebra, Trigonometry and DI (Pie-chart).
The details of the section are as given below
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Number System |
2 |
Easy |
Percentages |
1 |
Easy |
CI |
1 |
Easy |
Profit, Loss and Discount |
1 |
Easy |
Averages |
1 |
Easy |
Work & Time |
1 |
Easy-Moderate |
Time, Speed and Distance |
1 |
Easy |
Geometry/ Mensuration |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Trigonometry |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Algebra |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Data Interpretation (Pie-chart) |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
English Comprehension
Questions in this section were primarily based on Vocabulary and Grammar. There was 1 Reading Comprehension Passage with 5 questions. The passage was based on ‘Stone Age’. There were no questions on cloze test.
The details of the section are as given below
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Synonyms/Antonyms |
4 |
Easy |
One Word Substitution |
3 |
Easy |
Error Spotting |
3 |
Easy |
Sentence Improvement |
3 |
Easy |
Sentence Completion (Fill in the Blanks) |
3 |
Easy |
Idiom/Phrase Replacement |
3 |
Easy |
Reading Comprehension |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Spellings |
1 |
Easy |
Disclaimer: All information on cut-offs, analysis, answer key and scores are based on independent analysis and evaluation made by Career Launcher. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information
All the best!
Team CL