SSC CPO (SI & ASI) 2016 Exam Analysis 20 Mar, 2016 - Morning Shift



The pattern of the Staff Selection Commission CPO (SI & ASI) Examination conducted on March 20, 2016 was similar to the one conducted last year though the difficulty level of the paper has increased marginally. The morning slot (10:00 a.m. to 12 noon) had a single unique question paper with multiple sets. Overall, the paper was on the same pattern as last year.

The pattern of the test was as follows:

Section

Total Questions

Level of difficulty

Good Attempts

Good
Score

Approximate time taken
(in Minutes)

General Intelligence and Reasoning

50

Easy-Moderate

40-42

35-38

35

GK and General Awareness

50

Difficult

20-25

15-17

20

Quantitative Aptitude

50

Moderate

30-32

28-30

40

English Comprehension

50

Easy

35-36

32- 35

25

Total

200

 

125-135

110-120

120

Expected Cut-offs (Out of 200)

UR (General)

OBC

SC

ST

Male

86-90

72-76

66-70

64-67

Female

81-85

68-72

60-64

58-64

General Intelligence and Reasoning

In this section, questions were from an array of topics and most of them had an easy to moderate level of difficulty. One question of Statement Conclusion (Quant based) was completely new. A student could have easily attempted approximately 35 questions in this section.

The details of the section are as given below-

Topic

Number of questions

Level of difficulty

Analogy

6

Easy-Moderate

Blood relation

1

Easy

Coding-decoding

2

Easy

Cubes

1

Easy

Dice

1

Easy

Directions

2

Easy

Matrix based

2

Easy

Meaningful order

1

Easy

Missing number

4

Moderate-difficult

Odd one out

6

Moderate-difficult

Series

5

Easy

Statement-conclusion

1

Easy

Statement-conclusion (Quant Based)

1

Moderate

Venn diagram

3

Easy-Moderate

Visual Reasoning

8

Moderate

Word formation

2

Easy

Age

1

Easy

Comparison

1

Easy

Puzzles

2

Moderate-difficult

GK and General Awareness

This section was difficult and was definitely NOT on expected lines. As usual, maximum questions were from Science section (17 in all), which were of high level of difficulty. Polity, Economics and Current Affairs were quantitatively second in number, having 8 questions. History was third with 7 questions. Rest of the sections were as usual in nature. Overall, the paper was on a higher level of difficulty having some very tricky questions especially in Science and Economics section. A score in the range of 15 to 20 should be treated as ‘Good’, in this section.

The split-up of questions, section wise, is as follows:

Topic

Number of Questions

Level of Difficulty

History

7

Easy

Geography

1

Moderate-Difficult

Polity

8

Easy-Moderate

Economics

8

Easy-Moderate

Biology

6

Difficult

Chemistry

5

Difficult

Physics

4

Difficult

Computer

2

Moderate-Difficult

Books & Authors

1

Difficult

Current Affairs

8

Easy

Quantitative Aptitude

There were almost equal number of questions from Arithmetic, Algebra, Number System, Geometry and Data Interpretation. Most of the questions were of easy-moderate difficulty level. However, a few questions from Geometry and Algebra can be termed as difficult. There were few questions which were time consuming and required some rigorous calculation but could have been easily solved had they been worked out through options. A student could have easily attempted approximately 30-32 questions in this section.

The details of the section are as given below-

Topic

Number of Questions

Level of Difficulty

Number System

1

Easy

Percentages

2

Easy

SI/CI

2

Easy

Profit, Loss and Discount

4

Easy-Moderate

Ratio and Proportion

1

Easy

Averages

2

Easy

Mixture & Alligation

1

Moderate

Work & Time, Pipes & Cisterns

2

Easy-Moderate

Time, Speed and Distance

2

Moderate

Algebra

9

Moderate

Geometry - Triangles

2

Easy-Moderate

Geometry - Circles

3

Moderate

Geometry - Quadrilaterals

1

Difficult

Mensuration

4

Easy-Moderate

Trigonometry

4

Moderate

Heights & Distances

1

Easy-Moderate

Data Interpretation - Table

5

Easy-Moderate

Data Interpretation - Bar Graph

4

Easy

English Comprehension

A majority of the questions in this section can be categorised under Vocabulary and Grammar. In Vocabulary, there were questions on Antonyms, Synonyms and One word Substitution. In Grammar, there were questions on Sentence Improvement, Spot the Error and Fill in the Blanks. There were 2 Reading Comprehension Passages with 5 questions each. A student could have easily attempted 35-36 questions in this section.

The details of the section are as given below-

Topic

Number of Questions

Level of Difficulty

Spelling

5

Easy

Reading Comprehension

10

Easy

Sentence Improvement

5

Easy

Spot the error

5

Easy-Moderate

Synonyms and Antonyms

10

Easy

1 word substitution

5

Easy

Idiom/Phrase

5

Easy-Moderate

Fill in the blanks

5

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