The Staff Selection Commission (Combined Higher Secondary Level) Exam, conducted on November 1, 2015, saw certain changes as compared to the previous year's papers, especially in the English section. Overall, the difficulty level of the paper ranged from easy to moderate but it was slightly easier than last year's paper. The morning slot saw indefinite number of sets with 1 unique question paper. All sections, except English Language, were available bilingually, that is, in both English and Hindi. Each question was followed by 4 options. There was a negative marking of 0.25 marks for each incorrect answer.
The pattern of the paper was as given below:
| Section | Total Questions |
Level of difficulty |
Good Attempts |
Approximate time taken (in minutes) |
General Intelligence |
50 |
Easy-Moderate |
38-40 |
35 |
English Language |
50 |
Moderate |
32-35 |
25 |
Quantitative Aptitude |
50 |
Easy-Moderate |
30-32 |
45 |
General Awareness |
50 |
Easy-Moderate |
25-30 |
15 |
Total |
200 |
|
125-140 |
120 |
A score of about 120 can be considered a good score.
Expected Cutoffs (Out of 200 marks)
For Typing Test for LDC
| UR (General) | OBC |
SC |
ST |
108-112 |
98-102 |
92-95 |
88-92 |
For Skill Test for Data Entry Operator
| UR (General) | OBC |
SC |
ST |
115-118 |
105-110 |
-104 |
90-95 |
General Intelligence
The section primarily saw questions of easy level. This year, the section saw additional questions on ranking arrangement, dictionary arrangement and, cube and dice, which were not present last year. Last year, the section had a few questions from Blood Relations and Calendars, which were missing this year.
| Topic | Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
Odd one out |
9 |
Easy |
Series |
6 |
Moderate |
Directions |
2 |
Easy |
Visual Reasoning |
4 |
Easy |
Verbal Reasoning |
2 |
Moderate |
Analogy |
10 |
Easy-Moderate |
Puzzles |
4 |
Easy |
Word Matrix |
1 |
Easy |
Dictionary arrangement |
3 |
Easy |
Venn Diagram |
1 |
Easy |
Cubes and Dice |
1 |
Easy |
Word formation |
2 |
Easy |
Ranking arrangement |
1 |
Easy |
Coding decoding |
2 |
Easy |
Maths based questions |
2 |
Easy |
English Language
There was a significant change in the English section this year, as compared to last year's paper. The first change was that this year's paper also included questions on Active/Passive, Direct/Indirect, Sentence Jumble and FIB, which were not present last year. Another change was in this year's ten blank Cloze Test. The surprise element was that questions were not in the same order as the blank numbers which increased the difficulty level of the cloze test, slightly.
The details of the section are as follows:
| Topic | Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Antonyms |
4 |
Moderate |
Synonyms |
4 |
Moderate |
Cloze Test |
10 |
Easy-Moderate |
Spellings |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
One word Substitution |
4 |
Moderate |
Sentence Correction |
4 |
Moderate |
Error Spotting |
4 |
Moderate |
Idioms/Phrases |
4 |
Moderate |
Direct/Indirect |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
Active/Passive |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
Sentence Jumble |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
FIB |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Quantitative Aptitude
This section comprised questions from a variety of areas. A major part of the section was based on Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry and Data Interpretation. The paper also had questions from Ratio, Profit & Loss, Averages, Time-Speed-Distance, Time & Work and Percentages. A major difference in the section this year was that this year's paper did not see any question in Series while there were upto 3 questions in the last year's paper. Also, the section was easy last year, except for a few questions in Geometry while this year saw a few moderate questions in Trigonometry as well. In Time, Speed & Distance, both the questions were based on boats and stream.
The details of the section are as follows:
| Topic | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
Number System |
5 |
Easy |
Percentage |
1 |
Easy |
Profit, Loss & Discount |
2 |
Easy |
SI & CI |
2 |
Easy |
Ratio/Mixture/Alligation |
2 |
Easy |
Time, Speed & Distance |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
Time & Work |
2 |
Easy |
Average |
3 |
Easy |
Algebra |
7 |
Easy-Moderate |
Geometry |
6 |
Easy-Moderate |
Mensuration |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Trigonometry |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
DI (Bar Graph) |
4 |
Easy |
DI (Pie Chart ) |
5 |
Easy |
General Awareness
The overall difficulty level of this section was easy to moderate. The section could be attempted well - without much difficulty. Questions were asked in a direct manner and many of them were memory based! History did not see any questions from Modern history and National movement. A good amount of questions were asked from Miscellaneous section and the largest topic comprised Science. In Ecology/Environment, contemporary questions were asked. Geography did not see any questions from Indian Geography.
The details of the section are as given below:
| Topic | Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
History |
|
|
Ancient History |
1 |
Easy |
Medieval History |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Geography (Applied) |
1 |
Moderate |
Polity |
4 |
Easy |
Economy |
|
|
Static |
4 |
Easy |
Contemporary |
1 |
Easy |
Science |
|
|
Physics |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
Chemistry |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Biology |
6 |
Easy |
Computers |
2 |
Moderate |
Traditional GK |
8 |
Moderate |
Ecology/Environment |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
Books and Authors |
1 |
Easy |
Persons and Places |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Days |
2 |
Easy |
Current Affairs |
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
