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Quantitative Aptitude for SSC CGL

Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mensuration, trigonometry, data interpretation and statistics. It is 25 questions in Tier 1 and the 90-mark Mathematical Abilities module in Tier 2, where each wrong answer costs a full mark, so accuracy matters as much as speed.

9 guides·Conducted by Staff Selection CommissionOfficial website

Study in this order

  1. 1Quantitative aptitude for SSC CGL: strategy and weightageQuantitative aptitude is where SSC CGL ranks are most often won and lost. It carries 50 marks in Tier 1 and 90 in Tier 2, and it is the section that most rewards systematic preparation. Which topics carry the marks, the order to study them in, how to build speed without losing accuracy, and how to recover if maths has always been your weak point. 3 min read
  2. 2Number system for SSC CGLNumber system questions in SSC CGL look like puzzles — the unit digit of 7^95, the remainder when a huge number is divided by 9, the largest number that divides three numbers leaving the same remainder — but each is built on a small set of rules. Divisibility, HCF and LCM, remainders, unit digits and factors, explained with worked examples and the shortcuts that make them fast. 4 min read
  3. 3Simplification, surds and indices for SSC CGLSimplification questions look easy and are often answered wrong — a misplaced bracket, a forgotten rule of indices, or a calculation that takes three minutes when it should take thirty seconds. The BODMAS order, laws of indices, surds and rationalisation, recurring decimals and approximation, with worked examples and the habits that make these questions reliable marks. 3 min read
  4. 4Percentages for SSC CGLPercentage is the single most important arithmetic topic in SSC CGL. It appears directly, and it sits underneath profit and loss, discount, interest, population growth and every data interpretation set. Master the multiplier method, successive changes, the "percentage more or less" trap and fraction equivalents, and a whole family of questions becomes fast and safe. Worked examples and practice with answers. 3 min read
  5. 5Profit, loss and discount for SSC CGLProfit and loss questions in SSC CGL follow a few recurring stories — a shopkeeper who marks up and then gives a discount, a dishonest trader with false weights, two articles sold at the same price, one at a profit and one at a loss. Each story has a clean method. Cost price, selling price and marked price, successive discounts, false weights and the classic traps, with worked examples and answers. 3 min read
  6. 6Ratio, proportion and partnership for SSC CGLRatios are the quiet workhorse of SSC maths. They appear in their own questions — dividing money, combining ratios, finding the fourth proportional — and they power partnership, mixtures, ages, speed and work problems. How to think in "parts", combine and compare ratios, handle proportions, and solve partnership questions quickly, with worked examples and answers. 4 min read
  7. 7Averages, mixtures and alligation for SSC CGLWhen a new player joins a team and the average age changes by half a year, or a milkman mixes water into milk and still makes a profit, SSC CGL is testing the same idea — averages and weighted averages. Learn the "deviation" method for averages and the alligation cross for mixtures, and these questions drop from two minutes to thirty seconds. Worked examples and answers. 4 min read
  8. 8Simple and compound interest for SSC CGLInterest questions in SSC CGL come in a few standard shapes — find the interest, find the rate, compare simple and compound interest, compute half-yearly compounding, or work out instalments. The formulas are short; the skill lies in using percentage multipliers and the difference formulas so you never need to expand long powers. Worked examples and answers. 3 min read
  9. 9Time and work, pipes and cisterns for SSC CGL"A can do a job in 12 days and B in 18 days" — the opening line of countless SSC questions. The fastest way to solve them is the LCM method: treat the whole job as a number of units, find each person's daily output, and the rest is simple arithmetic. Time and work, work with efficiency, wages, alternate days, and pipes and cisterns — all with worked examples and answers. 4 min read

New Quantitative Aptitude guides are added regularly. Back to all SSC CGL guides