The last month before SSC CGL

With thirty days to go, most SSC CGL aspirants feel the same pressure. There are topics they never finished, a stack of mocks they meant to take and a GA notebook that seems to grow every day. The instinct is to cover more. That instinct is usually wrong.

A month is not enough to build a new topic to exam standard. It is enough to make what you already know faster, more accurate and reliable under a timer. In a paper with negative marking and sectional timing, that is where the marks are. This guide gives you a four-week plan for Tier 1, the changes to make for Tier 2, and checklists for the last two days.

What to stop now

• Starting new books, courses or topics. If you haven't touched a chapter by now, drop it or learn only its two or three most common question types.
• Collecting new GA PDFs. Revise the notes you already have.
• Studying past midnight. Sleep is when revision sets in memory, and the exam is at a fixed time of day.
• Comparing mock scores online. Different series have different difficulty. Your own trend is the only number that matters.

How the month fits together

That is about nine or ten full mocks in the month. More than that and you stop having time to analyse them.

Week 1: revision cycle one

Take two full mocks with sectional timers. Treat them as a baseline, not a verdict. If you don't have a formula sheet yet, make one this week. Our quant formula sheet is a starting point, but your own version sticks better.

Week 2: mocks and fixes

• Take three full mocks, each at the time of day your exam is likely to be held.
• On the other days, work on the three topics that appear most often in your error log, and nothing else new.
• Keep vocabulary and GA revision going every day, even if only for 30 minutes.

How to analyse a mock in 30 minutes

You don't need three hours per mock at this stage. Use a short routine:

1. Sort every wrong answer into one of four types: concept gap, calculation slip, misread question, or bad guess.
2. Re-solve the slips and misreads without a timer. If you get them right, the problem is speed or attention, not knowledge.
3. For concept gaps, note the topic in your error log and do ten questions on it the next day.
4. Check skipped questions you could have solved. These are marks you left on the table.
5. Write one line about what to do differently in the next mock.

Worked example. Suppose a Tier 1 mock gives you these results in quant: 22 attempted, 17 right, 5 wrong. Your section score is 17 × 2 − 5 × 0.5 = 34 − 2.5 = 31.5 out of 50. On review, 3 of the 5 wrong answers were calculation slips in questions you knew how to solve. Had you caught those three, you would have scored 20 × 2 − 2 × 0.5 = 40 − 1 = 39. That is 7.5 marks from checking, not from learning anything new. This is what week 2 is for.

Week 3: revision cycle two

• Revise the formula sheet, vocabulary and GA again, this time faster, testing yourself instead of re-reading.
• Take three full mocks.
• Aim for speed in your strongest section and accuracy in your weakest. In the weak one, attempt fewer questions but get them right.
• Settle your section plan: in round one, answer everything you can solve quickly; in round two, return to marked questions. Decide now how long round one should take, so you are not deciding on the day.

Week 4: taper

• Take one or two mocks in the first half of the week, then stop.
• Revise only short material: formula sheet, error log, vocabulary, GA one-liners.
• Go to bed and wake up at exam-day times for the whole week.
• In the last two days, do light revision only: an hour or two, then rest.

Changes for Tier 2

The final month before Tier 2 looks similar but with different weights. Paper I has 390 scored marks (Maths 90, Reasoning 90, English 135, GA 75), and each wrong answer costs a full mark. Two qualifying modules, Computer Knowledge and DEST, also have to be cleared.

• Put accuracy first. With +3 and −1, a blind guess gains nothing on average. Guess only after ruling out at least one option.
• Give English and maths the largest share of time. Together they carry 225 of the 390 marks.
• Use Tier 2-level mocks. Tier 1 mocks are easier and will give you false confidence.
• Revise Computer Knowledge daily in the last two weeks: basics, MS Office shortcuts, internet and security.
• Type for 20 minutes a day for DEST. You need 2,000 key depressions in 15 minutes, about 27 words a minute of accurate typing. See our DEST guide.

Health

• Sleep seven to eight hours, at the same times each night.
• Eat simple, regular meals. Avoid heavy or unfamiliar food the day before and on exam day.
• A 30-minute walk each day clears your head better than another hour at the desk.
• If anxiety becomes overwhelming, talk to someone you trust. If it lasts, seek professional help. That is sensible, not weak.

The night before

• Admit card printed; original valid photo ID ready
• Photographs or other items the admit card asks for
• Centre location, travel time and reporting time checked, with a buffer for traffic
• Clothes ready; nothing prohibited in your bag
• An hour of light revision at most; asleep on time

Exam day

1. Reach early. Security checks and biometric verification take time, and late entry is not allowed after the gate closes.
2. Read the on-screen instructions, especially on sectional timing and how to move between questions.
3. Use your two-round plan in every section.
4. Don't guess blindly in Tier 2. In Tier 1, guess only when you have narrowed the options.
5. Let each section go once it closes. The next one is a fresh start.
6. Afterwards, don't calculate your score all evening. Rest, then check the answer key when it comes out. If Tier 1 went reasonably, start Tier 2 work within a day or two. Our Tier 1 strategy guide covers the section-by-section approach.

Quick self-test

1. A candidate attempts 80 Tier 1 questions and gets 68 right. What is the raw score? Answer: 68 × 2 = 136; 12 wrong × 0.5 = 6; score 130 out of 200.
2. In Tier 2 Paper I, a candidate attempts 110 questions and gets 96 right. What is the score? Answer: 96 × 3 = 288; 14 wrong × 1 = 14; score 274 out of 390.
3. How many full mocks does the plan suggest across the month? Answer: about nine or ten, with none in the final few days.

Your next step

Take a calendar for the next 30 days today. Mark your mock days, the two revision cycles and the date you stop taking mocks. Then set your alarm for exam-day time starting tomorrow.