A four-month SSC CHSL plan

Four months is enough to prepare seriously for SSC CHSL Tier 1, but only if the time is used in the right order. The most common way to waste it is to spend the first two months on the subject you enjoy, discover in month three that another subject is far behind, and panic. This plan keeps all four subjects moving every week, brings mocks in at the right time, and runs typing in the background from day one so the skill test never becomes a last-minute crisis.

It assumes about 5 to 5.5 hours of study a day, six days a week, with a lighter seventh day. That is roughly 550–600 hours over four months. If you have less time, see the section on adjusting the plan.

The four months at a glance

A daily timetable

That is about 5 to 5.25 hours. Put maths in the morning because it needs the most concentration. Put GA and vocabulary in the evening because short, repeated review works well when you are tired.

Month 1: foundations

The goal is not speed. It is method: knowing how to solve each basic type.

• Maths: number system, simplification, percentage, ratio and proportion, average. Solve 30–40 questions a day, untimed.
• English: parts of speech, tenses, subject–verb agreement, articles and prepositions. Learn 10 new words a day with one example sentence each.
• Reasoning: analogy, classification, number and letter series, coding–decoding.
• GA: history and polity basics from NCERT-level sources.
• Typing: 20 minutes a day on home-row drills, eyes off the keyboard.

Worked example of the level you want by week 4. The average of five numbers is 24. If one number is removed, the average becomes 22. Which number was removed? Total of five = 5 × 24 = 120. Total of four = 4 × 22 = 88. Removed number = 120 − 88 = 32. If this takes you more than a minute, stay on averages for another two days.

Month 2: full coverage

• Maths: profit, loss and discount, simple and compound interest, time and work, speed and distance, mixtures; then basic algebra, geometry, mensuration, trigonometry and DI.
• English: error spotting, sentence improvement, voice, narration, idioms, one-word substitutions, cloze.
• Reasoning: blood relations, directions, ranking, syllogism, Venn diagrams, non-verbal types, clocks and calendars.
• GA: geography, economy, physics, chemistry, biology, static GK.
• Typing: 25 minutes a day. Start timing yourself once a week.
• Mocks: one full Tier 1 mock at the end of each fortnight. The first will probably disappoint you. That is its purpose: it shows where you stand.

Month 3: mocks and weak areas

Now the plan changes shape. Mocks become the centre of the week, and new learning happens only where the mocks point.

• Keep an error log: every wrong or slow question, with the correct method in one line.
• Typing: 30 minutes a day. Aim to reach about 30 words per minute with few errors.
• Our guide to mock test analysis explains the hour after each mock.

Month 4: revision and readiness

• Three mocks a week for the first three weeks; two in the last week, the last one three or four days before the exam.
• Revise formula sheets, vocabulary cards, GA notes and the error log. No new books.
• Computer knowledge: 30 minutes a day on basics and MS Office, which you'll need for Tier 2.
• Typing: keep going. Tier 2 comes after Tier 1, and the skill test needs 35 words per minute in English or 30 in Hindi for LDC/JSA.
• Sleep at the time your exam shift would demand, and rest properly in the final two days.

Over the four months that is about 20 full mocks: 2 in month 2, 8 in month 3 and up to 11 in month 4. That is enough to learn your timing if every mock is analysed.

Measuring progress

A plan works only if you check it. At the end of each month, write down three numbers:

1. Your average mock score over the last two mocks.
2. Your accuracy in each section (correct ÷ attempted).
3. Your typing speed and error count.

A worked check. Suppose an aspirant's month-3 mocks show maths with 16 correct out of 20 attempted: 80% accuracy. English shows 20 of 22: about 91%. The plan says 85%+ in English and reasoning, which is met. Maths at 80% means wrong answers are costing marks. If the error log shows they are mostly careless slips, month 4 should add a daily 15-minute maths accuracy drill rather than new topics.

If you have less time, or fall behind

• Working or in college: stretch the plan to six or seven months, keeping the same order.
• Starting late (two to three months): merge months 1 and 2, start mocks in week 3, and focus on high-frequency topics: arithmetic, grammar, pattern reasoning and science GA.
• Fallen a week behind: cut depth, not coverage. Do the standard questions of every topic rather than every question of half the topics.

What to do next

• Find the Tier 1 date and count back four months. Mark the start of each phase.
• Write your daily timetable where you study.
• Book your mock days for months 2 to 4 in the calendar now.
• Start typing today, even for 15 minutes.
• Read the Tier 1 strategy before your first full mock.