How to Prepare for General Awareness in SSC CGL 2016

How to Prepare for General Awareness: The Staff Selection Commission conducts SSC CGL Combined Graduate Level Examination for the recruitment to different Central Civil Posts like Inspector, Divisional Accountant, Statistical Officer, Auditor, Tax Assistant etc. In our previous article, we covered the exam preparation strategy for Reasoning Ability for SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination 2016. 

Read: Preparation Tips for Reasoning Section of SSC CGL Tier 1

In this article, we will be guiding SSC CGL candidates on how to prepare for General Awareness Section in SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination. Let us understand the importance and sectional weightage of general awareness section first.

General Awareness Section in SSC CGL 2016

The SSC CGL Examination consists of following phases – Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 (where ever required). Mainly it consists of three Phases i.e. Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.

In Tier I, there will be 100 multiple choice questions (MCQs) to be asked from 4 sections i.e. English, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and General Awareness.

• Each section has 25 questions and each question carry 2 mark and 0.5 marks are deducted for every wrong answer. The total duration of Tier 1 exam is 75 minutes. Those who qualifies Tier 1 exam will appear for Tier 2 exam and similar will be applied for Tier 3.

For Tier II, there will be compulsory two papers viz., English and Quantitative aptitude.

• Quantitative aptitude consists of 100 multiple choice questions and each carry 2 marks. The duration of this exam will be 2 hours. In this exam 0.50 marks will be deducted as penalty for the wrong answer.
• English section also carries 200 multiple choice questions of 1 marks each. The duration of this exam is 2 hours. In this 0.25 marks will be deducted as penalty for the wrong answer.
• There will be two post specific papers i.e. Statistics (For Statistical Investigator and Compiler) and General Studies (For AAO) . These paper also carries 200 multiple choice questions of 1 marks each.

Tier III Examination will be a pen paper based Descriptive paper of Enlish/Hindi Language of 100 Marks to be answered within a duration of 60 minutes. This paper will consist of Essay/Precis/Application/Letter Writing.

The Tier IV exam can be Computer Proficiency Test/ Skill Test (wherever applicable)/ Document Verification.

Note: The Interview component has been dispensed with. There will, therefore, be no interview.

Even though the sectional weightage for General Awareness is same as others, you still need a good strategy in order to maximize final scores. 

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SSC CGL Mock Test Series Tier-I (New Pattern)

How to Prepare for General Awareness Section

For SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination, the General Awareness Section plays a very important role, mostly due to the fact that it is very scoring. For a well prepared SSC candidate, it will take less than 2 seconds to answer the questions in written examination.

But, the General Awareness Section which comes in SSC CGL is very different from those asked in Banking and Insurance Examination. In prominent Banking and Insurance Exams, General Awareness Section are more focussed on Current Affairs whereas, in the case of SSC CGL, more questions will be based on Static General Knowledge. 

In SSC CGL 2016, there will be 50 questions on 1 mark each and various topics can be from the following. 

1. Indian History
2. Indian Polity
3. Geography
4. Indian Economy
5. Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology)
6. Miscellaneous

There are almost 5-6 questions from each topic mentioned above except the miscellaneous section. Among all the topics, General Science is expected to have 10-15 questions, with Biology being central.  

History Questions in SSC CGL 2016

Understanding History Topics is very important for any examination, SSC CGL or not, as it is the backbone of every subject.

It is very rare that questions from World History have been asked, so there is no need to waste time on World History. Instead, concentrate on Indian History only.

Geography Questions in SSC CGL 2016

There are two parts of Geography from where the questions are asked, these are – Indian Geography and Physical Geography. For covering basics, NCERT Books of Class XI and XII will be sufficient. 

If you wish to cover more ground, we suggest you attempt a few mock tests and question banks to know the type of questions asked in SSC Tier 1 Exams.

Polity Questions in SSC CGL 2016

Again, Read NCERT Books of Class VIII to X for Polity, as it will cover most of the topics asked under the banner of Polity.

Laxmikanth can be referred for the preparation of polity questions as all the relevant topics are covered in this book.

Economy Questions in SSC CGL 2016

The economy also contains 2 parts – Indian Economy and Economics. Indian Economy is the study of Indian Economics system and Economics Further comprises of two topics which include: Macroeconomics and Microeconomics. There is a few ambiguous topic which one should only prepare from trusted sources. 

The Miscellaneous Section may contain various topics like Current affairs, Computer Knowledge, Technology, Books and Authors, Sports, Persons and Places in News, Abbreviations, etc.

Only a limited set of questions are asked on Current Affairs. So, try not to dedicate a major portion of your time for it. Are you able to make out how to prepare for General Awareness for SSC CGL 2016? If Yes, proceed to the final section of this article.

Step by Step SSC CGL GK Prep Guide

While you prepare for the upcoming SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination GK Section, here are a few important points to keep in mind.

• Read at least one newspaper daily, as it will help in both GK and English Sectional Preparation. 
• Solve the Previous Year’s Question Paper of SSC CGL as it helps one to know the type of questions asked and the difficulty level.
• Follow at least one site for Daily Updates on GK and Current affairs. Subscribe Now.
• Unlike UPSC Civil Services Exam, the questions asked in SSC CGL are a bit easy and direct. So, even with a rudimentary understanding of the basics, you can score good marks.
• From the analysis of previous years question paper, it has been observed that mostly questions are repeated as the same questions have been asked in different types. So in this case also solving previous years question paper would prove to be beneficial.
• Try to dedicate some time for revising what you’ve learnt. It is most important tip anyone can give.

We hope you are able to inculcate this exam preparation study on how to prepare for general awareness section for SSC CGL 2016. We will be adding more study plans in the days to come. Let us know if more information is needed in the comments section below.

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