Preparation strategies and Books to clear SSC CGL Exam Tier 1

There are lots of books in book stores for SSC. They all claim that after reading those books,you will clear the exam easily. I don’t know the veracity of their claim. But I want to tell that When I had started my preparation, I have no one to guide me about books and strategies. So, I bought almost every book. I have 4 to 5 math books of different publication. But after reading those books partly, I realized that which one is good book and which one is not upto the mark of SSC. And then I started my preparation from the best book.  Books may differ from person to person. May be “Jo book maine padha hai,dusra banda jiska selection hua hai,ho sakta hai ki wo ye book na padha hoga”. But I have started my preparation from zero level. So, I think that  the books which I am going to tell here  will be beneficial for all.

For Mathematics- Ankganit   by MAHESH MISHRA(Sumitra Publication)(New Edition)

[Don’t buy the tricky mathematics by MAHESH MISHRA because it is not possible to learn every trick. Conceptual clarity is necessary which u will find in Ankganit by MAHESH MISHRA.](This book comes in Hindi only. So this may be a problem for those who are not comfortable in hindi.)

Advanced Mathematics is also there in the above book. So this book is comprehensive.

[In Advance Math,Try to learn every concept and theorem first and then start solving questions.] Solve every previous question given at the end of chapter.


If one is not comfortable in Hindi then-

I will suggest to read Fast Track Objective Arithmetic(Arihant Publication)..Along with this book,you can read Quantum Cat by Sarvesh Kumar Verma .. Quantum Cat is very good book for strong concept.. Questions are given in three level i.e. Level 1,2 and 3.. But Ssc aspirants just have to solve Level 1 questions.. No need to solve Level 2 and 3.




FOR ENGLISH- SSC ENGLISH(MB BOOKS PUBLICATION) BY Ajay Kumar Singh


[This book is just awesome. The study material given in this book is very concise but it is best.] But yes,there are some errors in this book. But still this book is best.

Read everything from this book. There are about 110 sets(previously asked questions). Complete each and every set voraciously. That means that solve one or two sets every day from the book and then analyze it fully. For example,common error mai  answer and explanation ki help se dekho ki kaun sa part error tha ..reason kya tha uska.. Learn by rote every synonym and antonym asked in the sets. Also learn the Word Meaning given at the end of each set to improve your vocabulary and for SSC and try to use those words in your daily life so that those words will be in your mind forever. Ish book ka ek ek chiz padh dale…

Whatever I am saying ,It is my real experience.. So do try it..With the help of reading newspaper and with this book , I was able to score 170 marks out of 200 marks in English. So, believe me and go ahead.

If you are able to complete the above mentioned book fully then you can try ‘OBJECTIVE GENERAL ENGLISH’ by R.S. AGARWAL or GRAMMAR BY S.C. GUPTA or Objective General English by Sp Bakshi(any of these three) also. But first complete the above mentioned SSC ENGLISH BOOK.The most important thing to improve your English is to read english newspaper daily for 1 hour. Any English newspaper will do a lot. Initially Hindi medium student will not be able to understand the newspaper. But don’t lose your courage. Jo v samajh aata h,utna hi samjho.. But do read newspaper daily. Gradually you will see that you are able to understand English newspaper. Daily matlab har din padhna hai..Koi bahana nahi chalega.. Within 2-3 months of continuous study of newspaper, your English will improve a lot.. Reading newspaper will help you inCOMPREHENSION,CLOSE TEST,PARA JUMBLE,SENTENCE IMPROVEMENT ETC. I have seen people that 5-6 din newspaper padhe,kuch samajh nahi aaya to chhor dete h padhna.. Aishe nahi chalega.. Atleast 2 to 3 months chahiye.. So read newspaper daily specially for hindi medium students.



FOR REASONING-

This is the easiest section of SSC CGL. NO NEED TO BUY BOOK FOR REASONING. Just practice it from Kiran Sets. That’s it.. After practicing 20 to 30 sets, You can easily score 45 to 48 out of 50 in exam.


FOR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE- Lucent General Knowledge(available in Hindi and English both)

I was very dull in General Knowledge. When I had given SSC CGL 2013 Exam which was cancelled, I had got Minus 1 (-1) marks in GS section. So, You can imagine what my GS section would be at that time. Then one of my friends suggested to read Lucent. When I started lucent, I was learning everything by rote. That means mai pura ek ek chiz ratta mar raha tha.. Usse problem ye hua ki 1 se 2 page ratta marne mai mujhe 3 se 4 ghante (hours) lag jate the..thode din bad mai wo v bhul jata tha..then again my friend suggested me to Just read this book daily again and again..Usne bola “ratta mat mar.Kewal book ko har din padho.matlab ki agar mai aj 3 se 4 page padha to phir kal v ussi 3 se 4 page padhna hoga aur phir tisre din agla 4 se 5 page padhna hoga..phir one week bad sara ko repeat karna hoga.. (He said ,”don’t try to learn it by rote Just read the book again and again. Like if u r reading page no. 1 to 4 today,then revise this again next day,and after that next day read page no.5 to 8 and then again revise it next day and so on.. After one or two week,revise from page no.1). Actually whatever he said is on the basis of the research done by scientist which says that if one study like this,then whatever he read ,will be in mind for a long time. Then I did the same and I saw the improvement in me. This method worked very well and mujhe sara history ,civics etc. ish book se pura yaad ho gaya tha.. You will not believe but I want to share that I had scored -1 in GS section in 2013 CGL but due to this method, I scored 28 marks out of 50 in CGL in 2014. Now You can realize that I am not a unique guy. I am just a simple guy like you.. So,adopt this method and read this book. But you will have to study GS section every day..


If you have time, then you can also read NCERT BOOKS of Social Science and Science FROM CLASS 6  to Class 10. If you are able to complete these books then I want to tell You will surely get very good marks in GS Section. But If you have lack of time then Lucent General Knowledge will help you a lot. But NCERT books are best.

5.FOR PRACTICE SETS-

I have seen people vociferously saying “Mujhe paramount ki Practise sets dilwa do :P “ . I am not saying that Practice sets of Paramount is bad. It is a good set book. And their test series is also very good. But I want to tell that If you don’t have practice set of PARAMOUNT or You have not their test series, then It’s not a problem.  I and my friends have not practiced from Paramount.

   For Practicing Modal Questions, You can buy “SSC CGL PRACTICE SETS OF KIRAN PUBLICATION, DELHI” . It is also a very good set book. At the beginning of preparation, I used to think,”Practice sets se kya hoga”. But gradually I realized that this is the one thing which will ultimately take you near to your success in SSC. Because when you start solving questions sets, then your speed ,accuracy will improve. It will also help you better for preparing each section of the exam. But the method to solving sets is –

FIRST, complete the chapters of Mathematics and make your concept clear.Also, complete  self study sections(given at the beginning) of SSC ENGLISH BY MB BOOKS.Then start solving 1 practice set every day.After completing practice set, analyze it completely i.e. see the question in all the sections  which you were not able to solve or find difficulty in solving. Write them down in separate note book. Also see the general knowledge section and see the explanation and remember them. Also, see common error, antonym synonym, Idioms and phrases, close test etc in English section. In short, to get the benefit of solving practice sets, It is mandatory to analyze set completely.If you have one or two friend and they are sincere in studies then you can solve Modal sets with them. It will make solving practice set enjoyable. Because solving Modal questions alone sometimes makes bore. But if you don’t have good friends I mean If you have those friends who just want having fun in life without thinking about their career and family, then it’s better to practice modal sets alone. I hope everyone is getting my point.