If you are searching for the SSC CGL exam pattern, you are really asking one practical question: what will be in front of me on exam day, and how much time will I get for it? Tier-1 is a 100-question, 200-mark paper split into four equal sections of 25 questions each, and the recent notifications have locked each section into its own 15-minute window, which changes how you plan every attempt. Tier-2 is a different animal altogether - bigger modules, three marks a question, a heavier penalty for a wrong answer, and it is the stage that actually decides your merit. This page lays out both, section by section, with no invented numbers and a clear note wherever you must check the notification for your own cycle.
Tier-1 carries 100 questions for 200 marks in 60 minutes - two marks for a correct answer and 0.50 deducted for a wrong one. Recent notifications have introduced a 15-minute lock on each of the four sections, so the section closes on its own and you cannot borrow time from one section for another; confirm this in the notice for the cycle you are appearing in. Tier-2 Paper-I is 150 multiple-choice questions for 450 marks, carried across Session-I (Section-I in one hour, Section-II in one hour, the Computer Knowledge module in 15 minutes) and Session-II (the Data Entry Speed Test). Each Tier-2 Paper-I MCQ carries 3 marks with 1 mark deducted for a wrong answer. Paper-II (Statistics, for Junior Statistical Officer) and Paper-III (General Studies - Finance and Economics, for Assistant Audit Officer and Assistant Accounts Officer) each carry 100 questions for 200 marks with 0.50 deducted per wrong answer, and are written only by candidates who opted for those posts. Tier-1 is qualifying for Tier-2; the final merit is built from Tier-2. Exam dates, shift timings and vacancy figures change every cycle - take those only from the official notification on ssc.gov.in.
SSCIntel's free full mock is 100 questions in four sections of 25, marked +2 and -0.5, exactly as the pattern above describes. It is not a generic quiz padded to look like CGL - the section order, the count and the marking all match, so your score on it means something.
Knowing the sectional timer exists and surviving it are two different things. Every mock runs with a 15-minute lock per section, so you learn where your own overflow happens - usually Quant - before it costs you real marks in an exam hall you cannot rewind.
The bank holds about 31,000 questions, of which roughly 29,000 are genuine previous-year SSC questions carrying the Commission's own answer keys across CGL, CHSL, MTS and other papers. Practising the pattern with real questions tells you how SSC actually phrases a topic, which no pattern table can.
After a mock, the AI sorts every mistake into conceptual, calculation, careless or time-pressure, builds a seven-day plan from those mistakes, and estimates your All-India rank against real 2020-24 cut-off data. That turns a pattern you have read about into a diagnosis of your own attempt.
Tier-1 has 100 objective questions carrying 200 marks, to be finished in 60 minutes. The paper is split into four sections of 25 questions each: General Intelligence and Reasoning, General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude and English Comprehension. Every question carries two marks. Candidates eligible for the scribe or compensatory time provision get extra time as stated in the notification.
Yes - recent SSC notifications have moved Tier-1 to a sectional timer of 15 minutes per section. When those 15 minutes end, the section closes and you are taken to the next one, and you cannot return to it or carry the leftover time forward. This is a real change in strategy: leaving eight questions in General Awareness to 'come back later' no longer works. Always re-read the timing clause in the notification for your own cycle, since SSC states the scheme afresh each time.
No. Under the pattern in force since the 2022 cycle, Tier-1 is qualifying in nature - it decides who moves on to Tier-2, but the marks themselves are not carried into the final merit. The merit list is prepared from Tier-2. That does not make Tier-1 easy or optional; the cut-off to cross it is competitive, and it is computed on normalised marks because the exam runs across many shifts.
Paper-I has three sections made up of modules. Section-I holds Mathematical Abilities (30 questions) and Reasoning and General Intelligence (30 questions) in one hour. Section-II holds English Language and Comprehension (45 questions) and General Awareness (25 questions) in one hour. Section-III holds the Computer Knowledge Test (20 questions, 15 minutes) in Session-I and the Data Entry Speed Test in Session-II. Each MCQ carries three marks with one mark deducted for a wrong answer, taking Paper-I to 150 questions for 450 marks.
Paper-II is a Statistics paper, written only by candidates who applied for the Junior Statistical Officer post. Paper-III covers General Studies with a Finance and Economics focus, and is written only by candidates who applied for Assistant Audit Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer. Each has 100 questions for 200 marks with 0.50 deducted per wrong answer. If you did not opt for these posts in your application, Paper-I is the whole of your Tier-2.
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