SSC Exam Preparation Strategy

By Ankit Kante

08/26/2024

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is an organization through which the Government of India hires people for various roles in its departments. This post will talk about strategies that can help you in preparing for the SSC exam.

Types of SSC exams

1. SSC CGL - Combined Graduate Level

2. SSC CPO - Central Police Organisation

3. SSC CHSL - Combined Higher Secondary Level

4. SSC MTS - Multitasking Staff

5. SSC GD - Constable, General Duty

6. SSC JHT - Junior Hindi Translator

7. SSC Stenographer

8. SSC JE - Junior Engineer

Which exams should I give?

It can be overwhelming to see so many exams. It is natural to be confused about which exam to apply for.

The answer to this confusion is: Apply for all the exams for which you are eligible. This is especially important if you are giving the exam for the first time. You need to identify your level of preparation. The best way to do that is to give all the exams and see which ones you are able to clear. 

There’s also the matter of financial stability. Students underestimate the mental clarity that a monthly salary can bring. It’s not necessary to target just one exam and go jobless while preparing for it. It is okay to clear one exam, get a job and keep trying for higher level exams later.

How will I prepare for each exam separately?

That’s the beauty of SSC: You don’t have to prepare for each exam separately. Instead of focusing on each exam, the focus needs to be on preparing for individual subjects.

The following subjects are common in the syllabus of all the SSC exams:

1. GK/GS

2. English

3. Maths

4. Reasoning

Your focus needs to be on covering the syllabus of these subjects. This way you will be able to prepare for a majority of the SSC exams.

Focus Areas

1. Covering the syllabus

This needs to be your first priority. Focus on building a consistent schedule that involves attending classes, self study and topic wise revisions at the end of the week. Make sure you study each subject daily. Leaving behind a subject and thinking you will visit it later is a bad strategy. You need to make sure you make progress on all subjects.

2. Make your own notes

A lot of students rely on coaching notes or external PDFs to study. But, it is important to understand that writing is a big part of learning a subject. Making notes with your own hands is a great way to retain information about a topic. It also makes it easier to revisit and revise a topic.

3. Revision

Revision needs to be done at 2 levels: Weekly Topics and Full Syllabus

• Weekly revision involves revisiting the notes and practicing questions of those topics that you have studied throughout the week. For example, you attended classes for Geometry on the weekdays. So, on weekends, you need to revisit your notes and then practice previous year questions of just Geometry. This gives you a certain level of confidence about the understanding of that topic.

• Full Syllabus revision is where you focus on topics that you have studied in the past weeks. Your handwritten notes play a big role here because you can just read them and quickly recap the topics.

4. Mock Tests

Tests are important to gauge your understanding of the topics you have studied. Here also, tests should be given at 2 levels: Topic Wise and Full Syllabus.

• Topic wise tests to a certain extent are covered in your weekly revision. If you do that regularly, you will be solving problems for each topic every week. You should evaluate the score you are getting for each topic and then analyze if any topic has a lower score and needs more attention.

• Full length tests give you an idea about your overall preparation and whether you are mentally prepared to sit for longer hours and solve problems. It is recommended not to start giving these tests until you have covered at least 70% of the syllabus.

Preparing for SSC can feel a daunting task at times. By focusing on covering the syllabus, periodic revisions and giving mock tests, you can increase your chances of clearing the exam.

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