Analysis of Paper I of SSC CGL 2024 Tier–2 Exam held on 18th January and 20th January 2025
The SSC CGL 2024 Tier II Exam was conducted on the 18th, 19th and 20th January 2025. Paper I was held on the 18th and 20th of Jan 2025. Overall, this examination was easy to moderate in terms of difficulty level, on both the days.
A snapshot of the exam pattern and duration of Paper I is given below:
Subject | No. of Qs | Max Marks | Duration |
Section I: | |||
Module I: Mathematical Abilities | 30 | 60 * 3 = 180 | 60 Minutes |
Module II: Reasoning & General Intelligence | 30 | ||
Section II: | |||
Module I: English Language & Comprehension | 45 | 70 * 3 = 210 | 60 Minutes |
Module II: General Awareness | 25 | ||
Section III: | |||
Module I: Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 * 3 = 60 | 15 Minutes |
150 Qs | 450 Marks | 135 Min |
A detailed analysis of the exam held on both days is presented below.
Section I:
Module I: Mathematical Abilities
This section can be rated as easy to moderate, for the exam held on both days. The combined analysis of exam held on both days is presented below.
About 5 to 6 new question types slightly different in terms of presentation from the patterns of previous years were asked in the exam.
There were no questions on Quadratic Equations, Progressions, and Data Interpretation.
About 3 to 5 questions each appeared from the topics - Ratios, Percentages-Profit and Loss, Plane Geometry, Mensuration, and Trigonometry. There were three questions on the topic of Algebra in each slot – this was less than the number of questions usually asked on this topic. There was one question on Probability and two questions from Statistics in each slot.
Questions from other topics, such as Simple and Compound Interest, Averages-Mixtures and Alligations, Time and Work, and Time, Speed, and Distance, which appear every year, found a place in this year’s papers too.
Level of Difficulty:
Easy: 14 to 16 Qs; Moderate: 13 to 15 Qs; Difficult: 1 Q
Students could, therefore, have solved around 23 to 25 questions if they chose judiciously.
The topic-wise break-up is as follows.
Topic | Exam held on 18.01.2025 | 2Exam held on 0.01.2025 |
Simple Equations | 2 | - |
Ratio | 2 | 4 |
Percentages | 2 | 2 |
Profit and Loss | 2 | 2 |
Simple Interest | 1 | 1 |
Time and Work | 1 | 1 |
Time, Speed, and Distance | 1 | 1 |
Averages | 1 | 1 |
Mixtures-Alligation | 1 | 1 |
Numbers | - | 2 |
Geometry | 2 | 2 |
Mensuration | 4 | 4 |
Algebraic Expressions | 2 | 2 |
Indices and Surds | 2 | 1 |
Trigonometry | 3 | 3 |
Probability | 1 | 1 |
Statistics | 2 | 2 |
Speed Maths | 1 | - |
Total | 30 | 30 |
Module II: Reasoning and General Intelligence
There were 30 questions from the Reasoning section and each question carried 3 marks. Questions were asked from a wide spread of topics, as can be seen from the table given below.
This section can be rated as easy to moderate for the exam held on both days. The combined analysis of the exams held on both days is presented below.
Non-Verbal Reasoning: These questions were from a variety of topics - Series, Analogies, Odd Man Out (OMO), Figure completion, Embedded figure, and Images. The questions on Odd Man Out (OMO) and Analogies were tricky, and the remaining questions were similar to those of SSC CGLE Tier1 exam models. These questions can be rated as easy to moderate
Critical Reasoning: Questions were asked from the topics of Strong and weak arguments / Courses of Action, Cause and Effect, and Inferences. These questions were moderate in terms of difficulty.
Data Sufficiency: There were two questions from Data Sufficiency (2 statements) which were moderate. Questions were asked from Comparisons, Coding-Decoding and Linear Arrangement, across both days. Refer to the table below for the exact topic wise split.
Analytical Puzzles: There were three questions on each of the days of the exam from the topics of Circular Arrangement, Linear Arrangement, Comparisons, Ranking and Distributions. Actual topic-wise spread of questions is given in the table below.
Questions were also asked from Symbols and Notations (Inequalities), Blood Relations, Coding-Decoding, Deductions (Syllogisms) and Logical Order. All these questions were easy to crack.
The other 7-8 questions were from topics of Meaningful words, Similar sets, Odd Man Out (Number and Verbal), Letter Analogy (new model), Number Series, and Number arrangement. These questions can be rated as easy.
The topic-wise break-up is as follows:
Topic Name | 18.01.2025 | 20.01.2025 |
Symbols and Notations (Inequalities) | 2 | 1 |
Coding-Decoding | 2 | 2 |
Blood Relations | 2 | 2 |
Data sufficiency (2 Statements) | 2 | 2 |
Deductions (Syllogisms) | 1 | 1 |
Logical Order | 2 | 2 |
Critical Reasoning: | ||
Inferences | 1 | 1 |
Courses of Action | - | 1 |
Cause and Effect | 1 | 1 |
Strong and Weak Arguments | 1 | - |
Analytical Puzzles: | ||
Linear Arrangement | 1 | - |
Circular Arrangement | 1 | 1 |
Distributions | 1 | - |
Comparisons | - | 1 |
Ranking | - | 1 |
Non-Verbal Reasoning: | ||
Series | 1 | 1 |
Analogies | 1 | 1 |
Odd Man Out (OMO) | 1 | 1 |
Figure Completion | 1 | 1 |
Embedded Figure | 1 | 1 |
Mirror Image | 1 | 2 |
Miscellaneous: | ||
Number Analogy | - | 1 |
Letter Analogy | 1 | 1 |
Number Odd Man Out | 1 | 1 |
Verbal Odd Man Out | 1 | 1 |
Number Series | 1 | 1 |
Number Arrangement | 1 | 1 |
Meaningful word | 1 | 1 |
Similar Set | 1 | - |
Section II:
Module I: English Language and Comprehension
Exam held on 18.01.2025:
The vocabulary area had questions on spellings, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, one-word substitutes, and idioms. All the questions were easy to answer.
The grammar area had questions on voice, speech, error identification, and fill in the blanks. All the questions were easy to answer.
The para formation area had questions with five and four jumbled sentences respectively, along with questions on the jumbled parts of the sentences with four parts and six parts respectively.
Following the regular pattern, the comprehension area had 16questions - one cloze test passage with 4questions, and three reading comprehension passages with 4questions each (total 12 RC questions).
The cloze test passage, which was on the topic of climate change, had a word count of 100 words with two grammar-based blanks and two vocab-based blanks (4q).
The first reading comprehension passage was on the French Revolution, with a word count of 100 words. There were two fill in the blanks questions, one was a vocab-based question(synonym), and one was an inference question based on a given phrase. Though the questions were not challenging, this passage might have taken the students by surprise (4q).
The second passage, which was on the topic of algae, had a word count of 150 words. Two questions were on supporting ideas, one was an inference question, and one was on the main idea.
The third passage, which was on the topic of INA-Subash Chandra Bose, had a word count of 250 words. Barring one question, which was an inference question, the questions in the passage were on supporting ideas.
Compared to previous years, the difficulty level of this can be termed as easy to moderate. A well-prepared test taker would have attempted 40 questions and should be able to score around 37 very easily.
The topic-wise break-up of the English section is as follows.
Topic | No. of Questions |
Synonyms | 1 |
Antonyms | 3 |
One Word Substitute | 2 |
idioms | 2 |
spelling | 2 |
voice | 3 |
speech | 3 |
best replacement | 0 |
error identification | 1 |
PFQ | 3 |
PFQ-Parts of a sentence | 3 |
Homophones | 2 |
Fill in the blanks | 4 |
Cloze Test | 4 |
Reading Comprehension | 12 |
Exam held on 20.01.2025:
The vocabulary area had questions on spellings, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, one-word substitutes, and idioms. One new question type was observed, asking the test taker to identify the denotation of the given word in a sentence. All the questions were easy to moderate in terms of difficulty.
The grammar area had questions on voice, speech, error identification, and fill in the blanks. All the questions were easy to answer. All the questions were easy to moderate in terms of difficulty.
The para formation area had questions with five and four jumbled sentences respectively along with questions on jumbled parts of the sentences with four parts and six parts respectively. One question was on sentence formation, asking the test taker to rearrange the jumbled six parts to make a grammatically meaningful sentence.
Following the regular pattern, the comprehension area had 16questions - one cloze test passage with 4 questions, and three reading comprehension passages with 4 questions each.
The cloze test passage, which was on the topic of loneliness change, had a word count of 60 words with vocab-based blanks (4q).
The first reading comprehension passage was on the topic of health and wellness, with a word count of 70 words., One question was vocab-based (synonym), one on a supporting idea, one on the main idea, and one on the tone of the passage.
The second passage was on the topic of algae, with a word count of 70 words. One question was vocab-based (synonym), one on a supporting idea, one on the main idea, and one on the tone of the passage.
The third passage, which was on the topic of communication and personal growth, had a word count of 100 words. Barring one question, which was on the main idea of the passage, the questions in the passage were on supporting ideas.
Compared to previous years, this slot was of moderate difficulty level. A well-prepared test taker would have attempted 37 questions and should be able to score around 34 very easily.
The topic-wise break-up of the English section is as follows.
Topic | No. of Questions |
Synonyms | 1 |
Antonyms | 3 |
One Word Substitute | 5 |
idioms | 2 |
spelling | 2 |
voice | 3 |
speech | 3 |
best replacement | 0 |
error identification | 2 |
PFQ | 1 |
PFQ-Parts of a sentence | 1 |
Homophones | 1 |
Fill in the blanks | 3 |
Word meaning and usage | 1 |
Sentence formation | 1 |
Module II: General Awareness
Exam held on 18.01.2025:
General Knowledge:
This slot had seventeen GK questions and eight science questions. The topic-wise split of questions is given in the table below.
Out of the seventeen questions, five were related to Current Affairs. Of these, one was a 2017 event, one was a 2020 event, two were of 2023 events, and one was of January 2024, making it difficult to recollect.
The questions on GK were a bit difficult and hence a score of 8 to 9 out of 17 could be considered good.
Topic | No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
Economy | 3 | Easy - 1, Difficult - 2 |
Geography | 3 | Easy - 1, Moderate - 1, Difficult - 1 |
History | 3 | Easy - 2, Moderate - 1 |
Polity | 5 | Easy - 1, Moderate - 2, Difficult - 2 |
Sports | 1 | Moderate |
Books and Authors | 1 | Difficult |
Miscellaneous | 1 | Difficult |
General Science:
There were eight questions from General Science.
Overall, the questions on General Science can be rated as moderate. More than 50% of the questions could be answered with a basic level of preparation.
A well-prepared student could have attempted six out of eight questions.
Topic | No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
Physics: | ||
Electricity | 1 | Difficult |
Chemistry: | ||
Periodic Table | 1 | Easy |
Chemical bonding | 1 | Easy |
Metallurgy | 1 | Moderate |
Acids, Bases, Salts | 1 | Moderate |
Biology: | ||
Genetics | 1 | Difficult |
Ecology | 1 | Moderate |
Genetics | 1 | Easy |
Exam held on 20.01.2025:
This slot had nineteen GK questions and six Science Questions.
General Knowledge:
Out of the GK Questions, six were on Geography, five were on Economy, four were on History, two were on Polity, and two were on Sports.
There were five questions on current affairs, and out of the five, one was related to 2018, 3 were 2023 events, and one was a January 2024 event, making it difficult to recollect.
Out of the nineteen questions, 11 were Difficult, 4 were Medium, and 4 were easy, making the section difficult to answer. A score of 8 out of 19 would be desirable.
Topic | No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
Economy | 5 | Easy - 2, Difficult - 3 |
Geography | 6 | Easy - 2, Difficult - 4 |
History | 4 | Moderate - 1, Difficult - 3 |
Polity | 2 | Moderate - 1, Difficult - 1 |
Sports | 2 | Moderate |
General Science:
There were six questions from General Science.
Physics: Two questions were asked from physics and could be answered with a moderate level of preparation.
Chemistry: Two questions were asked from Chemistry, and both questions could be answered with a basic level of preparation.
Biology: Two questions were asked from Biology, out of which one question could be answered with a basic level of preparation and the other one was very difficult to answer.
Overall, the questions on General Science can be rated as moderate.
A well-prepared student could have attempted four out of six questions.
Topic | No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
Physics: | ||
Electricity | 1 | Moderate |
Dynamics | 1 | Easy |
Chemistry: | ||
Atomic Structure | 1 | Easy |
Acids, Bases, Salts | 1 | Easy |
Biology: | ||
Cell | 1 | Moderate |
Human Physiology | 1 | Difficult |
Section III:
Module I: Computer Knowledge
The SSC CGLE Tier-II Paper on both January 18th and 20th featured questions of easy to moderate level of difficulty in the Computer Knowledge module.
On January 20th, there was a strong focus on "Software" and "Basics of Networking and Cyber Security."
In contrast, the January 18th session concentrated more on the "Computer Basics” section and the "Software section."
Overall, "Software" questions had the highest weightage on both dates, while "Computer Basics" also had significant weightage on the 18th of January.
Topic | Number of Questions | |
18th Jan | 20th Jan | |
Basics of Networking and Cyber Security | 4 | 6 |
Computer Basics | 7 | 4 |
Software | 7 | 8 |
Working with Internet and Emails | 2 | 2 |