How to Prepare for General Awareness for SSC CGL | SSC CGL Tier 1 Mock Test Series 2024 PDF Download

The SSC CGL Tier I Exam's General Awareness (GA) segment receives the most scores. To complete the GA part, there is no need to recall any formulas or rules. The GA portion adds considerably to your aggregate and is comparatively simpler to attempt than the English, Quant, and Reasoning sections during the actual exam. All you have to do to do well in this part is to keep up with the times.

If you prepare for this portion carefully and approach the questions intelligently, you can easily lock in a high score. This guide is made by EduRev experts for SSC CGL aspirants, where a stepwise strategy to prepare for this section is given in detail.

Step 0: Understand the Complete Syllabus

Start with knowing the complete syllabus of the SSC CGL General Awareness Section. The topics for General Awareness are Indian Society, Polity, Economy, Culture & Heritage, Sports, and Games, Books, Authors, etc. The detailed syllabus for this section includes:

• Static General Knowledge
• Science
• Current Affairs
• Sports
• Books and Authors
• Important Schemes
• Portfolios
• People in the News
• History
• Geography
• Economic
• Awards and Honors
• Economic

Step 1: Get familiar with the pattern of Previous Years

Once you’re through with the syllabus and exam pattern, the next step would be to look at some previous year's question papers so as to understand what is actually being asked in the examination.

EduRev has compiled all the previous year's papers into one place. You can check them out here.

You need to devote 1 to 2 weeks to analyzing the syllabus and PYQs alone. This will help you understand what SSC CGL is asking and what the demand is. 

When going through the previous year's questions you can also analyze which sections are important for you and which are not in your SSC CGL exam.

Lastly, you can refer to them again as they are a good source of self-assessment in your exam preparation.

Almost all the top rankers whom we spoke to spent over 1-2 weeks just analysing the syllabus and previous year's question papers, this helped them to save a considerable amount of time through their preparation journey, and they were successful in getting ranks as well.

Step 2: Subscribe to a Good Newspaper

A newspaper is one of the best sources for getting information about current affairs. You can get daily updates on various topics by reading newspapers such as Times of India, The Hindu, etc. You can take printouts from their online websites or buy them in bookshops.

• Current Affairs play an important role in cracking the SSC CGL exam. It is divided into 2 parts - static and current. 
• Therefore, it becomes necessary to read the newspaper so as to stay updated on the current happenings in the country for your current gk portion. 
• This will enhance both your general knowledge and vocabulary, which is the most important and crucial component of the SSC CGL.
• Now, you might be thinking that reading the newspaper would be sufficient for current affairs, but this is incorrect. What matters is to retain all that information you read. To make it easy for you, EduRev has compiled all the daily, weekly, and monthly current affairs for your revision purpose.
• Spend a considerable amount of time on your static gk potion, as it is easy to cram. You can find detailed notes on topics like Science and Technology, Important Lists for India, World Knowledge, and much more at EduRev. Click here to access the complete course on general knowledge and current affairs.
• In addition to this, to enhance your static general knowledge portion, you should attempt daily quizzes available here and after the test, and check your all India rank (AIR) so as to boost your preparation.
• To check whether you are going in the right direction, giving tests is vital. You can get topic-wise current affairs and tests here.

Along with that, EduRev has a comprehensive course on current events and general knowledge for you. All exam-relevant news is covered concisely in this course.

Step 3: Be Consistent and Study Regularly

• To prepare for the SSC CGL General Awareness you should study regularly, daily. This will give you an edge over the other candidates and allow you to achieve good results in this section.
• Notes making: Make your own pointers while reading the newspaper which will come handy to you at the time of revision. Take special care while noting down the dates and name of the places. 
• Making notes on everyday topics, figures, events, issues or any matters that may be related to SSC CGL 2022 would be beneficial for you. This will make it easier for you to recall things because as you go ahead with your preparation, a lot of facts and information will get stored in your mind.
• Don’t confuse yourself with multiple sources: Be consistent with your sources and don’t juggle between the study material this will increase your confusion and you will be left hanging in the middle. 
• Revise on a regular basis: Go through the pointers you made every now and then so that the information doesn't skip out of your mind. 
• Give time to current affairs daily: Don't leave out the Current Affairs portion of your timetable, even if you are concentrating on only one subject, like Quant or English, on a given day. Even on a day off, it's critical to stay updated.

Step 4: Revise repeatedly to perform better in the SSC CGL exam

• Revise often before you start forgetting: Since there is so much to learn and remember in the General Awareness section, it is crucial to continuously revise before you start forgetting things.
• Complete the syllabus and revise: To get good grades, you should finish your first reading on each subject 9 months before the exam and your second reading five months before the exam. 
• Revise 3-4 times: It's crucial to revise at least three to four times when it comes to current events and general knowledge in order to keep the events and things in mind.
• Revision is crucial: Revision is crucial because it is the only way to keep information in mind. It is useless to simply follow the syllabus without revising it.

Step 5: Attempt regular tests

• You must take general awareness quizzes everyday and analyse what type of mistakes you do. 
• Taking tests is necessary to analyse if the information that you are perceiving is really beneficial for you or not.
• This will help you boost your confidence and also stay motivated.

EduRev has various tests lined up for you. Check them out here.

Step 6: Take mock tests and Analyse your performance

• Mock tests are the best sources of a variety of questions on different topics. You will get the knowledge of various questions asked on diverse topics. 
• SSC CGL mock tests will also give you a realistic environment to test your knowledge. This will also help you prepare several new topics/ questions, which in turn will boost your confidence.