AspirantGoal is an independent app. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Staff Selection Commission or any exam authority. This page uses the numbers in the Staff Selection Commission’s 2026 notice for the Combined Graduate Level Examination, as checked on 23 October 2026. The exam body’s current documents are the authority, so read them before you plan around any figure.
SSC CGL has two tiers and a document stage. Tier-I is a one hour test of four subjects with 25 questions each. Tier-II has more than one paper, and Paper-I is compulsory for all posts [1].
What the documents print
The notice prints marks for every subject in both tiers and a syllabus list for each tier. Tier-I questions carry 2 marks (50 ÷ 25) [1]. Tier-II Paper-I questions carry 3 marks, which is where the totals of 180 and 210 come from [1]. The two tiers print separate syllabus lists for the same four subjects. [1]
Tier-II, Paper-I: the sections that carry merit marks
| Subject | Marks | Share of marks | Printed units | Share of units | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematical Abilities | 90 | 23.1% | 7 | 13.0% | 30 |
| Reasoning and General Intelligence | 90 | 23.1% | 24 | 44.4% | 30 |
| English Language and Comprehension | 135 | 34.6% | 15 | 27.8% | 45 |
| General Awareness | 75 | 19.2% | 8 | 14.8% | 25 |
| Total | 390 | 100% | 54 | 100% | 130 |
Tier-I: four subjects, 50 marks each
| Subject | Marks | Share of marks | Printed units | Share of units | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 25.0% | 36 | 48.6% | 25 |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 50 | 25.0% | 30 | 40.5% | 25 |
| English Comprehension | 50 | 25.0% | no list printed | n/a | 25 |
| General Awareness | 50 | 25.0% | 8 | 10.8% | 25 |
| Total | 200 | 100% | 74 | 100% | 100 |
Numbers in brackets are the sources listed at the foot of the page. Printed units are the headings the syllabus prints, counted the same way as in the free tracker. The SSC CGL exam page gives each figure with the paragraph and page it comes from.
What this means for your hours
- Tier-II decides the merit list. The notice says the merit list is prepared on the overall performance of candidates in Tier-II only [1]. For most posts the merit marks are the 390 marks of Paper-I, Sections I and II [1]. The statistics posts add Paper-II and the audit and accounts posts add Paper-III [1].
- Tier-I has its own minimum marks. They are of 30% for UR, 25% for OBC/EWS and 20% for all other categories [1], which is 60 of 200 marks for UR. The notice also says candidates are shortlisted category-wise on Tier-I marks to appear in Tier-II [1], and that Tier-II is held for all candidates who qualified in Tier-I [1].
- English carries the most Tier-II merit marks. Its 45 questions are 135 of the 390 marks (34.6%), and the notice prints 15 English units. Mathematical Abilities and Reasoning carry 90 marks each (23.1%) and General Awareness 75 (19.2%).
- A wrong answer costs a quarter of a question’s marks in Tier-I (0.50 on 2 marks) [1] and a third in Tier-II Paper-I (1 mark on 3) [1].
- Each Tier-I subject has its own 15 minute timer inside the one hour [1]. In Tier-II Paper-I, Section-I gives 30 minutes to each of its two subjects [1], and Section-II gives 40 minutes to English and 20 to General Awareness [1].
- Computer Knowledge (Section-III, 20 questions, 60 marks) and the Data Entry Speed Test (Section-IV) are qualifying. They must be cleared, and the merit marks are the aggregate of Sections I and II [1].
From marks and units to hours
The documents give you the marks and the units. How long a unit takes you is the third number, and only you can supply it. Time yourself on three units of each subject, work out the hours as units × minutes per unit ÷ 60 × rounds, and set each subject’s share of the hours beside its share of the marks. How many hours does a syllabus take? explains each step, How to split study hours across subjects shows how the three numbers fit together, and the hours calculator does the sums.
Example: one plan worked through
Example. The minutes below are made up to show the sums, and the units are the ones in the table above. Nothing here says a unit takes this long, and none of it is advice on how long SSC CGL needs. Assume 2 rounds, 30 study hours a week and a buffer of 15%.
| Subject | Hours for one pass (units × minutes ÷ 60) | Hours for 2 rounds | Share of hours | Share of marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Aptitude and Mathematical Abilities | 36 × 180 ÷ 60 = 108 | 108 × 2 = 216 | 45.4% | 23.1% |
| Reasoning | 30 × 90 ÷ 60 = 45 | 45 × 2 = 90 | 18.9% | 23.1% |
| English | 15 × 180 ÷ 60 = 45 | 45 × 2 = 90 | 18.9% | 34.6% |
| General Awareness | 8 × 300 ÷ 60 = 40 | 40 × 2 = 80 | 16.8% | 19.2% |
| Total | 476 | 100% | 100% |
Hours you can use each week after the buffer: 30 × 85% = 25.5. Weeks the plan needs: 476 ÷ 25.5 = 18.7. The hours use the longer of the two printed unit lists for each subject, so Quantitative Aptitude counts 36 units and English counts the 15 printed for Tier-II.
Read the last two columns together. In this example Quantitative Aptitude and Mathematical Abilities takes 45.4% of the hours and carries 23.1% of the marks, while English takes 18.9% of the hours and carries 34.6%.
Questions about the SSC CGL study plan
How many hours does SSC CGL need?
No exam body publishes a figure, and this page does not give one. The hours depend on three numbers that only you can supply: the units you still have to cover, the minutes each one takes you and the rounds you plan. The example above uses made-up minutes: its 89 printed units over 2 rounds come to 476 hours. Time yourself on three units of each subject, put your own minutes into the free sheet below or the syllabus hours calculator, and the sums give your number.
Can I finish SSC CGL preparation in three months?
Three months is about 13 weeks. Whether that is enough depends on your own figures, and no document can tell you in advance. The sum is hours needed ÷ (study hours a week × 85%), where 15% is the buffer kept for the weeks that go wrong. The example’s 476 made-up hours need this many weeks:
| Study hours a week | Usable after the 15% buffer | Weeks the example needs |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 8.5 | 56 |
| 15 | 12.8 | 37.3 |
| 20 | 17 | 28 |
| 30 | 25.5 | 18.7 |
| 40 | 34 | 14 |
Put your own hours in place of the example’s to read your own row. The study hours calculator checks a plan against the time you have.
Is there a free SSC CGL study plan as a PDF or Excel file?
Yes. The sheet below comes as an Excel file with the sums built in, a PDF worksheet to fill in by hand and a CSV file. It already holds the four subjects, the Tier-II merit marks and the longer of the two printed unit lists for each, carries the AspirantGoal mark and needs no sign-up.
A free plan sheet with your numbers
The sheet has the four subjects, the Tier-II merit marks and the longer of the two printed unit lists for each already in it. Type your minutes per unit, the rounds you plan, the study hours you have each week and the weeks until the exam, and it works out the hours, the shares and the weeks the plan needs. The Excel file does the sums with formulas, the PDF is a worksheet to fill in by hand, and the CSV holds the same table for any spreadsheet. All three carry the AspirantGoal mark. They are free and need no sign-up.
The units themselves are listed one by one in the free SSC CGL syllabus tracker, where you can record minutes and finished passes.
How AspirantGoal handles this
- Each subject can have a target in hours. Roadmap compares your targets with the time you have left at your daily budget, and says how many hours short you are when they do not fit.
- The Study Timer and the Stopwatch save the minutes you really studied, with pauses and breaks left out. Those minutes give you the pace this page asks for.
- Week shows Available time, Assigned time and Buffer, so the buffer in the sums above is a number you can see.
- The SSC CGL package gives you a syllabus to start from and to edit. It is an editable template, so compare it with the documents and change what differs.
See the Features page for the full list. The SSC CGL exam page lists the structure and the syllabus units as the exam body prints them.
What this does not tell you
This page does not say how many hours SSC CGL needs, which subject to start with or what a result will be. It does not predict a rank, a cut-off or a score. The unit counts are the number of headings the syllabus prints, which is not a measure of how hard or how large a unit is. It covers Paper-I of Tier-II. Paper-II (Statistics) and Paper-III (Finance and Economics, 200 marks each) apply to particular posts and are in the notice. Posts, eligibility, vacancies and the document stage are in the notice too. The exam body’s current documents are the authority, and AspirantGoal is an independent app with no link to any exam authority.