SSC CGL Syllabus for Tier 1 and Tier 2: Topic List and What to Cover First

Open any SSC CGL syllabus page and you will find a list that looks impossible. Then you open a previous paper and realise about a third of the list never shows up, another third shows up once in a while, and the rest is where your marks are. This post lists the syllabus as SSC publishes it, and then does the part the official document does not do: it tells you what to do first.

The topic list follows the SSC notice format used for CGL 2025 and 2026. The Commission's wording is broad, and the topic names in the notice are the same from year to year. What changes is the pattern, which I cover in the exam pattern and normalization post. Read the current notice for anything you plan to rely on.

The syllabus is one list with two difficulty levels

A point that clears up a lot of confusion: Tier 1 and Tier 2 cover mostly the same subjects. Tier 2 goes deeper, asks harder questions, and adds Computer Knowledge, plus Statistics and Finance and Economics for a few posts. So you do not prepare two syllabuses. You prepare one syllabus, first to a level that clears Tier 1, then to a level that ranks you in Tier 2.

For Quant, the official standard is matriculation level in Tier 1, and Tier 2 questions are the same topics but longer, with more steps and trickier data. For English, the standard is graduation level. For Reasoning and General Awareness, Tier 1 and Tier 2 are both described as being at graduation standard in the notice.

Tier 1 syllabus

General Intelligence and Reasoning (25 questions)

The notice lists topics like: Semantic analogy, symbolic operations, symbolic/number analogy, trends, figural analogy, space orientation, semantic classification, venn diagrams, symbolic/number classification, drawing inferences, figural classification, punched hole/pattern folding and unfolding, semantic series, figural pattern folding and completion, number series, embedded figures, figural series, critical thinking, problem solving, emotional intelligence, word building, social intelligence, coding and decoding, numerical operations, and other topics of a similar nature.

That sounds like a lot, so group it:

• Verbal and logic: analogy, classification, series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, ranking and order, syllogism and Venn diagrams, statement and conclusion, mathematical operations, word formation.
• Non-verbal: figure series, odd one out, embedded figures, mirror and water images, paper folding and cutting, counting figures, completion of pattern.
• Puzzle-type: seating arrangement and simple puzzles appear, but less than in banking exams.

If you are coming from a banking background, note that CGL reasoning is much lighter on multi-variable puzzles and heavier on quick recognition. A question that would take 3 minutes in a bank PO paper would not be set here.

What to do first: coding-decoding, series, analogies, classification and blood relations. These are quick, mostly accurate once practised, and give a fast return. Leave paper folding and embedded figures for the second phase. They need visual practice and a lot of them are a waste of time in an exam if you are slow.

General Awareness (25 questions)

The notice describes questions testing awareness of the environment and its application to society, and current events, plus matters of everyday observation and experience, expected of an educated person. In practice it breaks down like this:

• History: ancient, medieval, modern, with the freedom struggle getting the heaviest share. Art and culture, including dance forms, folk music, architecture, festivals.
• Geography: physical geography of India and the world, rivers, mountains, soils, climate, agriculture, minerals, national parks. World geography is the softest area.
• Polity: Constitution, Fundamental Rights, DPSP, Parliament, President, amendments, constitutional bodies.
• Economy: basic terms, budget and taxation, banking (RBI, monetary policy), planning, government schemes.
• General science: physics, chemistry, biology at the school level, up to class 10. Human body and diseases, everyday science.
• Current affairs: the last 6 to 12 months. Awards, sports events, appointments, summits, new schemes, important days, books and authors, defence exercises.
• Static GK: national symbols, first in India, capitals and currencies, important dates.

Papers change. Some years current affairs takes up a big share of the 25 questions, other years it is thinner. I would not pin my plan to any one year's pattern. What I will say is that science and static GK are steady, and history is reliable. Current affairs is bigger than most people budget for, but it is also the easiest to lose track of, so build a routine early. The current affairs post has one.

Quantitative Aptitude (25 questions)

The notice lists:

• Number system: computation of whole numbers, decimals and fractions, relationship between numbers.
• Fundamental arithmetical operations: percentages, ratio and proportion, square roots, averages, interest (simple and compound), profit and loss, discount, partnership business, mixture and alligation, time and distance, time and work.
• Algebra: basic algebraic identities of school algebra and elementary surds, graphs of linear equations.
• Geometry: familiarity with elementary geometrical concepts, triangles and their centres, congruence and similarity, circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords, common tangents to two or more circles.
• Mensuration: triangle, quadrilaterals, regular polygons, circle, right prism, right circular cone, right circular cylinder, sphere, hemispheres, rectangular parallelepiped, regular right pyramid with triangular or square base.
• Trigonometry: trigonometric ratio, degree and radian measures, standard identities, complementary angles, heights and distances.
• Statistical charts: histogram, frequency polygon, bar diagram, pie chart.

In Tier 1, the arithmetic block usually delivers the largest share of questions, around 10 to 12 out of 25 in most papers I have looked at, and geometry and algebra fill a lot of the rest. I would not claim exact counts, because they vary by shift. What you should do is confirm this by counting topics in three or four past papers. Pareeksha's practice section lets you filter by chapter, which makes that easy.

What to do first: percentage, ratio, average, profit and loss, time and work, time and distance, simple and compound interest, then algebra identities, then mensuration, then geometry, then trigonometry. Data interpretation charts are a good fit for a quick win because the calculations are lighter than the arithmetic chapters.

English Comprehension (25 questions)

The notice: candidates' ability to understand correct English, basic comprehension and writing ability would be tested. In practice:

• Error spotting / sentence improvement: subject-verb agreement, tenses, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, modals, non-finite verbs, conditional sentences, degrees of comparison.
• Vocabulary: synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms and phrases, spelling correction.
• Fill in the blanks: single and double.
• Reading comprehension: one or two passages with 4 to 5 questions each. In Tier 1 the passage count is usually small.
• Cloze test: a passage with blanks.
• Para jumbles / sentence rearrangement.
• Active/passive and direct/indirect speech.

English gets its own hard look in the Tier 2 section below, because the load shifts. For Tier 1, a stable approach is: grammar rules first (they give precise answers), then daily vocabulary, then reading comprehension for speed. Do cloze tests and para jumbles once your grammar is stable.

Tier 2 syllabus

Paper I, Section I: Mathematical Abilities and Reasoning

The Maths module has the same topics as Tier 1, drawn from the list above, but the level is higher. The notice describes the level as matriculation plus some higher topics. Expect longer chains of reasoning, data with more information, and questions that mix two concepts. Trigonometry gets a clear boost in Tier 2: identities, heights and distances, and problems that need identity manipulation instead of table lookups.

Reasoning in Tier 2 is described in the notice as General Intelligence and Reasoning, with the same topics as Tier 1. What changes is the number of questions (30) and the way they are grouped, and you get 30 minutes for 30 questions, which is much less tight than Tier 1's 15 minutes for 25.

Paper I, Section II: English Language and Comprehension, General Awareness

English here covers vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, synonyms, antonyms and their correct usage, and testing of comprehension and writing ability. There are 45 questions, and a strong showing is very valuable because the module is worth more than the whole of General Awareness. The format has more reading comprehension and cloze passages than in Tier 1.

General Awareness in Tier 2 (25 questions) covers the same areas as Tier 1 but with a tilt towards Indian economy, finance, static GK from Commerce/Economics, and polity, in my reading of past papers. I will not claim that as an official statement. The notice just says the test is on awareness of the environment and its application to society and current events. Practise it with previous Tier 2 papers, not just with Tier 1 papers, to see the actual tilt for the current year.

Paper I, Section III: Computer Knowledge Test and Data Entry Speed Test

Computer Knowledge Test: 20 questions, 60 marks, 15 minutes, qualifying in nature. Topics: computer basics (hardware, software, memory, storage), the Internet and email, MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint basics), operating systems, number systems (binary, hex), networking basics, cybersecurity terms, and shortcuts. Only the qualifying marks matter, but people who ignore it have failed it before. Two weeks of light study is enough. See the computer awareness post.

Data Entry Speed Test: a typing test under the module for Section III. The test is 15 minutes, and the figure commonly quoted is 2,000 key depressions. One source I read says this test is compulsory for all posts under the 2025 notice, while older notices tied it to particular posts such as Tax Assistant and CSS Assistant roles. That is a point I could not confirm from the official document. Check the notice before you decide how much typing practice to do. Either way, a few weeks of daily practice at the beginning of Tier 2 preparation is cheap insurance. See typing test requirements.

Paper II: Statistics (JSO and Statistical Investigator only)

100 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours, with a negative marking of 0.50. The topics in the notice are:

• Collection, classification and presentation of statistical data: primary and secondary data, methods of data collection, tabulation, frequency distribution, diagrammatic and graphical presentation.
• Measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode, geometric mean, harmonic mean.
• Measures of dispersion: range, mean deviation, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, moments, skewness and kurtosis.
• Correlation and regression: scatter diagram, Karl Pearson's correlation, rank correlation, regression lines.
• Probability theory: basic concepts, conditional probability, Bayes' theorem, random variables, expectation.
• Random variables and probability distributions: binomial, Poisson, normal, and others.
• Sampling theory: simple random, stratified, systematic sampling, sampling distributions, estimation.
• Statistical inference: point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, chi-square, t, F tests.
• Analysis of variance, index numbers, time series analysis.

If you have a Statistics degree, you will find the level familiar. It is essentially a graduation-level paper.

Paper III: Finance and Economics (Assistant Audit Officer / Assistant Accounts Officer)

100 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours, 0.50 negative. The notice divides it into two parts:

• Finance and accounts: fundamental principles of accounting, financial accounting, company accounts, cost accounting basics, management accounting, auditing, and government accounting.
• Economics and governance: comprehension of demand and supply, theory of consumer behaviour, production and cost, market structures, national income accounting, money and banking, public finance, and Indian economy topics such as planning, poverty and inflation, plus economic reforms and governance.

Some articles I read described Paper III as new. It has been part of the scheme for audit posts for a few years, and I treat that "new" label as sloppy. What matters: if you are targeting Assistant Audit Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer and you have no Commerce background, this paper will need the biggest time investment of all.

Where the marks actually are

Rather than a topic list, here is the way I would rank the value of chapters for a beginner.

High return, low fear: percentage, ratio, profit and loss, averages, time and work, time-speed-distance, simple/compound interest, number series, coding-decoding, analogy, classification, blood relations, error spotting, vocabulary, polity basics, modern history, general science.

Medium return, needs practice: algebra identities, mensuration, basic geometry, syllogism, seating arrangement, direction sense, reading comprehension, cloze test, geography, economy basics.

Slow return: advanced geometry, trigonometry identities, embedded figures, paper folding, statistics inference (for Paper II), accounting (for Paper III).

Then let past papers tell you whether your own picture is right. The maths chapter weightage post has a counting method, and the most repeated topics post has the pattern across exams.

Turning topics into question types: two examples

The syllabus lists chapters. The exam asks question types. Here is what the gap looks like for two chapters.

"Percentage" on the syllabus is really five things. Basic percentage of a number, successive percentage change, population and depreciation growth, percentage-based data questions (where the base changes), and fractions-to-percentage conversion that speeds up every other chapter. If you learn the fractions table (1/7 is 14.28%, 1/9 is 11.11%, 1/12 is 8.33%, and so on up to 1/16), then a question like "what is 37.5% of 480" becomes 3/8 of 480, which is 180, with no arithmetic. Students who skip this table pay for it in every chapter, because interest, profit and loss and data interpretation all lean on it.

"Error spotting" is really about eight rules that repeat. Subject-verb agreement (including the "one of the" pattern), tense consistency, article usage, preposition after specific words, pronoun agreement, comparison words, the use of "few/little/a few/a little", and word-form errors. A student who has properly learned those eight rules and practised 300 sentences will get most error-spotting questions right. A student who "read all of grammar" and practised 30 sentences will not. That is why I say question types, not chapters.

Do the same conversion for every chapter as you go. It takes five minutes per chapter: open three past papers, find that chapter's questions, and write the pattern in one line each. You end up with a personal list of maybe 120 to 150 question types across all four subjects. That list is your real syllabus.

A rough time budget by subject

For a student with about six hours a day of study (a full-time aspirant), a starting split for the first two months could look like this. Change it based on your mock results.

Subject	Daily time	Why
Quantitative Aptitude	2 hours	Highest effort to reach speed, and the biggest single lever in Tier 2
English	1.5 hours	Grammar rules, vocabulary, reading; 45 questions in Tier 2
Reasoning	1 hour	Fast to improve with regular sets
General Awareness	1 hour	Includes current affairs reading and revision
Revision or mock analysis	30 minutes	Prevents forgetting

For a working person with 2 to 3 hours a day, keep the same order of priority and cut GA to short slots. Do not drop English.

A sensible order of study

This is a general sequence that works for most people who have at least three months.

1. Weeks 1 to 3: arithmetic for Quant, verbal reasoning, English grammar, static GK basics.
2. Weeks 4 to 6: algebra, mensuration, non-verbal reasoning, vocabulary routine, polity and history.
3. Weeks 7 to 9: geometry, trigonometry, reading comprehension, cloze, geography, economy, science.
4. Weeks 10 to 12: mixed practice, sectional timed sets, Tier 2-level Maths, typing.

If you have less time, use the 90-day plan. If you have more, the 3, 6, 12 month strategy spaces the same material out.

Common syllabus mistakes

Reading the syllabus like a checklist. A tick against "geometry" does not mean much. What matters is how many question types you can solve at speed. Keep a list of question types (for example, "circumcentre angle questions") and not a list of chapters.

Starting Tier 2 topics after Tier 1 results. The gap between Tier 1 results and Tier 2 exam has, in the recent cycle, been roughly a month. Reports on CGL 2025 say the Tier 1 result was announced on 18 December 2025 and Tier 2 was held on 18 and 19 January 2026. So there is not enough time to start from scratch. The Tier 2 level of Maths and English has to be part of your preparation from well before Tier 1.

Overspending on Computer Knowledge. It is qualifying, and it is a short module. Do it in a fortnight.

Chasing every current affairs source. Pick one monthly capsule or one daily source. More than one just gives duplicated facts.

Ignoring English because it seems "easy". In the Tier 2 paper it is the module with the highest question count. Errors there are avoidable, and most are caused by careless rule application.

How to check yourself against the syllabus

Take a Tier 1 mock every week. After each one, tag every wrong or skipped question with its topic. After four mocks you will see a clear pattern: three or four topics that account for half your losses. Those are the syllabus items that matter for you. Pareeksha's mock reports show section-wise performance, and the free mini-mocks and sectional tests can be used to drill just those topics.

The mock tests page lists full-length mocks in the current pattern, which is useful because sectional timing affects how you should practise.

FAQ

Is the syllabus the same as last year? The published topic lists have stayed broadly stable. What changes more often is the pattern, such as sectional timing in Tier 1 for the 2026 cycle. Compare the new notice with the previous one, line by line.

Do I need to study Statistics and Finance if I am not targeting those posts? No. Paper II and Paper III are only for those posts.

Is the Quant syllabus really just matriculation level? The notice says so for the Tier 1 level. The questions in Tier 2 can feel harder, mainly because they need more steps and speed. Do not assume the topic list caps the difficulty.

Which is more important, current affairs or static GK? Both appear. If you must choose where to put an extra hour, put it into current affairs during the last three months and static GK earlier, since static GK is more stable.

Are there topics I can safely skip? A few, such as very advanced geometry constructions and the rarest non-verbal figure types, if you are short on time. Do not skip whole chapters without checking three or four past papers.

Where do I find the official syllabus? On ssc.gov.in, in the notice for the current CGL exam.