5. The "No Improvement" Discipline

"No improvement" earns and loses more marks than any other single option in this format, because it is the one candidates treat as a coin-flip instead of a genuine grammatical judgment. This section trains your instinct directly: ten fully worked examples where "No improvement" is correct, and ten deceptively similar examples where a tempting-looking "No improvement" is actually wrong because a real, fixable error is hiding in the sentence. Read every explanation, even for the ones you get right on instinct — the goal is to be able to articulate why, not just sense it.

5.1 Ten Examples Where "No Improvement" Is Correct

1. The results of the mains examination will be declared next month on the official website. (A) are declared (B) had been declared (C) is declared (D) No improvement Answer: (D). The future passive correctly matches "next month," a future time marker; none of the alternatives fit a clearly future-tense sentence.

2. Neither of the two candidates was willing to withdraw from the tie-breaker round. (A) were willing (B) are willing (C) have been willing (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "Neither" correctly takes a singular verb, "was," and the past tense matches the rest of the sentence's clearly past setting.

3. She has been preparing for the civil services examination for the last two years without a single day off. (A) since the last two years (B) from the last two years (C) during the last two years (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "For" is the correct preposition to express a duration ("for the last two years"); "since" pairs with a starting point, not a duration, making it the classic wrong swap here — but as printed, the original already uses "for" correctly.

4. The invigilator asked the candidates to switch off their mobile phones before entering the examination hall. (A) before they enter (B) before to enter (C) before entered (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "Before entering" correctly uses a gerund after the preposition "before," which is standard and natural; none of the alternatives improve on this.

5. Out of the five hundred applicants, only twelve were shortlisted for the final interview round. (A) was shortlisted (B) have been shortlisted (C) is shortlisted (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "Twelve" is a plural subject, correctly taking the plural verb "were," and the past tense matches the clearly past-tense sentence.

6. He is one of the few candidates who have cleared this exam on their very first attempt. (A) one of the few candidates who has (B) one of the few candidates that has (C) one of the few candidates whom have (D) No improvement Answer: (D). In the standard "one of the [plural noun] who" construction, the relative pronoun "who" refers back to the plural "candidates," correctly taking the plural verb "have," not the singular "has."

7. Had she known about the venue change earlier, she would have reached the centre on time. (A) Has she known (B) If she had known (C) She had known (D) No improvement Answer: (D). This is a correctly formed inverted third conditional ("Had she known" = "If she had known"), matching the "would have reached" main clause; (B) is a valid alternative phrasing but is not an improvement over an already-correct sentence, since inversion is an equally standard, equally formal register choice.

8. The panel found her answers both relevant and well structured, unlike most other candidates that day. (A) relevant as well as structured well (B) both relevant and structuring well (C) relevant and also being well structured (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "Both...and" correctly joins two parallel adjectives, "relevant" and "well structured," which share the same grammatical form.

9. Despite having failed twice, she did not lose confidence and appeared for the exam a third time. (A) having fail (B) she had failed (C) to have failed (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "Despite" correctly takes a gerund phrase, "having failed," which is the standard construction after this preposition.

10. The number of applicants for this post has risen sharply compared to the previous recruitment cycle. (A) have risen sharply (B) has arose sharply (C) had rose sharply (D) No improvement Answer: (D). "The number of" is treated as singular, correctly taking "has," and "risen" is the correct past participle for "rise" in this present-perfect construction.

5.2 Ten Examples Where a Tempting "No Improvement" Is Actually Wrong

1. The percentage of candidates clearing the prelims have increased gradually over the last five years. (A) has increased (B) having increased (C) increase (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). "The percentage of" is treated as singular, so it needs "has," not "have" — a sentence that sounds fine at a quick read because "candidates" (plural) sits right before the verb, tempting the eye toward agreement with the wrong noun.

2. Each of the invigilators were given a separate checklist to follow during the exam. (A) was given (B) have been given (C) are given (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). "Each of" always triggers a singular verb, so "were" is wrong despite the plural-sounding "invigilators" sitting immediately before it — a very common trap that reads smoothly precisely because the nearby noun is plural.

3. She is one of the students who has topped the batch in every single mock test this year. (A) have topped (B) has been topped (C) is topping (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). In "one of the [plural noun] who," the relative pronoun refers to the plural noun, requiring "have," not "has" — this error is easy to miss because "she," the subject of the main clause, is singular, and the eye defaults to matching the verb with "she" instead of with "who...students."

4. He has been working in this department since five years, and he knows every process by heart. (A) for five years (B) from five years (C) during five years (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). "Since" pairs only with a starting point in time ("since 2019," "since Monday"), never with a duration ("five years"); a duration always requires "for" — this is one of the most common Indian-English register errors, common enough in spoken usage that it can sound entirely natural and pass an unwary reader's ear.

5. The number of seats available this year are fewer than last year's intake. (A) is fewer (B) have been fewer (C) were fewer (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). "The number of" takes a singular verb, "is," not "are" — again tempting because the plural "seats" sits directly before the verb.

6. Neither the syllabus nor the exam pattern have changed significantly since last year's notification. (A) has changed (B) having changed (C) change (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the nearer subject, "exam pattern," which is singular, so it needs "has," not "have" — easy to miss because "syllabus" and "pattern" together can feel like a compound plural subject at a glance.

7. The board has decided to release the results a week earlier than what was originally planned. (A) than what had originally been planned (B) than originally planned (C) than originally it was planned (D) No improvement Answer: (B), not (D). "Than what was originally planned" is needlessly wordy; the clean, standard comparative form drops "what was" entirely, giving "than originally planned" — the original is grammatical, which is exactly why it tempts a reader into assuming nothing needs fixing, but the wordiness itself is the fixable issue in this register-focused correction.

8. By the time she reaches the exam centre, the gates will already close. (A) will already have closed (B) are already closed (C) had already closed (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). A "by the time" clause describing a future point combined with a future consequence needs the future perfect, "will have closed," to show the closing will be complete before she arrives — "will already close" describes a simple future action without that completed-by-then sense, which is the error a quick read easily misses.

9. Most of the syllabus have already been covered by the coaching centre before the mid-term test. (A) has already been covered (B) having already been covered (C) are already covered (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). "Most of" takes its verb number from the noun that follows "of" — here, "syllabus," an uncountable singular noun — so it needs "has," not "have"; the trap is that "most" can independently feel like a plural-triggering word if you do not check what it is "most of."

10. The reason for the delay in the results is because of a technical glitch in the server. (A) is that (B) is due to that (C) was because (D) No improvement Answer: (A), not (D). "The reason is because" is a well-known redundancy — "reason" and "because" both express cause, so pairing them is doubling up; the standard formal correction is "the reason is that," which many candidates let slide because "is because" is extremely common in everyday spoken English and therefore does not register as an error on a quick read.

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