BSSC CGL syllabus and exam pattern for prelims and mains

How the BSSC graduate level selection works

Selection moves through three steps. First comes a single objective prelims paper. Candidates who clear it are called for the mains, which has two papers held as objective tests. Those who qualify in the mains are called for document verification, and your place on the merit list comes from how you score in the mains.

• Prelims: screening only. The Commission does not add these marks to the final merit.
• Mains Paper 1 (Hindi): qualifying. You need at least 30% here, or Paper 2 is not checked at all.
• Mains Paper 2: the merit paper covering general studies, general science and maths, and reasoning.

Minimum qualifying percentages reported for this cycle are 40% for unreserved candidates, 36.5% for Backward Class, 34% for Extremely Backward Class, and 32% for SC, ST, women and candidates with disabilities.

BSSC CGL 4 exam pattern in two tables

Right answers carry 4 marks while each incorrect one takes back 1, so a guess that goes wrong wipes out a quarter of what a right answer gives you. Reports on the mains say the same deduction applies there; check the admit card instructions before the exam.

General studies topics

This section rewards a mix of static knowledge and awareness of recent events, with a strong Bihar flavour.

• Current affairs: happenings across India and the world, awards, books and authors, sports, science and technology developments, capitals and currencies.
• History: Indian history and culture, the freedom movement, and Bihar's part in the national movement.
• Geography: India's and Bihar's physical and economic geography, agriculture, natural resources and neighbouring countries.
• Polity: the Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj and community development.
• Economy: Indian economy, planning and government schemes.
• Bihar special: culture, heritage, important places and the state economy.

In the mains, the same areas return with more weight on governance, government schemes and current issues in Bihar.

General science and mathematics topics

Science is set at matric level, which means your class 9 and 10 textbooks cover almost everything.

• Physics: motion, force, light, sound, electricity, magnetism, units.
• Chemistry: carbon and its compounds, metals versus non metals, acid and base reactions, salts, elements.
• Biology: human body systems, nutrition, diseases, plants and animals.
• Mathematics: HCF and LCM, fractions, decimals, the number system and whole numbers, percentages, averages, ratios and proportion, profit or loss, work and time, interest of both kinds, simplification.

Mains maths reaches a step further, with geometry and basic trigonometry appearing alongside arithmetic, so revise class 10 mensuration and trigonometric ratios too.

Reasoning and mental ability topics

This is the section where steady practice turns into marks fastest. Expect word based items as well as figure based ones:

• Analogy, picking the odd item out, grouping by likeness
• Coding and decoding, plus series built from letters or numbers
• Blood relations, direction sense, ranking and order
• Syllogism and statement based logic
• Spatial visualisation, mirror images, water images, figure series
• Arithmetical reasoning and problem solving
• Comprehension style passages in the prelims

The mains version adds puzzles and simple data interpretation, so practise reading a table or bar chart quickly.

Mains Paper 1: the Hindi language test

Many graduates lose the whole exam here because they skip Hindi grammar, assuming it will be easy. Since Paper 2 is evaluated only if you score 30% in this paper, give it a few hours every week.

• Synonyms (पर्यायवाची) and antonyms (विलोम)
• Sentence correction and error spotting
• Idioms and proverbs (मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ)
• Word building: sandhi, samas, prefixes (upsarg), suffixes (pratyay)
• One word substitution and word usage
• Reading comprehension

A 14 week plan for the BSSC CGL syllabus

1. Weeks 1 to 4: complete the arithmetic chapters along with class 9 and 10 science; start a daily set of 25 reasoning questions.
2. Weeks 5 to 8: history, polity and geography of India, then Bihar specific topics from a state GK book; read current affairs daily.
3. Weeks 9 to 11: one full prelims mock every three days; go through each mistake and decide whether to skip that type next time, given the negative marking.
4. Weeks 12 to 14: mains preparation with geometry, trigonometry, puzzles, and four Hindi grammar sessions a week.

For study material, NCERT and Bihar board school textbooks for science and history, a standard arithmetic practice book and the official syllabus in the advertisement are enough. Planning to sit more Bihar exams as well? Then compare this paper with the BSSC inter level syllabus and the BPSC syllabus, which overlap in general studies.

BSSC CGL 4 syllabus in Hindi

बीएसएससी सीजीएल में दो चरण होते हैं: प्रारंभिक और मुख्य परीक्षा। प्रारंभिक परीक्षा में 150 प्रश्न, 600 अंक हैं और समय 2 घंटे 15 मिनट है। सामान्य अध्ययन, सामान्य विज्ञान एवं गणित, और मानसिक क्षमता से 50 50 प्रश्न आते हैं। हर ठीक जवाब से 4 अंक बढ़ते हैं और हर भूल से 1 अंक घटता है। मुख्य परीक्षा में पेपर 1 हिंदी भाषा का है, जिसमें कम से कम 30% अंक लाना जरूरी है। पेपर 2 में फिर वही तीन विषय होते हैं और अंतिम मेधा सूची इसी के आधार पर बनती है। बिहार से जुड़े इतिहास, भूगोल और करंट अफेयर्स पर विशेष ध्यान दें।