OSSC CGL Syllabus for Prelims and Mains

How the OSSC CGL syllabus is staged

1. Preliminary exam: one computer-based paper of 150 marks. It screens candidates for mains, and its marks are not used in the final merit.
2. Main exam: two computer based objective papers worth 200 marks in all, plus a computer skill test and, for Auditor, a 100 mark mathematics test.
3. Certificate verification: for candidates shortlisted after mains.

The commission revised the rules for this recruitment recently, and the latest advertisement describes the mains without the old descriptive paper. If you prepared from an older guide, check every paper against the current notice before you begin.

OSSC CGL prelims syllabus and pattern

You face 150 questions worth one mark apiece inside 150 minutes, and each wrong click loses a quarter mark. Recent reports put each of the six areas at 25 questions, but treat that split as provisional until the commission's own notice confirms it.

OSSC CGL mains syllabus paper by paper

Odia

• Barna and dhwani (sounds and letters), linga, bachana, karaka and bibhakti
• Sandhi, samasa, upasarga and pratyaya
• Pratisabda, biparita sabda, rudhi and correct usage
• Sentence correction and comprehension of an unseen passage

English

• Reading comprehension
• Tenses, articles, prepositions, modals, voice and narration, subject-verb agreement
• Vocabulary: idioms, pairs of like and unlike words, single word replacements, spelling

General studies

• Indian Constitution: fundamental rights and duties and other key provisions
• Indian and Odisha economy: budget, banking, national income, planning, agriculture, taxes
• Indian and world geography, with Odisha's physical features
• History of India and of Odisha, including art and culture
• Environment and climate change

Computer skill test and who sits it

Posts with heavy office work need you to pass a computer skill test along with the mains. The latest exam programme listed Auditor, Inspector of Supplies, Estate Supervisor, BSSO, Junior Assistant and Junior Clerk, with a 50 mark, one hour test where 25 marks were needed to qualify. Auditor candidates also sat a separate 100 question mathematics test of 2 hours with a qualifying mark of 50. It checks practical use of word processing, spreadsheets, email and internet, which matches the basic computer condition in the eligibility rules.

Expect the pass mark and the post list to shift from one recruitment to another; the advertisement settles both. Practise word processing in both Odia and English and simple spreadsheet tasks such as sorting and totals, so this stage never becomes a surprise.

Eligibility in brief

• Qualification: a bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised university, plus basic computer skills. Some posts add specific requirements.
• Age: 21 to 42 years in the latest advertisement (the latest notice counted age on 1 January), with 5 extra years for SC, ST, SEBC and women and 10 for persons with disabilities.
• Odia: you must read, write and speak Odia, shown through a school pass in Odia as a subject, Odia medium at matriculation, or the state's Odia test at ME school standard.

Our eligibility checker page shows how cut-off dates and relaxations work in practice. Other Odisha and state level exams are grouped on the state exams hub.

Where to put your effort

If the reported split of 25 questions per area holds, arithmetic, data interpretation and reasoning together make up half the prelims paper, and they reward daily practice. Current events and computer awareness are fast to revise if you keep short notes. The Odisha section is the one outsiders find hardest and locals often take for granted; both should give it proper study.

In mains, the language paper is where Odia speakers gain an edge. Clean grammar in both Odia and English can lift your total more than an extra month of GS reading.

Twelve weeks of preparation for the Odisha CGL

1. Weeks 1 to 4: arithmetic and DI every morning, Odisha history and geography in the evening, current events for 20 minutes daily.
2. Weeks 5 to 8: reasoning sets, computer awareness, one prelims mock a week with strict 0.25 negative marking.
3. Weeks 9 to 12: two mocks a week, revise Odisha culture and the Constitution, start Odia and English grammar for mains.

Odisha board school textbooks for state history and geography, NCERT books for Indian polity and economy, and past papers from the commission's website are the most useful material.