Best Books for SSC CGL Preparation: SSC CGL is one of the most popular competitive exams in India and every year lakhs of aspirants appear for this exam for gaining entry into various posts in government offices. The sheer number of participants makes the level of competition very high. SSC CGL is one of the most crucial and difficult examinations in the Govt. sector. Those who can get through both the stages of the examination- Tier-I & Tier-II are recruited to different Govt. organizations, departments and ministries. For cracking the exam, an aspirant will need a solid preparation strategy and the best books for SSC CGL preparation.
In this blog, we will be sharing the best books for SSC CGL Tier 1 and Tier 2 preparation. Before we move on to books, check SSC CGL New Pattern 2023 and Apply for SSC CGL.
Best Books for SSC CGL Preparation
Let’s go through the best books for SSC CGL Preparation for each subject in the syllabus :
Best Books for General Awareness
The General Awareness section is one of the scoring sections in Tier-I as it does not require any calculation time. If you know the answer, you can score easily. So, it is very important to prepare this section seriously.
The General Awareness section consists of topics such as current affairs, history, geography, scientific research, polity, economy, general policies, awards and honors and books, and authors etc.
The list of best books for general awareness are as follows:
- General Knowledge – Arihant Publications
- Lucent’s General Knowledge – Binary Karn
- Manorama Yearbook 2022
- NCERT books of history, geography, polity, economics, etc.
- Current Affairs from newspapers like The Hindu, The Indian Express etc. For a short and efficient way to memorize current affairs, you can refer to the daily GK app by Oliveboard, attempt a daily quiz there or can download the monthly BOLT.
Best Books for Reasoning
The reasoning section comes in only Tier I, but it is a scoring subject as well. It is easy to understand, and its better practice leads you to score well. So, for its practice following are some of the right books given below.
The list of best books for general intelligence and reasoning are as follows:
- Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning – R. S. Aggarwal
- Analytical Reasoning – M K Pandey
- Previous Year Questions- Kiran Publications
Best Books for Quantitative Aptitude
The quantitative Aptitude section is most important as it comes in Tier-I as well as in Tier-II. For most of the aspirants, this section is a difficult one to solve. So, it is necessary to follow the right book for clearing concepts and practicing a lot of problems based on it. The following are those books that will help you throughout your practice.
The quantitative aptitude section deals with various mathematical concepts. The detailed syllabus for quantitative aptitude can be checked here.
The list of best books for quantitative aptitude are as follows:
- Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations – R. S. Aggarwal
- Magical Book on Quicker Maths – M Tyra
- Previous Year Questions – Kiran Publication
- Quantitative Aptitude for CAT(to practice high-level questions) – Arun Sharma
- Arithmetic, Advanced Maths – Rakesh Yadav
Books for English Language
The English Language is the most scoring subject in the SSC CGL exam as it has a good weightage in Tier -I and II. Aspirants who have learned all the things still need to practice and learn more concepts. So, the selection of the right book for this section is necessary. Below is a list of books for this section that will be useful in your preparation for Tier-I as well as Tier-II.
The list of best books for the English language is as follows:
- High School English Grammar and Composition – Wren & Martin
- Competitive General English – Kiran Prakashan
- Objective General English – S P Bakshi
- From Plinth to Paramount – Neetu Singh
- Quick Learning Objective General English – R S Aggarwal and Vikas Aggarwal
Attempt Free sectional tests for SSC CGL exams
Books for Computer Knowledge Module
- Objective Computer Awareness- R. Pillai
- Objective Question Bank of Computer Awareness for General Competition- Arihant Experts
- Computer Knowledge- Shikha Agarwal
Books for Statistics, Finance and Economics
| SUBJECT | BOOKS/RESOURCES |
| Statistics |
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| Finance and Economics |
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Also read: SSC CGL Descriptive Writing Topics
Along with the above books, the following are some other factors to be followed for better preparation:
- Give a mock test daily and analyze it properly.
- Give sectional tests for increasing speed and accuracy.
- Analyze your performance to find your strengths and weaknesses and then work on it.
- Do numerical problems always within a limited time that will help you to increase your calculation speed.
SSC CGL Exam Pattern
SSC CGL recruitment includes two stages (Tier I and Tier II) that are computer-based tests
Tier 1 will be conducted online comprising of 100 questions with a total of 200 marks. A total of 60 mins is allotted to the candidate to write the paper.
| S.No | Name of Test | No.of Questions | Max Marks | Duration |
| 1 | General Intelligence Reasoning | 25 | 50 | |
| 2 | General Awareness | 25 | 50 | |
| 3 | Quantitative Aptitude | 25 | 50 | |
| 4 | English Comprehension | 25 | 50 | |
| 5 | Total | 100 | 200 | 60 mins |
Note: In this paper, there is a negative marking of 0.50 for every wrong answer. The questions will be set both in English & Hindi except for English Comprehension in Tier-I.
Also check: SSC CGL Detailed Exam Pattern for Tier 1 and Tier 2
SSC CGL Syllabus
Aspirants of SSC CGL can check the detailed SSC CGL Syllabus here.
That’s all from us in this blog. We hope this helps you in your preparation for the SSC CGL exam.
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- 40 SSC CGL Prelims Mock Tests
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- 50+ Topic Tests
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- 15 Past Year Tier – 1 Papers Mock Tests
- SSC CGL All India Live tests for Tier 1 & Tier 2
FAQs
Best books for SSC CGL General Awareness include:
General Knowledge – Arihant Publications
Lucent’s General Knowledge – Binary Karn
NCERT books of history, geography, polity, economics
Olievboard’s Free ebooks
Books to refer for SSC CGL Quantitative Aptitude :
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations – R. S. Aggarwal
Magical Book on Quicker Maths – M Tyra
Previous Year Questions – Kiran Publication
Quantitative Aptitude for CAT(to practice high-level questions) – Arun Sharma
Arithmetic, Advanced Maths – Rakesh Yadav
Important books for SSC CGL English preparation are :
High School English Grammar and Composition – Wren & Martin
Competitive General English – Kiran Prakashan
Objective General English – S P Bakshi
From Plinth to Paramount – Neetu Singh
Quick Learning Objective General English – R S Aggarwal and Vikas Aggarwal
It gives a structure to your preparation. Books help you practice different types of questions with ample explanation and you can prepare at your own pace
Important books for SSC CGL Computer Knowledge are :
Objective Computer Awareness- R. Pillai
Objective Question Bank of Computer Awareness for General Competition- Arihant Experts
Computer Knowledge- Shikha Agarwal
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