Combined Graduate Preliminary is part of Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination. The exam is conducted by Staff Selection Commission (SSC). The selection process includes three stages:
- Combined Graduate Preliminary
- Combined Graduate Main
- Personality Test or Interview
Why to take the Combined Graduate Preliminary Exam?
Qualifying the preliminary exam enables the eligibility to the Main examination. The exam is conducted for the selection of following posts in the mentioned Departments
- Assistants in various Ministries or Central Government Services or Departments like Central Secretariat Service, Central Vigilance Commission, Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Railway, Ministry of External Affairs etc.
- Assistant Enforcement Officer in Directorate of Enforcement, Department of Revenue
- Inspectors of Preventive Officer, Central Excise, Income Tax in Custom houses, Central Bureau of Narcotics, Assistant Enforcement etc
- Sub-inspectors in CBI, national Investigation Agency and Central Bureau of Narcotics
- Sub-inspectors of Police in the Central Police Organizations like BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP etc
- Auditor, Divisional Accountant, Accountant/Junior Accountant in the offices under CAG, CGA and Others
- Upper Divisional Clerk in Ministries and Central Government Offices
- Tax Assistant in CBDT, CNEC
- Compiler in Registrar General Of India
Combined Graduate Preliminary Exam Eligibility
The eligibility criteria various based on the applying positions. Bachelor Degree from a Recognized University is the minimum requirement for all of the positions. Few of the positions like Compiler, Bachelor degree with Economics/Statistics/Mathematics must be elective subjects and for Statistical Investigator, Mathematics must be studies either in Degree level or 10+2 level. For the post of Assistants, proficiency in Computers is also expected.
Read about Combined Graduate Preliminary Exam
Age limit: The age limit is 20-27 for Assistants of Central Secretariat Service and 21-27 for Assistants of Intelligence Bureau. For all other posts of Assistants, it is 18-27. The upper age limit for Assistant Enforcement Officer is 30. For Sub Inspectors of CBI, age limit is 20-30. For Sub-inspectors of CBN it is 18-25. For Tax assistant, it is 20-27 and for Statistical Investigator the upper age limit is 32. The upper age limit is relaxed for SC/ST.
Combined Graduate Preliminary Exam Pattern:
Preliminary exam is conducted in objective multiple choice type. The syllabus for the exam is General Intelligence and Reasoning of 50 marks, General Awareness of 50 marks, Quantitative Aptitude of 50 marks and English Comprehension of 50 marks. Total marks are 200. Duration of the exam is 2 hours. The time duration for candidates who are visually handicapped and who are suffering from Cerebral Palsy is 2 hours 40 minutes. There is negative marking for wrong answers.
How to Apply Combined Graduate Preliminary Exam?
The applications can be submitted online through official website or offline. Offline applicants must past the recruitment fee stamps in the provided space and submit to the concerned Regional/Sub regional Offices of Staff Selection Commission. Online Applicants must pay using SBI challan or through valid online payment modes.
How to Prepare for Combined Graduate Preliminary Exam?
- Read the newspaper regularly which improves General Awareness as it aims the topics like Current Events, Culture, History, Geography, and general Polity etc.
- For Arithmetic, High School Mathematic textbooks are very useful for getting cleared with basics.
- Knowledge of basic grammar and vocabulary would help in the language test
- Reading English News paper helps to improve vocabulary and the correct usage of words.
- Several publications are providing practice papers which would give the knowledge of questioning pattern
- Mock tests and previous papers help to improve the time management.