The Staff Selection Commission Combined Higher Secondary Level exam commonly known as SSC CHSL exam is conducted every year by the Staff Selection Commission to select qualified candidates for the posts of Data Entry Operator, Lower Divisional Clerk, Postal Assistant, Sorting Assistant, etc in different departments, offices and ministries under the Government of India.
The SSC CHSL exam comprises three stages i.e., Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III. The Tier-I is a computer based test, whereas Tier-II and Tier-III are descriptive tests and skill/typing tests respectively.
Any SSC CHSL aspirant knows how crucial and scoring the general awareness section is in the examination. However, preparing for the general awareness can be boring for some students as it covers the entire events that are happening or have happened around the world.
There must be a way to avoid the boring experience and at same time avoiding the last minute mugging up of each and everything. Students preparing for the SSC CHSL exam must know how to study for general awareness with devotion as it is the most scoring section and can help you clear the overall cutoff.
On that note, let’s talk about some important general awareness preparation tips to become exam ready and to ace the general awareness section in the SSC CHSL exam.
Focus on the Current Affairs of Last Six Months Before the Exam
It is a well known fact that 70-80 % current affairs questions asked in SSC exam are from the current affairs of the last six months before the exam date. However, the section covers various topics and there is so much uncertainty regarding the questions that can be asked from this section. Due to this, students are advised to focus and cover the current affairs of the last 5 to 6 months before the exam in entirety.
In case of less time to prepare, you must go through the important news from the last 6 months of current affairs.
Read Well Reputed English Newspaper Daily
Build a habit of reading good english newspapers daily to keep yourself updated with international and national developments. Take out some time everyday as per your convenience and read good english newspapers like THE HINDU, HINDUSTAN TIMES, TIME OF INDIA and more properly.
Start with the editorial section as it will not only help you get a sense of the happenings around the world but will also improve your vocabulary. Apart from this, focus on news of international and national importance and jot them down key points in your notebook.
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Make Short Notes and Revise Regularly
It’s hard to memorize everything you read and also not a viable option when you are preparing for an exam. You must buy a notebook and make short notes of the important points which can be asked in the exam.
We all know that it is a human tendency to forget things. Therefore, making notes is not enough unless you revise them regularly. Make sure to revisit your notes on a weekly basis and discuss important news with your friends. This will help you to recall and retain everything easily.
Solve Previous Years Papers
Students must solve the general awareness section of at least last five years SSC CHSL papers. This will give you an insight into the type of questions that can be expected and weightage of different topics in the general awareness section in the exam.
Topic-Wise Preparation Tips
Static GK
This section covers around 30 to 35 percent of the general awareness section. This includes Indian history, Geography of India and its neighbouring countries, Indian polity, Economy and culture and more.
Apart from this, you must go through important information such as names of world heritage sites, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, dams & rivers, important international and national organisations, etc. You must cover the complete syllabus as you cannot afford to miss out any topic during these times of heavy competition.
General Science
Under this topic, questions are mainly from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. However, the percentage of questions asked from biology is higher.
In Biology, students must learn about important inventions and discoveries, important facts about human body parts, diseases and their causes, viruses and protozoa, last few chapters of 12th NCERT book on environment, etc.
For Physics, you can go through various concepts in different chapters like Laws of Motion, Ohm’s law, Law of Inertia, Conservation of momentum, Bernoulli’s principle, and more.
In the case of Chemistry, one must be well acquainted with the chemical properties of substances and their uses, S.I units, Chemical formula and names of important compounds, physical and chemical change, chemistry of everyday and more.
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Current Affairs
For Current Affairs, students must keep themselves updated with the latest development and news of national and international importance in Economics, Technology, Science, Sports and more.
