A mock can give you a reassuring score while teaching you the wrong timing strategy. Check its settings before your next attempt.
The CGL 2026 notice gives each Tier-I subject 15 minutes, or 20 minutes for candidates covered by its compensatory-time provisions. Each subject has 25 questions. That means a free-moving, single-clock mock does not reproduce the stated format. Official CGL 2026 notice, paragraph 13.8.
What to change in your next mock
Use four separately timed blocks. Close a block when its time ends, even if a calculation is nearly finished. Keep any later solution work in your review notebook, outside the scored attempt.
Spare time in another subject can make this frustrating. Keep the block closed anyway. A quick General Awareness attempt cannot be treated as a savings account for a slow Quant block.
Start with one diagnostic paper. For each subject, record attempted, correct, wrong and unseen questions. “Unseen” deserves its own column: you cannot judge your question selection if the last six questions never reached your screen.
Give yourself a rule for getting stuck
Try this practice rule: if you cannot identify the next useful step, leave the question and move on. The rule is about progress, not a rigid number of seconds. A short geometry question can hide a lengthy method; a longer arithmetic question can have an obvious setup.
For example, suppose you spend four minutes chasing one equation and leave four familiar questions unread. During review, solve those unread questions before looking at their answers. If you could have answered them within the same four minutes, the first problem was selection, not syllabus coverage.
Use your rough sheet deliberately. Write the question number beside unfinished work so that a revisit within the permitted block does not require starting again. Follow the actual test interface instructions about navigation; a coaching platform's controls are not official instructions.
Review the block that failed
A low score with many wrong answers needs a different response from a low score with many unseen questions. For wrong answers, separate missing knowledge from rushed reading. For unseen questions, examine long pauses and unnecessary calculations.
Do two or three comparable sectional attempts before changing your routine. One unusually familiar paper can hide a weakness. A steady improvement in correct answers per block is more useful than one personal-best total.
If you qualify for additional time, practise under the allowance applicable to your approved circumstances. Do not use another candidate's eligibility as your reference.
Next, use the negative-marking examples to review the cost of mistakes, and keep computer and DEST preparation in your weekly schedule. The exam guides hub collects the related SSC routes.
Source checked: 20 September 2026. Evidence cycle: CGL 2026. The official file name contains “2025”, but the document reviewed is titled Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2026. Check later SSC notices before your examination.