SSC CGL Quantitative Aptitude: questions, weightage & strategy
Quant decides SSC CGL. The syllabus is Class-10 arithmetic, so the gap between candidates is never knowledge — it's speed. The section is won by calculation shortcuts and by knowing which question to skip.
| Exam | SSC CGL |
|---|---|
| Section | Quantitative Aptitude |
| Weightage | 25 questions · 50 marks in Tier-I |
| Paper pattern | Tier-I: 100 questions / 200 marks / 60 minutes · −0.50 per wrong answer |
What actually scores in SSC CGL Quantitative Aptitude
Percentage, profit-loss, ratio, average, time-work and time-speed-distance supply the bulk of questions. Geometry, mensuration and trigonometry follow — and are where most candidates lose time.
Tables to 30, squares to 40 and cubes to 20, plus fraction-percentage equivalents (1/8 = 12.5%). This alone removes several seconds from most questions, compounding across 25.
First pass: answer everything solvable in under 45 seconds. Second pass: return to the heavy geometry and DI sets with whatever time remains. Attempting sequentially is the most common way to run out of clock.
High-yield topics
- ✓Percentage, profit & loss, discount
- ✓Ratio & proportion, partnership, averages
- ✓Time-speed-distance and time & work
- ✓Simple and compound interest
- ✓Geometry, mensuration and basic trigonometry
- ✓Data Interpretation (bar, pie, tabular)
5 Quantitative Aptitude questions to try now
These are original practice questions written in the SSC CGL style — not official previous-year papers. For the real papers as published, download the official PDFs.
If the price of an item is increased by 25% and then decreased by 20%, the net change in price is:
Why: Take 100 → +25% = 125 → −20% of 125 = 125 − 25 = 100. The price returns to the original, so there is no net change. Successive percentage changes never simply add.
A can finish a work in 12 days and B in 18 days. Working together, they finish it in:
Why: Take LCM 36 units. A does 3 units/day, B does 2 units/day, together 5 units/day. 36 ÷ 5 = 7.2 days. The LCM method is faster than the fraction formula.
A sum of ₹8,000 amounts to ₹9,200 in 3 years at simple interest. The rate of interest per annum is:
Why: Interest = 9200 − 8000 = ₹1200 over 3 years, so ₹400 per year. Rate = 400/8000 × 100 = 5% per annum.
The average of 11 numbers is 50. If the average of the first six is 49 and of the last six is 52, the sixth number is:
Why: Total = 11 × 50 = 550. First six = 294, last six = 312, summing to 606. The sixth number is counted twice, so it is 606 − 550 = 56.
The area of a circle is 154 cm². Its circumference is: (take π = 22/7)
Why: πr² = 154 → r² = 154 × 7/22 = 49 → r = 7 cm. Circumference = 2πr = 2 × 22/7 × 7 = 44 cm.
Other SSC CGL sections
SSC CGL Quantitative Aptitude — FAQ
The concepts are Class-10 level, so difficulty comes from the clock: 25 questions in roughly 18–20 minutes. Speed techniques matter far more than advanced mathematics.