SSC CPO General Intelligence & Reasoning Syllabus
Fifty questions in thirty minutes, fifty marks, and every one of them counts towards the final merit list. Reasoning is a quarter of Paper 1 and the section where a prepared candidate gains the most ground on the clock.
Where it sits in the exam
Detail | Value |
Paper | Paper 1 |
Questions | 50 |
Marks | 50 |
Time | 30 minutes, sectional |
Negative marking | 0.25 |
Thirty-six seconds a question, with the section locking when the timer ends.
SSC CPO reasoning syllabus, topic wise
Analogy and classification
Semantic, symbolic, number and figural forms of both. Verbal and figure classification also appear.
Series
Arithmetic number series, semantic series, figural series and non-verbal series.
Coding and decoding
Letter coding, number coding, substitution coding and symbolic operations.
Statement conclusion and syllogistic reasoning
Explicitly named in the CPO syllabus, and more prominent here than in the constable level papers. Statement and conclusion, statement and assumption, plus syllogism.
Space visualisation and spatial orientation
Direction sense, mirror and water images, paper folding, cubes and dice, along with figure counting.
Visual memory, discrimination and observation
Pattern recognition questions testing how quickly you notice small differences.
Relationship concepts and arithmetical reasoning
Blood relations, family trees, ordering, ranking and simple logical puzzles.
Non-verbal reasoning
Pattern folding and unfolding, figural pattern completion and embedded figures.
Other topics
Problem solving, word building, Venn diagrams, drawing inferences, critical thinking, plus emotional and social intelligence.
What makes CPO reasoning different
The topic list is close to CGL Tier 1. The clock is not, and neither is the syllogism weighting.
Statement conclusion and syllogistic reasoning are named explicitly in the CPO syllabus in a way they are not in the constable papers. Those question types are rule based and improve quickly once the rules are learned, which makes them among the safest marks in the section.
Fifty questions in thirty minutes also changes what a good question looks like. A puzzle that would take ninety seconds is a puzzle worth skipping, because three faster questions are worth more than one hard one.
How to prepare
Work by question type until each is automatic, then move to full sectional practice under the thirty minute clock. Practising untimed sets teaches you the topics and none of the exam.
Learn syllogism rules properly. Venn diagram method, all four standard statement forms and the common traps. It is a few hours of work for a reliable block of marks.
Decide in advance what you skip. At thirty-six seconds a question, the decision to move on has to be instant, and candidates who make it consciously score better than those who discover it at question 40.
Frequently asked questions
How many reasoning questions are asked in SSC CPO?
50 questions for 50 marks in Paper 1, with 30 minutes for the section.
Is syllogism part of the SSC CPO syllabus?
Yes. Statement conclusion and syllogistic reasoning are named explicitly.
What is the negative marking in this section?
0.25 marks for each wrong answer.
Is there sectional timing for reasoning in CPO?
Yes. The section runs on its own 30 minute timer and locks when it ends.
Do reasoning marks count in the final merit?
Yes. Paper 1 marks form part of the 400 mark merit total.
Topics, marks, timing and negative marking on this page follow the scheme of examination in the latest SSC CPO notification published on ssc.gov.in.