The pattern of the Staff Selection Commission CPO (SI & ASI) Examination conducted on March 20, 2016 was similar to the one conducted in the morning slot though the difficulty level of the paper has decreased marginally. The evening slot (2 p.m. to 4 pm) had a single unique question paper with multiple sets. Overall, the paper was on the same pattern as last year.
The pattern of the test was as follows:
| Section |
Total Questions |
Level of difficulty |
Good Attempts |
Good
|
Approximate time taken
|
|
General Intelligence and Reasoning |
50 |
Easy-Moderate |
41-43 |
35-38 |
35 |
|
GK and General Awareness |
50 |
Difficult |
19-24 |
14-16 |
20 |
|
Quantitative Aptitude |
50 |
Easy-Moderate |
34-36 |
31-33 |
40 |
|
English Comprehension |
50 |
Easy |
33-35 |
31- 33 |
25 |
|
Total |
200 |
|
127-138 |
111-120 |
120 |
|
UR (General) |
OBC |
SC |
ST |
|
|
Male |
86-90 |
72-76 |
66-70 |
64-67 |
|
Female |
81-85 |
68-72 |
60-64 |
58-64 |
In this section, questions were from an array of topics and most of them had an easy to moderate level of difficulty. A student could have easily attempted approximately 35 questions in this section.
The details of the section are as given below-
|
Topic |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
|
Analogy |
6 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Age |
1 |
Easy |
|
Coding-decoding |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Dice |
1 |
Easy |
|
Directions |
4 |
Easy |
|
Matrix based |
2 |
Easy |
|
Missing number |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Odd one out |
6 |
Easy |
|
Series |
4 |
Easy |
|
Statement-conclusion |
2 |
Easy |
|
Dictionary order |
2 |
Easy |
|
Venn diagram |
2 |
Easy |
|
Visual Reasoning |
8 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Word formation |
2 |
Easy |
|
Puzzles (No. of triangles/squares) |
2 |
Easy |
|
Puzzles (Sign based) |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
This section was difficult and was definitely NOT on expected lines. As usual, maximum questions were from Science section (16 in all), which were of high level of difficulty. Current Affairs were quantitatively second in number, having 9 questions followed by polity with 8 questions. Economics had 5 questions. Rest of the sections were as usual in nature. Overall, the paper was on a higher level of difficulty having some very tricky questions especially in Science, Economics and polity section. A sure shot score in the range of 15 to 18 should be treated as ‘Good’, in this section.
The split-up of questions, section wise, is as follows:
| Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
|
History |
7 |
Moderate-Difficult |
|
Geography |
4 |
Moderate-Difficult |
|
Polity |
8 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Economics |
5 |
Difficult |
|
Biology |
6 |
Difficult |
|
Chemistry |
4 |
Difficult |
|
Physics |
4 |
Difficult |
|
Computer |
2 |
Moderate-Difficult |
|
Books & Authors |
1 |
Difficult |
|
Current Affairs |
9 |
Easy to moderate |
Compared to the morning slot, the quant section was easier. The question break-up changed significantly, e.g, there were no questions on height and distances and quadrilateral. The number of questions in Number System increased from 1 to 6 while in Algebra, the number of questions decreased from 9 to 4. The level of difficulty and the number of Mensuration questions increased compared to the morning slot. Besides, the level of difficulty and the weightage of the number of questions from Arithmetic, Geometry and Data Interpretation remained the same. Candidates who appeared in the evening slot will definitely get an advantage since the paper was easier and it can be inferred that they should score higher in comparison to the candidates who appeared in the morning slot.
The details of the section are as given below-
|
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
|
Number System |
6 |
Easy |
|
Percentages |
1 |
Easy |
|
SI/CI |
2 |
Easy |
|
Profit, Loss and Discount |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Ratio and Proportion |
1 |
Easy |
|
Averages |
1 |
Easy |
|
Ages |
1 |
Easy |
|
Mixture & Alligation |
1 |
Moderate |
|
Work & Time, Pipes & Cisterns |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Time, Speed and Distance |
2 |
Moderate |
|
Algebra |
4 |
Moderate |
|
Geometry - Triangles |
4 |
Moderate |
|
Geometry - Circles |
1 |
Moderate |
|
Mensuration |
6 |
Moderate-Difficult |
|
Trigonometry |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Data Interpretation - Pie Chart |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Data Interpretation - Bar Graph |
4 |
Easy |
Majority of the questions in this section can be categorised under Vocabulary and Grammar. In Vocabulary, there were questions on Antonyms, Synonyms, Spelling and One word Substitution. In Grammar, there were questions on Sentence Improvement, Spot the Error, Fill in the blanks and Cloze test. There was 1 Reading Comprehension passage with 5 questions following. A student could have easily attempted 33-35 questions in this section.
The details of the section are as given below-
|
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
|
Sentence Improvement |
5 |
Easy |
|
Synonyms and Antonyms |
10 |
Easy |
|
Fill in the blanks |
5 |
Easy |
|
Cloze test |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Reading Comprehension |
5 |
Easy |
|
1 word substitution |
5 |
Easy |
|
Spot the error |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Idiom/Phrase |
5 |
Easy |
|
Spelling |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Disclaimer: All information on cut-offs, analysis, answer key and scores are based on independent analysis and evaluation made by Career Launcher. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information.
All the best!
Team CL