Why plan in phases
The Combined Graduate Level exam tests four areas under time pressure: quantitative aptitude, reasoning, English and general awareness. Beginners often study all four at once without a sequence, then find that nothing is fast enough. A phased plan builds accuracy first, speed second and exam temperament last.
Days 1 to 30: foundation
Read the latest notice and syllabus first, then write the topics on one sheet. Spend the month on concepts, not tests.
Quant: arithmetic basics such as percentages, ratio, averages, time and work, and the multiplication tables up to 20.
Reasoning: series, coding-decoding, analogy and syllogism, learning the method before the speed.
English: grammar rules, vocabulary of ten new words a day and one passage daily.
General awareness: static topics from school books, plus a short daily news habit.
Keep a single notebook for formulas and a second for mistakes. By day 30 you should be able to explain each method in your own words.
Days 31 to 60: speed and variety
Now move to topic-wise timed sets. Give yourself half the time you would normally take, check the answers, and write down why each miss happened. Add the harder chapters: algebra, geometry, mensuration, trigonometry, data interpretation and puzzles.
A workable week has two quant days, two reasoning days, one English day, one awareness day and one revision day. Keep one hour on weekends for a short sectional test.
Days 61 to 90: mocks and repair
Take a full-length mock every three days and spend at least as long reviewing it as taking it. Sort mistakes into knowledge gaps, careless errors and time errors. Fix knowledge gaps with short revision, practise careless errors with slow, accurate sets and solve time errors by deciding which questions to skip.
Weekly rhythm to copy
Monday to Friday: two focused study blocks of about 90 minutes plus a 30-minute revision slot.
Saturday: sectional test and error log update.
Sunday: full mock or rest, alternating.
Common traps
Collecting too many books, jumping between video courses, and skipping review. One good source per subject, read twice, beats five sources read once. Track the numbers each week: accuracy per section, questions attempted and time per question. If a number does not improve for two weeks, change the method and not just the hours.
If you have less time
If only 45 days remain, compress phase one into two weeks, keep the error notebook, and start mocks earlier. Prioritise topics that appear every year and are quick to score, and leave rare topics for the end.
A worked example of one week in phase two
Imagine a candidate who studies after a day job and has about three hours on weekdays. On Monday she revises percentages for 45 minutes, solves 20 timed questions, then spends an hour on reasoning series. Tuesday is English: grammar rules for 40 minutes, then a passage with questions. Wednesday returns to quant with ratio and averages, Thursday covers coding-decoding and syllogisms, and Friday is general awareness with a short quiz. On Saturday she takes a sectional test of 25 questions, and on Sunday she reviews every miss and writes the cause beside it. By the end of the week she can see exactly which topic must come first next week.
How to know the plan is working
Look at trends, not single scores. If accuracy rises over three weeks while attempts stay stable, you are learning. If scores swing wildly, you are probably changing methods too often. Keep the plan for at least two full weeks before judging it, then adjust one thing at a time.
A note on sources
This is general preparation guidance written by the ExamPragati editorial team. It is not a recruitment notification. Pattern, eligibility and dates differ between exams and years, so confirm them in the current official notice before you plan your calendar.
