Ranking & Time Sequence Tests — Pick a Level and Start
Tap a level to see every test in it. Level 1 is set at real SSC CGL difficulty — start there the day you finish the concept. Level 2 is pitched above the exam, to push accuracy under pressure.
Level 1 SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests
Same difficulty as the real SSC CGL paper — one rule per question. Total from positions at both ends, position from the other end, a single interchange of places, ranks above and below, people between two others, comparison chains of four to six people, “taller than only k” clues, one-step day sequence, the date of a weekday in a month, digit-pattern counting and simple order or stacking puzzles. A steady score here means the chapter is exam-ready.
Level 2 Above SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests
Harder than the exam asks. Two rules are chained — a swap followed by a “how many between” count, a midpoint followed by a shift, ranks inside one group turned into ranks in the full list — or the question runs in reverse: the least or greatest possible size of a row, a value that cannot be true. Comparison sets grow to seven or eight people, day phrases are nested, and stacks hold seven or eight boxes. Wrong options are the slips students actually make: the missing “− 1”, the wrong end, “above” read as “below”.
Every ranking question is counting with one person counted twice. Whether the row has children, cars or electric poles, a place known from both ends gives the total as left + right − 1 — and almost every wrong option is built on forgetting that − 1, or on adding it where it does not belong.
Marks are lost in three places. The first is mixing the two ends — a position from the left and a position from the right cannot be subtracted until both are written from the same end. The second is reading a comparison clause backwards: “Q is not as heavy as P” puts P on top. The third is counting days from the wrong anchor — “four days after tomorrow” is five days from today.
How Many Ranking & Time Sequence Questions Are Asked in SSC CGL?
This is a small but steady chapter — usually zero to one question in a Tier I shift, and the same counting rules turn up inside seating and puzzle sets. A set of 63 previous-year SSC questions on this chapter (2010–2024) splits as follows.
| Kind of question | Questions out of 63 |
|---|---|
| Ranking & position in a row (both ends, interchange, between) | 20 |
| Comparison (height, age, marks, weight, inequalities) | 18 |
| Calendar by years and clock hands | 12 |
| Order & stacking puzzles, word order | 5 |
| Day sequence and dates within a month | 4 |
| Number & alphabet test | 4 |
Calendar-by-year and clock-hand questions are practised in the Calendar & Clock chapter, and dictionary or alphabet-position questions in the Alphabet Test chapter. The tests here cover everything else in the same balance — ranking and comparison make up most of each test.
What You Will Practice in the Ranking & Time Sequence Chapter
Ranking and position in a row
- Total from a position at both ends; people ahead and behind
- Position from the other end; rank from the top or the bottom
- Interchange of positions — the total, or a new position after the swap
- Ranks above and below, chains of three or four people, people between two others
- Ranks inside a group (passed, girls, boys) turned into the rest of the class
- Least or greatest possible size of a row, and people moving places
Comparison
- Tallest, shortest, eldest, youngest, middle and second-from-top in chains of four to eight people
- “Taller than only k” and “shorter than only k” clues
- Lengths and weights linked by half, double and “k more than”; ages in years
- Possible or impossible values, and symbolic inequalities such as A > B ≥ C
Day sequence, number test and order
- Yesterday, tomorrow and nested day phrases; the date of the k-th weekday in a month
- Scheduled time, late and early arrivals, fast and slow clocks
- Digit-pattern counting in a string, digit swapping and rearranging, digit-sum lists
- Order of arrival or reading, and boxes or books stacked one above another
Rules worth knowing instantly
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| One person counted from both ends | Total = L + R − 1 |
| People ahead and behind | Total = ahead + behind + 1 |
| From the other end | R = N − L + 1 |
| Between two places a < b | b − a − 1 |
| After an interchange | N = new place of one + old place of the other (opposite end) − 1 |
| “More than only k” out of n | Place n − k from the top |
| Days | Write each phrase as ± days from today; reduce by 7 |
Write both positions from the same end before you subtract anything.
The three mistakes that cost the most marks
- Forgetting the − 1. 7th from the left and 12th from the right is a row of 18, not 19.
- Mixing ends. 22nd from the left and 20th from the right in a row of 35 are not on the sides you expect — convert first.
- Reading clauses backwards. “Not as tall as”, “junior to” and “born after” all point downward.
Solved Examples — SSC CGL Ranking & Time Sequence
How the Ranking & Time Sequence Tests Work
- 25 questions per test, with a full question palette — answered, skipped, marked for review, not visited.
- Every kind of question in every level — ranking, comparison, day sequence, number test and order puzzles are mixed in each test.
- Optional 15-minute timer — with the clock to build exam speed, without it while you are still learning the chapter.
- Marking: +2 correct, −0.5 wrong, 0 unattempted — the same scheme as the real paper.
- Solutions, shortcut tricks and concept notes open after you submit, question by question — every wrong option is explained too.
- English and हिंदी, chosen at the start of every test.
- Free with a TrickySSC account — sign in once with Google or your mobile number, and every test is open to you.
How to Prepare Ranking & Time Sequence for SSC CGL
- Learn the five counting rules above by heart. Almost every ranking question is one of them, or two of them chained.
- Draw the row. A line with the two people marked and their counts written on the correct sides prevents most end-mixing errors.
- Turn every comparison clause into >. Then join the clauses through the names they share until one chain covers everyone.
- For days, write today as 0. Convert each phrase to a plus or minus number of days and add them.
- For digit strings, mark the qualifying digits as you scan. Then count the marks, not the digits.
- Do Level 1 untimed first, then with the 15-minute clock. Move to Level 2 once Level 1 is steady, and then check yourself on a previous year paper.
All SSC CGL Chapter Wise Tests
Every chapter below has its own free Level 1 and Level 2 tests with full solutions.
Browse all 48 chapter tests — Maths (35) · Reasoning (13)
- Word Analogy
- Letter Analogy
- Number Analogy
- Number-Set & Triad Analogy
- Mixed Analogy
- Word Classification
- Letter Classification
- Number Classification
- Number-Pair & Triad Classification
- Word-Pair & Mixed Classification
- Series (Number, Letter & Alphanumeric)
- Alphabet Test
- Time Sequence, Number & Ranking
- All Reasoning chapters →
- Number System
- Rule of Divisibility
- Remainder Theorem
- Decimal & Fraction
- LCM & HCF
- Square & Cube Root
- Number Series (AP & GP)
- Power, Indices & Surds
- Algebraic Formula
- Algebraic Result
- Algebraic Expression & Identities
- Percentage
- Profit & Loss
- Discount & Marked Price
- Simple Interest
- Compound Interest
- Ratio & Proportion
- Partnership
- Average
- Problems on Ages
- Mixture & Alligation
- Time & Work
- Pipe and Cistern
- Time, Speed and Distance
- Quadratic Equation
- Boat and Stream
- Races
- Trigonometry
- Heights & Distances
- Geometry
- Mensuration
- Coordinate Geometry
- Probability
- Statistics
- Data Interpretation
- All Maths chapters →
SSC CGL समय-क्रम, संख्या व रैंकिंग (Time Sequence, Number & Ranking) चैप्टर टेस्ट — हिंदी में
इस अध्याय में पंक्ति में स्थान (RANKING), स्थान-परिवर्तन, दो व्यक्तियों के बीच के लोग, लंबाई-आयु-अंकों की तुलना, असमिका (INEQUALITY), दिनों का क्रम, महीने में तारीख, संख्या परीक्षण और क्रम-व्यवस्था के प्रश्न आते हैं। मूल नियम: यदि कोई बाएँ से L-वाँ और दाएँ से R-वाँ है, तो कुल = L + R − 1।
सबसे आम गलतियाँ: − 1 भूल जाना, दोनों सिरों की गिनती को बिना एक सिरे पर लाए घटा देना, और “जितना लंबा नहीं” या “कनिष्ठ” जैसे कथनों को उलटा पढ़ना।
TrickySSC पर इस अध्याय के सभी टेस्ट हिंदी में उपलब्ध हैं — प्रश्न, विकल्प, विस्तृत हल और शॉर्टकट ट्रिक सब हिंदी में। दो स्तर हैं: लेवल 1 (SSC CGL के स्तर का) और लेवल 2 (SSC CGL से कठिन)। प्रत्येक टेस्ट में 25 प्रश्न, वैकल्पिक 15 मिनट का टाइमर और +2 / −0.5 की वही मार्किंग जो असली परीक्षा में होती है।