SSC MTS & Havaldar · Reasoning Ability and Problem Solving

Multi Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff

Sixty marks of reasoning — and in that session, a wrong answer costs you nothing.

Session-I is half arithmetic, half reasoning, forty-five minutes, and no negative marking. Clear it and Session-II gets marked. Don't, and it never does.

For matriculation-level candidates preparing for MTS and Havaldar posts.

There is no negative marking in Session-I. A wrong answer costs nothing there, so the session is decided purely by how many you actually get right. Session-II is a different game — one mark off for every wrong answer. Source: SSC Notice of Examination, MTS & Havaldar, paras 14.5.5 and 18.2. Confirm the current cycle at ssc.gov.in ↗

Session-I, in numbers

20
reasoning questions
60
marks — half the session
45 min
for the session, then it closes
0
deducted for a wrong answer
A tree growing inside a mind Why start now

Nothing is deducted. So the only question is how many you can see.

In most exams half of preparation is deciding what to leave blank. Not in this session. Nothing is taken off for a wrong answer, so everyone attempts everything — which means Session-I isn't won by nerve. It's won by being right, quickly.

Being right quickly at series, analogies, coding and diagram questions is a trained reflex. It builds a little at a time, over weeks, and once it's there it doesn't leave before exam day.

Forty-five minutes, and then the session closes by itself. The faster you are on the reasoning half, the more of that time is left for the arithmetic half. The day you start is the day it starts compounding.

What · the exam

Two sessions, same day. They don't score the same way.

Session-I is the gate: SSC evaluates Session-II only if you qualify in Session-I. The merit list is then built on Session-II alone.

Session-I · no negative marking

Reasoning Ability and Problem Solving

20 questions · 60 marks · 45-minute session
  • Alpha-numeric series, coding and decoding, analogy
  • Following directions, similarities and differences
  • Jumbling, problem solving and analysis
  • Non-verbal reasoning from diagrams, ages, calendar and clock
Sixty of this session's 120 marks. Qualify here, or Session-II is never evaluated.
Session-II · one mark negative

General Awareness and English

50 questions · 150 marks · 45 minutes
  • General Awareness — 25 questions, 75 marks
  • English Language and Comprehension — 25 questions, 75 marks
  • One full mark deducted for each wrong answer
  • Starts the moment Session-I closes
The merit list is built here — and only Session-I qualifiers reach it.
How · train the section

The half of Session-I you can actually train.

Reasoning isn't a syllabus you can read. It's a thinking skill, built by practising the right questions, the right amount, over time. That's exactly what Master Mental Ability does — and SSC's own syllabus for this part names series, coding, analogy, directions, clocks and calendars and non-verbal reasoning from diagrams, which is precisely what the app trains.

◎

Adapts to you

Harder as you improve, easier when you slip. No time wasted on what you've already got.

↻

Back before you forget

Spaced repetition returns a question right as it's about to fade — so it's still there on exam day.

✎

Solve first, then see

You reason it out before the answer shows. That effort is where recognition gets built.

☁

Calm before the clock

A moment to settle before each session. The same calm a 45-minute session takes away.

What this doesn't cover: the MTS paper is four parts across two sessions. We train one — Reasoning Ability and Problem Solving. Numerical and Mathematical Ability, General Awareness and English need their own preparation, and the Havaldar PET/PST needs the ground, not a phone. Inside reasoning we train the core: series, analogies, coding, classification, directions, clocks and calendars, and non-verbal reasoning from diagrams.
Works offline on Android

Practice anywhere. On Android, practice itself needs no internet.

On Android, all the questions live on your phone, so after install, daily practice costs zero data. The app needs the internet once to start, then at least once a week. In the web app, on a phone or computer, you practise in the browser while you are online.

Android works offline Full-screen web practice Progress saved online Zero data during practice
Try without an account

No account, no card, no install. Solve one full session, then decide.

Start free

On Android? The app is in beta. Join in two steps:

  1. Join the tester group
  2. Become a tester on Google Play, then install

Use the Google account that is on your phone for both steps. Can't join? Use the web app in your phone's browser.

Built by

In 2007, in his second year at IIT Delhi, Vineesh wrote a book — Master Mental Ability in 30 Days. It has sold year after year ever since, without the publisher ever marketing it.

In the years since, he built other learning products and spent a decade working with children of every background in a holistic learning centre.

This app goes far beyond that book — everything he's learned about how people actually learn, built into something you practise, not just read.

More about us →

No risk to you

Don't trust us. See it work.

1

Try free

Solve a full session, no registration. Decide nothing yet.

2

Register

Like it? Sign up and get 15 days free. No payment, no auto-debit.

3

Practise daily

Fifteen minutes a day on alphanumeric series, coding and decoding, and non-verbal reasoning from diagrams — 20 questions worth 60 marks, half of Session I.

4

Share to keep learning free

Invite a friend preparing for SSC — you both earn more free days.

Your questions

Common questions

Is it really free? Will money get taken from my account?

Free to try — no signup to start, no card, no auto-debit, nothing taken silently. When you want the full library there are three plans, by length: ₹499 for three months, ₹699 for six, ₹999 for a year. Each is a single payment for that period, not a subscription — when it ends we ask you, and nothing is ever taken automatically. You can also keep learning free by sharing the app, and you can always try before paying anything.

Is this app enough to clear SSC MTS?

No — and no single app is. The paper is four parts across two sessions; this one trains Reasoning Ability and Problem Solving. Numerical and Mathematical Ability, General Awareness and English need their own work, and the Havaldar physical tests need the ground. What we do, we do properly.

Is it true there's no negative marking?

In Session-I, yes. SSC's notice says there is no negative marking in Session-I, and one mark deducted for each wrong answer in Session-II. So in the reasoning half, attempting a question can only help you — which also means everyone attempts everything, and the session is decided by who is right.

I have very little time before my exam. Is this any use?

Some. Practice always beats no practice. But be honest with yourself about what forty questions in forty-five minutes means: recognition is built over months, not in a week. Start anyway — the next cycle is closer than it feels.

Is the app in Hindi?

Yes — fully. Choose Hindi and the whole app is Hindi: the questions themselves, the options, and the explanation after each one — not an English app with Hindi labels around it. Worth knowing either way: SSC conducts this examination in Hindi, English and 13 regional languages, for Session-I and the General Awareness part of Session-II.

How much internet does it need?

On the Android app, very little. The questions are on your phone, so you can practise on a train, in a village with no signal, on a phone with no data pack. It needs the internet once to start, then at least once a week to keep your access active; that is also when your progress is saved online. If it goes longer than a week without connecting, practice pauses until it does, and nothing is lost. The web app needs a connection while you practise.

When is the next SSC MTS, and where do I apply?

Only on the Staff Selection Commission's own website, ssc.gov.in — never through an agent and never through us. SSC publishes a Notice of Examination each cycle with the application window, and its Tentative Calendar advertises MTS & Havaldar around June with the exam between September and November. Check ssc.gov.in for the current cycle.

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