DSSSB TGT Negative Marking: How Many Questions Should You Attempt?

DSSSB TGT negative marking is a quarter mark for every wrong answer, and it changes the question "how many should I attempt?" into "how accurate am I?". This guide works through the numbers, shows when a guess is worth it, and gives an attempt target and a time plan for the 200-question paper.

Key takeaways

• Each wrong answer costs 0.25; a blank costs nothing.
• Net score = correct − 0.25 × wrong.
• A blind guess is worth about +0.06 on average; a guess after removing two options is worth +0.375.
• Accuracy matters more than the number of attempts: 160 at 85% beats 190 at 70%.
• Plan roughly 50 minutes for Section A, 60 for Section B and 10 to review.

The words you will meet

• Attempt — a question you answer, right or wrong.
• Accuracy — correct answers divided by attempts.
• Net score — what DSSSB counts after negatives.

The arithmetic of a guess

With four options and −0.25 for a wrong answer:

Remember: remove two options and the guess is worth taking. Remove none and leave it.

Accuracy beats attempts

The candidate who attempted 190 scored lowest. In practice, aim for about 160–180 attempts at 80% accuracy or better.

A safe target

For a General candidate the minimum is 40 in Section B and 80 overall, as the exam pattern guide explains — but merit needs more. A comfortable target is 115–135 net: about 55–65 from Section A and 60–70 from Section B.

A time plan for the two hours

Trap: spending three minutes on one tricky arithmetic or code question costs you five easy fact questions later. Mark it, move on, and come back if time remains.

Train the habit in mocks

Score every mock with the −0.25 rule and record attempts, accuracy and net. If your accuracy is below 75%, attempt fewer; if it is above 90% with time left, you can afford a few more two-option guesses. The 45-day plan schedules the mocks, and the Section A strategy helps you bank the early marks. Your shift timing is in the exam date guide.

Three rules for the exam hall

1. Never leave a sure answer unmarked. Fact questions you know take ten seconds; answer them all.
2. Mark and move. If a question is not clear in about 40 seconds, mark it for review and go on.
3. Use the last ten minutes for two-option guesses only. Do not change answers you were sure of; first instincts on sure questions are usually right.

Remember: your target is a high net score, not a full answer sheet. Leaving 20–30 questions blank is normal for a strong candidate.

How to raise accuracy, not just attempts

Accuracy improves in three ways. The first is reading the whole question, including words such as "not", "incorrect" and "except". A large share of avoidable mistakes in DSSSB papers come from questions that ask which statement is not correct; a hurried reader picks the first correct statement. Train yourself to underline the question word mentally before looking at the options.

The second is eliminating before choosing. For every question you are unsure of, first strike out the options you know are wrong. Very often one or two go immediately, and the expected value of the question changes from almost nothing to a clear positive. This habit also makes you faster, because you stop re-reading all four options again and again.

The third is knowing your weak areas from mocks. If your error log shows that most wrong answers come from, say, arithmetic or code-output questions, attempt only the ones you can fully work out in the exam, and leave the rest. Strong candidates often leave twenty or thirty questions unattempted; that is not weakness but discipline.

A note on Section B and the qualifying line

Because the qualifying marks apply to Section B separately, a reckless approach in Section B is more dangerous than in Section A. A General candidate who answers 70 Section B questions with 45 correct has a net of 45 − 25 × 0.25 = 38.75 and misses the 40 line, while answering only 60 with the same 45 correct gives 41.25 and qualifies. In Section B, careful attempts can decide whether you qualify at all.

Practising the habit

Practise all of this in your mocks, not only on the exam day. After each mock, count how many wrong answers came from questions you guessed blindly. If that number is more than five or six, you are guessing too freely. Bring it down in the next mock, and watch the net score rise even if the number of attempts falls.

Treat the targets on this page as a starting point, and adjust them after every mock to your own accuracy. Your own numbers, measured honestly over several mocks, are a better guide than any general rule.

If you are unsure where to begin, start with the topic that gave the most questions in the past papers and work downwards. Write short notes as you go, revise them every few days, and test yourself with timed questions rather than only reading. Steady daily work over the remaining weeks is far more effective than long sessions in the final days, and it leaves you calm enough on the exam day to read every question carefully.

Quick revision

1. −0.25 per wrong answer; net = correct − wrong/4.
2. Blind guess +0.06; two options removed +0.375.
3. Aim for 160–180 attempts at 80%+ accuracy.
4. Target 115–135 net (Section A 55–65, Section B 60–70).
5. 50 min Section A, 60 min Section B, 10 min review.