How to Prepare For the CUET General Test 2026: Preparing Strategy & Tips

Benefits of Structured CUET 2026 Preparation

To achieve a good score in the general test in CUET, you must develop a well-defined preparation strategy. Here are the reasons why knowing how to prepare for the general test, CUET, is important:

• There are lakhs of students vying for a limited number of seats in the country’s top CUET universities. This means you should leave no stone unturned while preparing to stand out from the competition.

• The exam is time-bound, which means you have to answer all questions within the allotted time. A lack of proper preparation may lead to a situation where you underperform in a particular section and lose marks.

• CUET doesn’t focus on just one subject. You need to be well-versed in general reasoning, current affairs, GK, etc., in addition to your domain. This can only be done with regular practice.

• On D-day, it is important for you to remain calm and composed while attempting the paper. This can only happen if you have prepared well and know your strengths and weaknesses.

CUET General Test 2026 Exam Pattern

Understanding the exam pattern helps students plan their strategy accordingly. We have listed below the important particulars about the CUET exam.

CUET 2026 General Test Syllabus

1. General Knowledge: Static GK (General awareness) and current affairs.

2. General Mental Ability and Numerical Ability

3. Reasoning: Simple application of basic mathematical concepts: Quantitative arithmetic/algebra, geometry/mensuration/statistics

4. Logical and Analytical Reasoning

CUET 2026 General Test Important Topics

How to prepare GK for the CUET General Test 2026?

Basic awareness of the world around you is important not only from an exam point of view but also in general. Of the total number of questions, a significant number are from General Knowledge. If you score well here, the chances of you securing a good percentile increase. And it is not very difficult to get well-versed with GK.

Self-preparation vs Coaching: What should I choose?

• The choice of self-preparation or coaching totally depends on you.

• With coaching, you will have to spend money, but you’ll get a structured curriculum and schedule, experienced mentors, and feedback on performance.

• However, if you’re disciplined enough and do not want to spend a lot of money, then you can prepare on your own, too.

• With self-preparation, you can customise your study routine and be flexible with timings, which is helpful if you have other classes.

• So weigh the pros and cons and then decide before going for coaching or self-preparation.

How To Study For CUET 2026 General Test?

If you want to understand how to study for the general test CUET, then read the following:

Identify Key Areas

Start by analysing PYQs and sample papers to get an idea of the CUET exam pattern and the types of questions asked in each section. Having a comprehensive overview of each section is important to make sure nothing is missed while studying.

Make a Structured Study Plan

• Make a proper timetable that you can follow religiously. You can allot more hours to the subjects you’re weak in and less time to the ones you’re confident about.

• You can incorporate the habit of reading a newspaper daily in the mornings to improve your GK as well as comprehension skills for the language paper.

• Make sure to allot a couple of hours daily for practising PYQs and sample questions. Also, do not forget to take mock tests once every two weeks to gauge your performance and get familiar with the testing conditions.

Strengthen Critical Thinking Skills

Logical reasoning is all about practising as many types of questions as possible to improve your speed and accuracy. Take the help of question banks with solutions and try to understand the reasoning behind each answer. Familiarise yourself with all reasoning types such as blood relations, coding-decoding, direction sense, etc.

You can also develop a habit of solving puzzles and playing brain games such as Sudoku.

Engage with Current Affairs

• Reading newspapers and magazines regularly will improve your general awareness and language skills. Try to inculcate the habit of reading a newspaper in the morning.

• Watching news programs and documentaries will also help you retain information and understand different points of view related to a particular situation.

Revise Regularly

• Revising your subject notes or material is as important as understanding them the first time. If you do not revise, then chances are you will forget the concept while doing questions. So incorporate revision into your daily timetable.

• Regular revision will also help you build confidence as you become more familiar with the material. This, in turn, will keep you motivated for further studies.

Take Mock Tests

• Mock tests are incredibly important as they mimic actual test conditions and help you get familiar with the exam pattern. Take as many CUET mock tests as possible to practice time management.

• It doesn’t end here; you must also analyse your mocks to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Prioritise working on your weak areas while maintaining strong areas through regular practice.

• You can also ask your teachers or mentors to evaluate your mock test performance and seek their feedback.

Study Resources of CUET 2026 General Test

Recommended Books and Study Materials:

• Lucent’s General Knowledge (latest edition)

• A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal

• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by R.S. Aggarwal

• CUET Question Bank Chapter-Wise And Topic-Wise General Test (Oswaal Books)

Online resources:

Strategies to Attempt the CUET General Test

• Start the paper with the section you’re most confident about. It can be reasoning for some and numerical ability for others. It will help you gain confidence for the other sections.

• Make sure to identify your weak areas and practice as many questions as possible. On the test day, do not ponder over a particular question for too long. Move over to the next one and come back to it later if you have time.

• QA and reasoning questions take time, so make sure to allocate more time to this section as compared to GK.

• Use the elimination method if you are not confident of the answer. Try to eliminate the obviously wrong options beforehand so that you’re only left with a couple of potentially correct options. Using this method will help you zero in on the correct answer.

• If you are unsure and aren’t able to eliminate the wrong options or the question itself is totally unfamiliar, then it’s better to leave the question blank. Do not do random guesswork, as it may lead to negative marking.

CUET General Test Exam Analysis from Previous Years

After the candidates have a good understanding of the CUET general test syllabus, they must also go through the general test analysis of the previous year’s CUET question papers. Additionally, the candidates can also seek help from the various CUET general test mock tests to enhance their preparation for the CUET general test examination.

CUET 2025 General Test Question Paper Analysis

• Overall Difficulty Level: Moderate; most students found the paper manageable with a balanced mix of easy and tricky questions.

• Quantitative Aptitude: Moderate; key topics included percentages, averages, simple & compound interest, time-speed-distance, and data interpretation. Questions were straightforward but required quick calculation skills.

• Logical and Analytical Reasoning: Easy to moderate; topics like number series, coding-decoding, syllogisms, and direction sense were prominent. Puzzles were logical but time-consuming.

• General Knowledge: Moderate; focused on static GK such as Indian geography, famous personalities, awards, and important organisations.

• Current Affairs: Easy; questions mainly covered 2024–early 2025 events, including sports tournaments, government schemes, and international summits.

• Time Management: Manageable; most students could complete the paper within time, though the quantitative and reasoning sections needed careful pacing.

• Overall Impression: A well-balanced paper testing conceptual understanding, awareness, and reasoning ability rather than rote memorisation.

CUET General Test 2024 Answer Key and Analysis

Chapter-Wise Analysis

Difficulty Level

How to Prepare for CUET 2026 General Test: Important Topics

The CUET general test question paper of the previous year can give the candidates a very good idea of the most important CUET general test topics. The list below is given after careful analysis of the CUET general test question paper 2025. Prioritising these CUET general important topics can be really beneficial for the candidates to enhance their CUET preparation for 2026.

CUET General Test Previous Year Question Papers

Practising with CUET General Test previous year question papers is one of the most effective ways to prepare for CUET 2026. These papers help you understand the actual exam pattern, question difficulty, and frequently asked topics, making your preparation more targeted and exam-ready.