How to Crack JE-ATC Exam in First Attempt?

Is it really tough to crack the JE-ATC Exam? I would say it is not if you plan it strategically with a specialized approach. I’ve talked to ATCs who have already aced this exam in the past. They all shared their own ideas and strategies, and we eventually combined them to create a comprehensive plan that, I am confident, will help the majority of you pass the JE-ATC exam.

So, what’s the strategy? Well, It starts with a single image the Airport Authority of India shared on 8 June 2022. Here it is –

Releasing a clueless syllabus with only subject names without any topic details at all, AAI has put all the ATC aspirants in a difficult position where they don’t know what to read and what to skip. This is where comprehensive strategy comes into play. We will prepare for this exam section-wise. Once you have books, important topics(what to read), old question papers to practice, and solid tips for each section, it will become much easier for you to crack this exam.

Is it Really Tough to Crack JE-ATC Exam?

Things have changed drastically in the last couple of years. There was a time when no one was writing about the ATC exam online. Almost every news website has written about JE-ATC recruitment this year. Even some Educational Technology companies have started special courses and batches for ATC exam preparation. Cut off for the general category in 2012 was only 64, it was 76+ in the next recruitment in 2015, 87 in 2018, and 95+ ATC JE exam held in 2021. This trend will continue. The difficulty level of the JE-ATC exam might not have changed over the years but one thing is sure – competition has increased rapidly and the increasing no. of applications with each new recruitment has made the JE-ATC exam tough to crack. So you need to prepare seriously and strategically to score high.

What’s the Salary of JE-ATC in India 

How to Crack AAI ATC JE Exam?

ATC Syllabus has been divided into 2 sections – Technical and Non-Technical. Both the parts have the same weightage i.e. 60 marks each. Most students find Technical hard and Non-Tech easier.  The difficulty level will be of class 12th level and basic graduation level. ATC JE Exam 2021 was a complete mess. To restore its credibility, I suppose they won’t repeat the mistake and set a very balanced question paper this time covering a wide variety of topics from school and graduation level books. General strategy should be gaining good fundamental and conceptual knowledge of 11th, 12th, and Graduation 1st Year Physics and Maths. Marks scored in the technical portion will make a major difference and take you ahead of other students but you must know the answer to an important question before you go to the exam hall-

Which Part of The Exam Should I Attempt First? Technical or Non-Technical?

Many students after the exam complain that there were some easy questions they left unanswered because of timeout. This happens because Tech Section if you try to attempt first consumes all your time. Always attempt the Non-Tech portion first and save as much time as you can for bit lengthy questions in the technical section.  Always remember technical section should be your priority while preparing for the exam but it is the Non-Tech part you should attempt first while writing the actual exam.

ATC Recruitment 2022 : Commonly Asked Questions With Answers

Time management will also play an important role. Finding a tough time solving a question? Move on to the next without wasting time. Handle such questions in the next round. Attempt all questions as there is no negative marking. Let’s discuss the strategy in detail and portion wise –

Strategy for Technical Section of JE-ATC Exam

The technical section will have 60 questions – 30 questions from Physics and 30 from Mathematics.  Although the Technical section has the same weightage as Non-Tech, it is the section that decides the fate of almost all candidates appearing in the test as non-tech section is covered well by everyone considering its level. Preparing the Technical portion well should be your priority. Paper is mainly based on 11-12^th Maths and Physics concepts with some topics taken from Graduation level syllabus.  For graduation level topics, just refer to books of the first year of graduation. Small numerical problems based on formulae have been frequently seen in previous ATC exams. Your goal should be to score 50 or more marks in this section.

Important books for Physics and Mathematics

Concept of Physics Vol. I and Vol. II (Author:H.C. Verma) – A very good book for not only ATC but also other competitive exams for concept building in Physics.

NCERT Books (11th and 12th Standard) – They have specifically mentioned that questions will be at 10+2 level.

Maths XI and XII (Author: R.D. Sharma) – Another good book used extensively by students preparing for IIT-JEE as this book offers a wide variety of mathematical problems.

Important Topics for Physics

Here are some important topics based on previous ATC exams held in 2015, 2016, and 2018.

Semiconductors : p-type and n-type semiconductors , Logic gates, Superconductors, Scalar and Vectors, Satellites time period, Newton’s laws of motion (Projectile, Momentum), Escape velocity, Laws of Thermodynamics, Potential and Kinetic Energy, Bond structures in solids, Carnot cycle, wave equations, Ampere’s law, Ideal Gas equation, orbital velocity, Escape velocity,  Gauss law, diffraction, Occupancy Probability (Fermi-Dirac equation, Bose-Einstein equation), Maxwell Equations, spring, Planck’s distribution function, London equation, Bernoulli Theorem, Latent heat, Young’s double slit experiment, Curie-Weiss Law, Capacitance, Magnetism, Number of modes of vibrations, Inductance, Potential and Kinetic Energy Torque and Dipole Moment, Light, Lasers, X-rays, Electric and Magnetic Field Equations, Curie Temperature, Diffraction Experiments and Theories, Polarization of waves, Transverse and Longitudinal waves, Interference, energy-mass equation, pendulum, quantum mechanics, Capacitors, Work function, Uncertainty Principle, De Broglie wavelength, Newton’s ring experiment, Magnetism, Pointing Vector, Polarization of wave, Wave Optics Ray Optics, Mechanics Properties of diamagnetic, paramagnetic, ferromagnetic substances, Quantum Mechanics Special Theory of Relativity, forces: centripetal and centrifugal, Optics : different lens and mirror formulas including reflection refraction, 12th level questions of Atomic theory chapter from physics, Basic formula based questions from heat exchange and thermodynamics , Electrostatic and magnetic motions , electricity and current , motion of charge in electromagnetic field

Super Important Topics – Hard to predict but just to give a hint – questions from Mechanics, optics and Thermodynamics were repeatedly asked in previous ATC question papers.

Important Topics for Mathematics

Here are some important topics derived from JE-ATC exams held during last 7 years –

3D, Convergence and Divergence of series, Complex Number, Complex Integral, Probability, Limits, Numerical Methods (Bisection, Newton-Raphson methods for finding roots and Trapezoidal Rule of integration, etc.), Modern/Abstract Algebra Differential Equations (Solution, IF and CF), Integration (Definite and indefinite, numerical methods), Geometry (Asymptotes, Lines, Tangent and Normal), Matrices (Identity, skew-symmetric, transpose, rank, Inverse, Eigenvalues), Functions (Analytic Function, C.R. equation), Vectors, Derivatives (Max., Min. Values) , Lagrange Theorem and Formula, Function, Partial Diff. equation, Number of elements, Residue, Sets and subsets, Geometry (Line, Ellipse, parabola, planes, Hyperbola, Tangents and normal), Taylor Series, Permutation combination, Probability, Trigonometry and inverse trigonometry ( including basic formulas of the system of triangles)

Super Important Topics – Matrix, Differential Equation, Convergence and Divergence of series and Coordinate Geometry. Questions from these topics were repeatedly asked in almost every previous year’s question paper.

Useful Tips for Technical Section – 

• Practice Numerical with a higher difficulty level. Attempt 15-20 numerical from each chapter (Solved examples + Exercise Questions).
• Don’t go for lengthy questions which take 5-6 minutes to be solved. Such questions are generally not suitable for exams where only 1 minute is allotted to solve a question.
• Practice the solved examples and keep revising the formulae.
• Note down formulae on a plain sheet and keep revising it as and when you get the free time. Paste formulae sheets on the room’s walls so that you can refer them anytime you want.
• Focus on numerical, theory, and application-based questions
• Solve previous year’s exam’s question papers to get a general idea of difficulty level, question types, and paper structure.
• See last year’s ATC papers for the type of questions, then practice the same types of questions from previous year’s JEE mains papers
• You have covered everything? You can have an extra edge by going through AIEEE preparation notes and attempting NDA previous years’ papers.
• Attempt technical part last during exam. Move on to the next question without wasting your time if you are finding a tough time solving a question. You can handle such questions in the second round.

Strategy for Non-Technical Section of JE-ATC Exam

Non-Technical, the easier part of the AAI ATC Exam is a kind of cake-walk for most the students. You can easily score 50+ marks in this section provided you are good at Reasoning/Aptitude and English. The level of this section is expected to be the same as SSC CGL.

Strategy and Study Material for Reasoning and Aptitude

Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning by R S Aggarwal should be more than enough. It is a very popular book which, I think, every student who is preparing for competitive exams must be aware of. Practice 30-40 questions from each chapter of this book and hopefully you will be in a comfortable position to attempt 30 questions of the non-tech section of the JE-ATC Exam. Just make sure you have covered different types of questions from various topics.

Important Topics, Books, and Tips for English

There will be 20 questions from English in the exam, so you must put extra efforts to cover this subject. It will be easier for the candidates who are already good at English and they need not put any extra effort.

Important Topics – Antonym/Synonym, Active/Passive Voice, One Word Substitution, Idioms and Phrases, Direct/Indirect speech, subject-verb agreement, a Passage for Comprehension, Spotting the Errors, Prepositions etc

Important Books 

• English For General Competitions From Plinth To Paramount ( By Neetu Singh) is a good and recommended book for learning grammar rules and preparing for SSC CGL level exams.
• Objective General English (Author: S.P. Bakshi): A very useful book for the preparation of English for most of the competitive exams. Don’t need to read both books. You only have to buy one either SP Bakshi or Neetu Singh.
• Word Power Made Easy (By Norman Lewis) is a great book if you really want to improve your English vocabulary. Buy it only if you have plenty of time before the exam.
• SSC (CGL) English notes of any good coaching institute

Useful Tips for English section in ATC Exam

• Learn at least 20 new words every day and revise what you learned yesterday. Try recalling words in your free time. Revision is the key.
• If you are reading something online and see a familiar word but don’t know its meaning then don’t move on before knowing. You will notice a lot of words that you have seen so many times but you never cared to know what they meant.
• Read a lot. You can read English Newspapers and the news. It not only enhances your English but also General Knowledge which is again a part of the ATC JE Exam.
• Practice the English Section of the previous year’s papers of SSC CGL and NDA for improving your chances of scoring high in the English part of the exam.
• Replace Hindi Newspapers with English Newpapers and Bollywood movies with Hollywood(With Subtitles)

Strategy for General Knowledge 

It covers only 10 marks but scoring these 10 marks is a Herculean task. You will need to cover Geography, Economy, History, General Science, and Current Affairs. So my suggestion will be to give least importance to this lengthiest part (in terms of syllabus as well as preparations) of the non-tech section. Instead start reading English newspapers. Those guys who want to cover GK as well can prepare GK part from SSC or NDA notes. For current affairs refer to one of the following magazines (last 6 months):

• Pratiyogita Darpan.
• Competition Success Review.

AAI JE ATC Previous Year Exam Papers 

Now since you are ready to crack the JE-ATC exam, let’s check how you fare in following previous year question paper –

JE-ATC Exam Question Paper November 2018 : Evening Shift

Download more JE-ATC Previous Years Question Papers 

This was all for this post. All the best for your exam. Share this article with your friends if you found it useful. I would also request ATCs to make it more useful by sharing strategies and tips for my readers.