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Ranking & Ordering
Verbal Reasoning · 6 Sections

Ranking & Ordering

Master rank from top/bottom, row position formulas, swapping tricks, and multi-person arrangement puzzles — every pattern that appears in SSC, Banking, and Railways exams.

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Section 1 of 6

🏅 Rank Fundamentals — Top, Bottom & the Total Formula

A rank tells you a person's position in an ordered list. Every rank problem gives you at least two of three values: rank from top, rank from bottom, and total count. The single most important formula in this topic is:

Total = Rank from Top + Rank from Bottom − 1

Why subtract 1? Because the person being ranked is counted twice — once in the "from top" count and once in the "from bottom" count. Subtracting 1 removes that double-count.

Find Total (both ranks known)Total = Top + Bottom − 1Raju is 5th from top, 8th from bottom → Total = 5 + 8 − 1 = 12
Find Rank from Bottom (total & top known)Bottom = Total − Top + 1Class of 25, Priya is 7th from top → Bottom = 25 − 7 + 1 = 19
Find Rank from Top (total & bottom known)Top = Total − Bottom + 1Class of 30, Anuj is 12th from bottom → Top = 30 − 12 + 1 = 19
Count between two people (same list)Between = |Pos A − Pos B| − 1A is 4th, B is 9th from top → Between = |4 − 9| − 1 = 4 people
Exam Trap: Some questions say "8 students are above X and 5 are below". Remember to add 1 for X themselves: Total = 8 + 1 + 5 = 14. This is different from "X is 8th from top" where X is already included in the 8.
🏅Rank SolverInteractive · Formula-based
Formula Result
Total = 4 + 6 − 1 = 9
Formula: Total = Rank from Left + Rank from Right − 1
Visual — Row of 9 (showing up to 15)
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Position 4 (from left)  Position 4 (from right)
Worked Examples
Row: Find total persons
Ravi is 4th from the left and 6th from the right in a row.
Total = 4 + 6 − 1 = 9 persons in the row.

Use the visualizer above to check your understanding. Set mode to Class Rank, enter any rank from top and rank from bottom, and watch the formula compute the total. Try the worked examples to see common exam question patterns.

Now answer the quick checks below. Select the formula: for a class of 40, a student ranked 15th from top has rank from the bottom, because 40 − 15 + 1 = .

📝Practice Questions

Q1Raju ranks 8th from the top and 15th from the bottom in class. How many students are in the class?

Q2Meena ranks 12th from the bottom in a class of 30 students. What is her rank from the top?

Q3In a class, Asha is 10th from the top. If there are 8 students below her, how many students are in the class?

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Section 2 of 6

↔️ Row & Queue Problems — Left, Right & Total Persons

Complete section 1 above to unlock this section.

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Section 3 of 6

🔄 Swapping Positions — New Rank After Exchange

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Section 4 of 6

📊 Comparison-Based Ordering — Build the Chain

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Section 5 of 6

🔤 Alphabetical & Height / Weight Ordering

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Section 6 of 6

🧩 Complex Puzzles, Contradictions & Exam Strategy

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