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Course of Action Questions with Solutions

A course of action is judged by whether it’s a practical, proportionate response to the specific problem described — not whether it sounds like a nice idea in general. Here’s the approach, four fully worked examples covering the patterns that come up most, and a few to try yourself.

The approach, quickly

  • A valid course of action must be practical (actually implementable, not vague), directly related to the stated problem (not a tangent), and reasonable given only the information in the statement — not something requiring facts that aren’t stated.
  • A course of action framed as "ban/shut down/eliminate X entirely" is often too extreme to be the best response, unless the statement specifically supports something that drastic — moderate, targeted actions are usually favoured over sweeping ones.
  • Don’t confuse a course of action with a conclusion (which describes what IS or WILL happen) or an assumption (something taken for granted) — a course of action is specifically about what SHOULD BE DONE in response.
  • When a proposed action’s scale is wildly out of proportion to the scale of the problem described (a permanent ban over a minor, fixable issue), that mismatch is usually the clearest sign it doesn’t follow.

Worked examples

1. Statement: "Many students in the school have been falling sick due to contaminated water from the school’s old water tank." Courses of Action: I. The school should get the water tank cleaned and the water tested regularly. II. The school should be shut down permanently.

Solution

  1. I: Directly and practically addresses the stated cause (the contaminated tank). This follows.
  2. II: Permanently shutting the school is a disproportionate response to a fixable maintenance problem. This does not follow.

Answer: Only course of action I follows

2. Statement: "The number of road accidents at a particular junction has increased significantly over the past year." Courses of Action: I. The traffic police should install proper signals and signage at the junction. II. All vehicles should be banned from using that road permanently.

Solution

  1. I: A direct, proportionate step to reduce accidents at that specific junction. This follows.
  2. II: Banning all vehicles permanently is an extreme overreaction not justified by an accident-rate problem. This does not follow.

Answer: Only course of action I follows

3. Statement: "Sales of the company’s flagship product have declined for three consecutive quarters." Courses of Action: I. The company should investigate customer feedback and competitor offerings to understand the decline. II. The company should launch a marketing campaign highlighting the product’s existing strengths.

Solution

  1. I: Investigating causes before acting is a sensible first step. This follows.
  2. II: A marketing campaign is also a standard, proportionate business response that can run alongside the investigation. This follows too.

Answer: Both courses of action follow

4. Statement: "A particular stationery item’s price has increased slightly due to a rise in raw material costs." Courses of Action: I. The government should impose a complete ban on the sale of that item. II. The company should permanently stop manufacturing all its other products too.

Solution

  1. I: A government ban over a slight, cost-driven price increase is wildly disproportionate. This does not follow.
  2. II: Stopping all other products has nothing to do with this one item’s price — a complete non-sequitur. This does not follow.

Answer: Neither course of action follows

Try these yourself

Check whether each action is proportionate and directly relevant, then check against the answer.

1. Statement: "A bridge connecting two villages has developed minor cracks after years of use." Courses of Action: I. The bridge should be permanently closed and never used again. II. The bridge should be inspected by engineers and repaired if needed.

Answer: Only course of action II follows

2. Statement: "Many employees have complained about the lack of proper ventilation in the office building." Courses of Action: I. The management should install proper ventilation systems in the building. II. The office should relocate to an entirely new city.

Answer: Only course of action I follows

3. Statement: "A school has noticed that many students are arriving late due to traffic congestion near the main gate." Courses of Action: I. The school should consider adjusting the start time slightly to avoid peak traffic hours. II. The school should coordinate with local traffic police to manage congestion near the gate during school hours.

Answer: Both courses of action follow

Where this comes up

Course of Action is a regular topic in the Reasoning/General Intelligence section of every exam Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk.

Practice more Course of Action questions

This page covers the approach and a handful of worked examples. Pariksha Saathi has full topic-wise practice sets for Course of Action (and every other Reasoning/Quant/English topic) with instant scoring and explanations — free, no account required.

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