Saumya
Saumya Jain
Assistant Manager- Content
Updated on Feb 11, 2026 13:38 IST
Choosing the best books for SET is an imperative part of the SET 2026 preparation strategy. The SET 2026 will be conducted on May 2, 2026, and May 10, 2026, and the preparations require the best study material and the best books for SET. Find out the best books for SET exam preparation in the article below.

SET exam 2026 books are important to fetch a good score. SET 2026 will be conducted for admission into prestigious Symbiosis colleges. Check the best books for SET 2026 in the article below. 

SET exam books for preparation

Best Books for SET Exam Preparation 2026: To prepare well for SET exam, having right set of SET exam books is important. Whether the candidate will be able to clear an entrance exam depends largely on which preparation books they use for their SET exam preparation. As experts say, choosing the right SET exam books is imperative in SET 2026 preparation to help students understand the concepts clearly. Books such as Objective General English, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for CAT, Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams, etc., are some of the recommended SET exam books. 

SET or Symbiosis Entrance Test is a national-level entrance exam conducted by Symbiosis International (Deemed University) for admission into various undergraduate courses in the Symbiosis institutes in India. The exam is conducted once a year and is a gateway to admission into top Symbiosis colleges. The SET 2026 is scheduled to be conducted on May 2 and May 10, in the computer based test mode. In this article, you will find the compilation of the best books for SET and SET exam preparation material to prepare to excel in the SET 2026 exam, SET exam pattern and SET syllabus.

Table of contents
  • SET Exam Syllabus 2026
  • SET Exam 2026 Syllabus PDF
  • Best SET Books for General English Section
  • Best SET Exam Books for Quantitative Ability
  • Best SET Books for Logical Reasoning Preparation
  • Best SET Exam Books for General Knowledge Section
  • SET Preparation Tips 2026
  • SET Exam Pattern 2026
View More

SET Exam Syllabus 2026

SET is an entrance exam for undergraduate courses such as BBA, BCA, BA Mass Communication and Economics Hons. Look at the table below to know the SET syllabus 2026.

Section Name

Important Topics

General English

Synonyms, Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Tenses, Parts of Speech, etc.

Quantitative Aptitude

Algebra, Discount, Percentage, Arithmetic

Logical Reasoning

Syllogism, Coding, Arrangements, Blood Relations

General Awareness

Awards, Books, Current Affairs, Sports

SET Exam 2026 Syllabus PDF

Candidates preparing for SET 2026 exam can download syllabus PDF below. To prepare and crack the Symbiosis SET exam, along with the best books for SET, prepare for the important topics and sub topics mentioned in free SET syllabus PDF linked below:

Download SET Syllabus 2026 PDF

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Best SET Books for General English Section

The General English section of the SET exam checks the fluency of students in the English language. The section has topics such as  Antonyms, Articles, Editing, Omitting, Prepositions, Analogy, etc. Check the table below for the best books for SET General English section.

Book Name

Author/ Publisher

How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT

Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay

High School English Grammar and Composition Key

Wren and Martin

Word Power Made Easy

Norman Lewis

30 Days to More Powerful Vocabulary

Norman Lewis

Objective English

RS Aggarwal

The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay

Also Read: Tips to prepare for General English section of SET exam

Q:   Which are the best books for the preparation of Quantitative section of the SET exam?
A:

The best books for Quantitative Aptitude preparation of SET exam are listed below. These are the recommended books by experts. 

  1. NCERT Mathematics books (Class 9-10)
  2. Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha
  3. Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal

The NCERT Mathematics book is recommended for SET preparation because it is the best source of building or revisiting the fundamentals of Algebra Geometry, Trigonometry Mensuration Number Systems and Arithmetic. The NCERT books are extremely helpful to students from non-Engineering background. Quantitative Aptitude books by Arun Sharma, Abhijit Guha, Nishit Sinha and RS Aggarwal are the main books for SET preparation as well as other BBA and MBA entrance exams. These books cover all the topics at intermediate and advanced level. They also have many sample questions of easy, moderate and high difficulty levels for practice.

Q:   Which are the best books to read for the Logical Reasoning section of SET exam?
A:

The Logical Reasoning section of the SET exam is usually moderately difficult. Some of the recommended books for the Logical Reasoning section are as follows: 

  1. Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning by Pearson Publications
  2. A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning by R. S Aggarwal
  3. Logical and Analytical Ability by Ashok Gupta.
  4. Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey
  5. A New Approach to Reasoning by BS Sijawali and Sijawali
  6. Multi-dimensional Reasoning by Mishra Kumar and Dr. Lal
  7. Logical and Analytical Reasoning by K Gupta
  8. A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal.
Q:   What are the best books for SET BBA preparation?
A:

SET exam preparation requires the best books for SET exam. Listed below are some of the best books for SET BBA exam:

General English: Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis, High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren & Martin, Objective General English by SP Bakshi

General Awareness: Manorama Yearbook, Pratiyogita Darpan, Lucent's General Knowledge, Current Affairs Magazines (e.g., Competition Success Review, Pratiyogita Darpan)

Quantitative Aptitude: Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal, Fast Track Objective Arithmetic by Rajesh Verma, NCERT Mathematics textbooks of Class 9 and 10

Analytical & Logical Reasoning: A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for CAT by Nishit K. Sinha, 

Best SET Exam Books for Quantitative Ability 

This section of the SET exam will check arithmetic ability and is all about the mathematics that students would have studied in school. The table below has a list of the best books for SET 2026 exam that will help in acing the exam.

Book Name

Author/ Publisher

Quantitative Aptitude for All Competitive Examinations

Abhijit Guha

Pearson Guide to Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation for CAT

Nishit Sinha

How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT

Arun Sharma

NCERT Mathematics Book for 9th and 12th class

NCERT

Fast Track Mathematics

Rajesh Verma

Quantitative Aptitude

RS Aggarwal

Also Read: Tips to prepare for the SET Quant section

Best SET Books for Logical Reasoning Preparation

The Logical Reasoning section judges analytical ability and critical reasoning. Candidates must brush up the topics such as coding-decoding, series, syllogism, ratio and proportion, permutation and combination, Venn diagrams, blood relations, assumptions, etc. Check the table below to know the best books for the SET exam’s Logical Reasoning section.

Book Name

Author/ Publisher

A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning

R.S. Aggarwal

Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT

Nishit K. Sinha

How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for the CAT

Arun Sharma

Analytical and Logical Reasoning for CAT & Other Management Exams 

Peeyush Bharadwaj

Also Read: Tips and tricks to ace the Logical Reasoning section

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Best SET Exam Books for General Knowledge Section

To excel in the General Knowledge section, candidates should be well aware of all the current affairs. Reading newspapers every day will be a big help in excelling in this section. Candidates must develop the habit of being updated with all the current news in all fields. Also, the Manorama Year Book is a good reference book for static GK. 

Also Read:

Name of the Book

Author/Publication

Lucent’s General Knowledge

Vinay Karna

1400 Objective Questions

Manohar Pandey

S Chand’s Advanced Objective General Knowledge

RS Aggarwal

The Hindu

Newspaper

The Financial Times

Newspaper

Wall Street Journal

Newspaper

Business World

Magazine

Economic Times

Newspaper

Financial Express

Newspaper 

Business Today

Magazine

Hindu Business Line

Newspaper

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SET Preparation Tips 2026

Students can follow the SET BBA preparation tips here:

  • Revise GK Daily: Students can choose newspapers and news apps to stay informed about current affairs, latest trends, politics, economics, etc.
  • Practice English Comprehension: To prepare for the English sections, students should read editorials and aim to solve at least one RC every day.
  • SET Mock Test: To stimulate an exam like environment, SET mock tests are important. They help the students improve speed, manage time and know how much time to spend on a particular question.
  • SET Syllabus: Cover high weightage topics of SET exam syllabus 2026
  • SET exam pattern: Know SET exam format, know marking scheme and question distribution
  • Speed for QA and accuracy for LR: Improve speed for solving Quantitative questions. Practice mental maths
  • TIme Management: Set timers for logical reasoning sets, quant questions, reading comprehension passages of SET exam
Q:   What is the benefit of having SET books?
A:

Preparing for the SET exam from books and study material recommended by experts is important in order to gain an in-depth knowledge on different topics included in the SET syllabus. SET reference books contain detailed information on each topic of SET syllabus and will acquaint the students with SET exam pattern and difficulty level of the questions. In addition, they also contain solved sample papers, which may or may not be present in online resources always. It is always a wise decision to refer to more than one book for SET exam. Test takers can make use of the additional information available in the books while preparing for SET exam. Cracking a competitive exam becomes easier with the right set of books and study material.

SET Exam Pattern 2026

SET exam is conducted in CBT test mode. The SET question paper is divided into four sections. Look at the table below to understand the SET exam pattern 2026.

Features 

Details 

Exam Mode

Computer-Based Test mode

Test Duration

60 minutes

Sessions 

One

Type of Questions

Objective-type questions with four options each

Marking Scheme

+1 mark for correct answers

No negative marking

Read more:

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Saumya Jain
Assistant Manager- Content

Saumya Jain is an English Literature graduate from the University of Delhi. She has over 8 years of editorial and content writing experience. At Shiksha.com, she has spent more than six years creating research, stud

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Student Forum

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Answered 4 days ago

SET does not occur twice a year, but it takes place on two dates within same session. Candidates have the option to appear in either or both. The best attempt from the two will be considered. SLAT 2026 exam will be held on:

Test 102-May-2026
Test 210-May-2026

R

Rashmi Shukla

Contributor-Level 6

Answered a month ago

To download SET syllabus PDF, follow process below:

  • Click on SET Exam Syllabus 2026 PDF link
  • Login to Shiksha.com with user ID and password
  • Click on Download buttton

A

Abhishek Kumar

Contributor-Level 6

Answered a month ago

SET and UGAT are undergraduate entrance exams conducted for BBA admissions. 

  • SET exam is conducted by Symbiosis International University for admission to the BBA course at its institutes. Eight SIU colleges accept SET scores for admissions. The duration of the exam is one hour and students have to ta

...Read more

V

Vikram Hazarika

Beginner-Level 5

Answered a month ago

SET 2026 exam will be conducted on May 2 and May 10. SET exam will be conducted in CBT test format by Symbiosis International University. Duration of exam is one hour and students can take exam at their test centre. 

S

Shruti Tyagi

Contributor-Level 6

Answered a month ago

SET exam is conducted for admission to colleges of Symbiosis International University. Candidates can choose their preferred institutes during SET application process. The exam is a gateway to undergraduate programmes offered at these institutes. SET programme framework allows options to pursue sing

...Read more

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Saumya Jain

Contributor-Level 10