SSC CHSL Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Tier 1

60 minutes (80 for candidates with visual or orthopaedic disability or cerebral palsy). Each question is worth 2 marks, and 0.50 is deducted for a wrong answer.

Tier 2, Session I (2 hours 15 minutes)

Tier 2 questions are worth 3 marks, and a wrong answer costs 1 full mark.

Tier 2, Session II: skill and typing tests (qualifying)

These carry no marks. You pass or you fail.

English Language

Reading comprehension, cloze test, spotting errors, fill in the blanks, synonyms and antonyms, spelling detection, idioms and phrases, one-word substitution, sentence improvement, active and passive voice, direct and indirect narration, shuffling of sentence parts and of sentences in a passage.

General Intelligence / Reasoning

Semantic, symbolic and figural analogy, classification and series, problem solving, word building, coding and decoding, numerical operations, trends, space orientation, Venn diagrams, drawing inferences, punched hole and pattern folding, figural pattern completion, embedded figures, critical thinking, emotional and social intelligence.

Quantitative Aptitude / Mathematical Abilities

Number systems, computation of whole numbers, decimals and fractions, percentage, ratio and proportion, square roots, averages, interest, profit and loss, discount, partnership, mixture and alligation, time and distance, time and work, algebra and elementary surds, linear equations, triangles, circles and tangents, polygons, mensuration, trigonometry, heights and distances, histogram, frequency polygon, bar diagram and pie chart.

General Awareness

Current affairs, Indian history, culture, geography, economic scene, general polity and the Constitution, scientific research, and static general knowledge. Questions test awareness of the environment and its application to society rather than specialist study.

Computer Knowledge (Tier 2, qualifying)

Computer fundamentals and organisation, input and output devices, memory, software and operating systems, MS Office, internet and email, web browsing, networking basics, and cyber security (viruses, trojans, phishing).

Educational qualification

Class 12 (higher secondary) or equivalent from a recognised board, for most posts. Two exceptions:

• Data Entry Operator in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India: class 12 in the Science stream with Mathematics as a subject.
• LDC / JSA in some departments: a few carry extra requirements, listed in the notification.

Age

Broadly 18 to 27 years on the date the notification fixes, with the usual relaxations: 5 years for SC and ST, 3 for OBC, 10 for PwBD (more for reserved-category PwBD), and the prescribed relaxation for ex-servicemen. SSC changes the reckoning date between cycles, so check it in the notice.

Typing

You don't need to show typing speed to apply, but you need it to be selected. See the skill and typing tests under Exam Pattern.

1. Tier 1: computer-based, 200 marks, one hour. It screens for Tier 2; its marks don't count in the final merit.
2. Tier 2, Session I: 360 scored marks plus a qualifying Computer Knowledge module.
3. Tier 2, Session II: the Skill Test (DEO) or Typing Test (LDC/JSA), qualifying.
4. Document verification, then allotment on merit and the post preferences you gave.

Merit comes from Tier 2 Session I. Everything else is a hurdle to clear.

A Level 5 Data Entry Operator starts above ₹29,000; a Level 2 clerk starts below ₹20,000, from the same exam. Which you get depends on your rank and your preference order.

These are 7th Pay Commission basic pay ranges from the notice. Dearness, house rent and transport allowances are added, and vary with the posting city.

Fee

Pay online only: BHIM UPI, net banking, or a Visa, Mastercard, Maestro or RuPay debit card. There's no challan.

One Time Registration first

You create a One Time Registration (OTR) profile with your photo and signature, then apply for the exam from it. The same OTR is used for every SSC exam, so get the photo and signature right once.

The fee window closes a day after the application window. A paid correction window follows, but only to fix details you've already submitted. It isn't a second chance to apply.

Have ready

• A working mobile number and email. Scribe OTPs and admission certificate alerts go to them.
• Photo and signature in the specified size.
• Your matriculation certificate for date of birth, and a category certificate if you claim reservation. A false category claim gets you debarred.

Post preferences can't be changed

You give post and department preferences on SSC's website in a set window, and the notice says in capitals that they are IRREVERSIBLE.

• You can't be selected for a post you didn't opt for, however high your rank.
• If you submit no preferences in the window, you're left out of the First Round of Tentative Allocation.

Once a post is allotted it isn't changed, even if you later fail its physical, medical or educational standard.

CHSL fills Group C posts across central government ministries, departments and offices. The notice names the office against each post.

• Lower Division Clerk and Junior Secretariat Assistant in a wide spread of ministries, departments and subordinate offices.
• Data Entry Operator in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Ministry of Culture, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Staff Selection Commission itself, among others.
• Border Roads Organisation, for Lower Division Clerk. It has its own physical standards, physical efficiency test and medical standards in an annexure to the notice, and only men are eligible for BRO vacancies.

Read the BRO annexure before you list it as a preference. If you're allotted BRO and can't meet its physical or medical standard, the allotment isn't changed.

You pick your preferred centres in the application, from the list in the notice. Centres are grouped under SSC's nine regional offices, and all your choices must be in one region.

The region you choose also handles your queries and document verification, so a far-off centre means a far-off regional office too. Allotment follows your preference where there's room, and the exam city is announced before the admission certificate.

Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination, 2026. The Commission published the notice on 7 September 2026.

The fee deadline is a day after the application deadline. Submitting the form on the last evening still leaves the payment, and an unpaid form isn't an application.

SSC's toll free helpline for problems with the form is 1800 309 3063.

Exam dates come out separately from the notice. Vacancies change during the cycle, so check the latest figure on ssc.gov.in.

SSC calls it the Admission Certificate. It comes from the regional office whose centres you chose, and you download it from that office's website, so note which one when you apply.

The exam city is published a few days before the certificate goes live, to give you time to arrange travel.

Take with you

• The printed Admission Certificate.
• The original photo ID whose number you entered in the application. A different document or a photocopy isn't accepted.
• Two passport photographs, if the certificate asks for them.

If you're using a scribe: once the certificate is live, enter the scribe's One Time Registration number on the portal, and key in the OTP sent to the scribe's mobile. This can't be done at the centre.

Exams held over several shifts are normalised under the procedure SSC published on 2 June 2025. Shortlisting, merit and cut-offs all use the normalised score, so comparing raw scores across shifts tells you nothing.

After each exam SSC posts a tentative answer key on its answer key page with a window to object. A challenge costs ₹50 per question, non-refundable, and only online challenges count. The final key can differ, so a score worked out from the tentative key is provisional.

Ties in Tier 2 are broken by Section I marks of Tier 2, then Tier 1 marks, then date of birth (older first), then alphabetical order of name.

Results go up on ssc.gov.in. Clearing the written stages still leaves document verification and the appointing authority's acceptance of your certificates.

The minimum qualifying marks are fixed in the notice. They apply to Tier 1 and to Sections I, II and III of Tier 2:

The cut-off is different: the score of the last candidate selected, worked out from that cycle's normalised scores and vacancies. It's well above the qualifying mark and changes every year. SSC publishes it in the write-up with each result on ssc.gov.in; the CHSL 2024 final result write-up (February 2025) gives category-wise cut-offs for the Computer Knowledge module and the error limits for the typing and skill tests.

Every Tier 2 section has to be cleared

You must sit all four sections of Tier 2 and qualify in each. Section III, Computer Knowledge, is worth 45 marks but only qualifying. Section IV, the Skill or Typing Test, is the same. Only Sections I and II, 360 marks between them, build the merit list. Skill Test errors are calculated to two decimal places.

1. Start typing practice on day one. 35 words a minute for 10 minutes isn't something to try for the first time after clearing two written papers, and people fail there every year.
2. Tier 1 is a screen. Its marks don't enter the merit list. Clear it, then put your weight on Tier 2.
3. Don't guess in Tier 2. Losing a full mark on a 3-mark question means a wrong answer costs a third of a right one.
4. English carries the most in Tier 2: 40 questions for 120 marks, a third of the scored paper and more than Mathematics or Reasoning on its own.
5. Don't skip Computer Knowledge. Fifteen questions, no merit marks, and failing it ends your attempt.
6. Take the official mock once. SSC posts a mock test on the real exam interface before each exam. Do it for the interface, not the questions.

No previous year papers are available from SSC as of now; the Commission doesn't publish them.

What it does publish, after each exam, is the tentative answer key with your own response sheet, on its answer key page for a limited window. Download yours while it's up and keep it for at least three years, as the notice advises. A mock test on the real exam interface is linked on ssc.gov.in before each exam.

Official website: ssc.gov.in

Apply: SSC website (One Time Registration and applications)

CHSL 2026 notice (PDF): Notice of the examination

Answer keys and response sheets: SSC answer key page

CHSL 2024 final result write-up, with cut-offs (PDF): Final result write-up

What qualification do I need for SSC CHSL?

Class 12 or equivalent for most posts. The Data Entry Operator post in the CAG needs class 12 in the Science stream with Mathematics.

Is the typing test compulsory?

Yes, and it's pass or fail. LDC and JSA candidates type at 35 w.p.m. in English or 30 w.p.m. in Hindi; DEO candidates sit a skill test at 15,000 key depressions per hour.

Do Tier 1 marks count towards the final result?

No. Tier 1 screens for Tier 2, and merit comes from Tier 2 Session I.

How much is deducted for a wrong answer?

0.50 in Tier 1, on 2-mark questions. 1 full mark in Tier 2, on 3-mark questions.

Is Computer Knowledge scored?

No, it's qualifying. It adds nothing to merit, but failing it disqualifies you.

How is SSC CHSL different from SSC CGL?

CHSL recruits at class 12 level to clerical and data-entry posts and needs a typing or skill test. CGL recruits graduates to Group B and C posts, and most of them have no typing requirement.