SSC MTS Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

One computer-based exam in two sessions on the same day. Both are compulsory, and they're marked on different rules.

Session I: 45 minutes

No negative marking in Session I.

Session II: 45 minutes

One full mark is deducted for each wrong answer in Session II, on questions worth 3 marks each.

90 questions, 270 marks in all. Session I only decides whether Session II gets marked. Your rank comes from Session II alone (see the result section).

Physical tests: Havaldar candidates only

A Physical Efficiency Test (a timed walk) and a Physical Standard Test (height and chest) apply to Havaldar posts. Both are qualifying. MTS candidates don't take them.

Numerical and Mathematical Ability

Integers and whole numbers, LCM and HCF, decimals and fractions, relationship between numbers, fundamental arithmetical operations, BODMAS, percentage, ratio and proportion, work and time, direct and inverse proportion, averages, simple interest, profit and loss, discount, area and perimeter of basic geometric figures, distance and time, and lines and angles.

Reasoning Ability and Problem Solving

Non-verbal reasoning based on diagrams and patterns (series, analogy, classification, folding and unfolding, figural pattern, spatial orientation), alongside alpha-numeric series, coding and decoding, analogy, similarities and differences, jumbling, problem solving and analysis, and basic reasoning.

General Awareness

Awareness of the environment and society: current events, sports, history, culture, geography, economics, general polity including the Constitution, scientific research, and everyday observations. Questions do not require specialist study of any subject.

English Language and Comprehension

Basics of English language, vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, synonyms and antonyms, correct usage, spotting errors, fill in the blanks, and reading comprehension of a short passage.

Educational qualification

Class 10 (matriculation) pass from a recognised board, for both MTS and Havaldar.

Age

Reckoned as on the date given in the notification, with the usual relaxations: 5 years for SC and ST, 3 years for OBC, 10 years for PwBD, and the prescribed relaxation for ex-servicemen. Confirm the cut-off date in the notification, as SSC changes it between cycles.

Physical standards

Height and chest requirements apply to Havaldar posts only, and are listed post-wise with category relaxations in the notification.

1. Computer Based Examination: Session I and Session II, both compulsory, 270 marks.
2. Physical Efficiency Test and Physical Standard Test: Havaldar candidates only, qualifying.
3. Document verification.

There is no interview and no skill test. MTS candidates are selected on the written examination alone.

Level 1 of the Seventh Pay Commission matrix runs from ₹18,000 to ₹56,900. The notice gives the level; the figures are the pay matrix itself. Dearness allowance, house rent allowance and transport allowance come on top, and HRA depends on the city, so take-home pay varies by posting.

MTS is office work in whichever ministry or department you're allotted. Havaldar is a field post in customs and narcotics. Same pay, different job.

You're selected against a post-cum-State or union territory you listed. The Commission then picks the ministry or office inside that state by a standard method, and once allotted, nothing is changed even if you turn out not to meet a post-specific requirement.

Fee

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

How to apply

First do the One Time Registration (OTR) on ssc.gov.in. It holds your photo and signature and is reused for every SSC exam. Then fill the MTS application from it. The fee deadline is a day after the form deadline.

Keep ready a working mobile number and email, your photo and signature at 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.

Corrections cost money

You get a correction window after the closing date: ₹200 for the first corrected re-submission and ₹500 for the second. No further changes after that. Only those whose form and fee reached SSC in the original window can use it.

Age group and preferences

MTS vacancies come in two age bands, 18 to 25 and 18 to 27, because user departments have different rules. You don't choose; your date of birth places you, and if you fit both you're considered for 18 to 25 first.

You list post-cum-State or union territory preferences on the form, and you can only be allotted one you listed. Leave a state off and you can't get it, whatever you score.

MTS posts are spread across ministries, departments and offices of the Government of India, and constitutional bodies, statutory bodies and tribunals, in every state and union territory. There's no fixed list. The vacancies are whatever the user departments report to SSC that cycle.

Havaldar is narrower: the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

SSC doesn't set the vacancy count; the departments do. For 2025 the notice went out with the MTS figure still being collected and only the Havaldar count, 1,075, printed. Tentative lists followed and were revised before the final result. You pick a state, not an office.

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

That regional office also handles your queries and document verification, so a far-off centre means a far-off office too. Allotment follows preference where there's room.

The paper is in Hindi, English and thirteen regional languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. That covers Session I and General Awareness only. English Language and Comprehension is in English, which is 75 of the 150 marks that rank you.

The latest notification is the 2025 cycle, published on 26 June 2025. No MTS 2026 notice was on the Commission's notice board as at 8 September 2026, and the 2025 cycle is still running.

The exam ran four months late. 36,19,834 people applied and 8,04,633 sat the paper, spread over many shifts, which is why each stage takes months. Tentative vacancy counts went up in September 2025 and again in November 2025. The first MTS allocation will come out together with Havaldar, once the physical tests are done.

Treat any date in a notice as tentative. Changes appear only on the SSC notice board and in the Commission's annual exam calendar.

SSC calls it the Admission Certificate. It's issued by the regional office whose centres you chose and downloaded from that office's website. The exam city is announced a few days earlier so you can plan travel.

Carry the printed certificate, the original photo ID whose number you entered in the form (no photocopy, no other ID), and two passport photos if the certificate asks for them.

If you use a scribe, enter the scribe's OTR number on the portal once the certificate is out; an OTP goes to the scribe's phone and you key it back in. It can't be done at the centre.

Havaldar candidates get a separate call letter later for the physical tests, from CBIC and CBN.

Session I is a gate. It's marked first, and Session II is marked only if you qualify in Session I. After that Session I drops out: shortlisting, merit and cut-offs all use Session II alone.

Scores are normalised across shifts by the method in SSC's notice of 2 June 2025, and the normalised score is what counts. Raw scores from different shifts don't compare.

A tentative answer key goes up with a window for objections at ₹100 per question, not refunded, online only. The final key can differ, so a score worked out from the tentative key is provisional.

Ties on Session II are broken by General Awareness marks, then Session I normalised marks, then date of birth (older first), then name in alphabetical order.

Havaldar candidates are shortlisted for the physical tests at seven times the vacancies. Fail those and you stay in the running for MTS. The final result is one select list for both posts, built from Session II scores, your preferences and your age group, followed by document verification.

The minimum qualifying marks are fixed in the notice and apply to each session:

The real cut-off is far higher and comes out only with the result. MTS cut-offs are set by category, by state or union territory, and by age group all at once, so there are hundreds of them. Havaldar is cut by CCA (Cash Controlling Authority) and category.

From the Havaldar shortlisting result of 3 August 2026, Session II normalised marks out of 150:

Jaipur OBC came in above Jaipur UR because only seven OBC candidates were being taken there. The annexure also prints the tie-breaker marks of the last candidate in.

MTS cut-offs appear with the final result on the SSC notice board. Final keys and marks of every candidate are uploaded for a limited window after it.

1. Attempt every question in Session I, and only what you're sure of in Session II. Session I has no penalty; Session II takes a full mark off a 3-mark question. Treating both sessions the same is the commonest mistake in this exam.
2. Put most of your time into Session II. It's 150 marks against 120, and it's the only one that ranks you. General Awareness is also the first tie-breaker.
3. The paper is pitched at class 10. NCERT maths for classes 8 to 10 covers the numerical section better than any guide book.
4. General Awareness rewards breadth. 25 questions across current events, history, geography, polity and everyday science.
5. Practise the two sessions back to back, 45 minutes each with no break, using SSC's mock test for the interface.
6. Havaldar applicants: check the physical standards before you apply. Height and chest are pass or fail.

No official previous year papers for MTS are available as of now.

After each exam SSC posts the tentative answer key with your own response sheet on the notice board, for a short window. Download yours then; it's the closest thing to a real paper. A mock test on the real exam interface is also linked before each exam.

• ssc.gov.in: official website, registration and applications
• SSC notice board: vacancy lists, answer keys, results and schedule notices
• Notice of the MTS and Havaldar Examination, 2025 (PDF)
• Result of 3 August 2026 with the Havaldar cut-off annexure (PDF)

Is there negative marking in SSC MTS?

Only in Session II: one mark off per wrong answer on 3-mark questions. Session I has none.

How many questions and marks in total?

90 questions for 270 marks: 40 questions and 120 marks in Session I, 50 questions and 150 marks in Session II.

Do I have to sit both sessions?

Yes. Both are compulsory and held on the same day.

Which session decides my rank?

Session II. Session I only has to be cleared.

Who sits the physical tests?

Havaldar candidates only. MTS is selected on the written exam alone.

What qualification do I need?

Class 10 pass from a recognised board.

What is the age limit?

18 to 25 for most MTS posts, 18 to 27 for some MTS posts and for Havaldar, plus category relaxations.

Is there an interview?

No.