SSC- CGL Examination Pattern

The SSC CGL selection procedure consists of Four tiers:

1. Tier-1: Written Exam (Objective) 

• The exam will be conducted online.
• The Question Paper consists of four sections:

a) General Intelligence and Reasoning

b) General Awareness/ General Knowledge

c) Quantitative Aptitude

d) English Comprehension

• Total number of questions: 100 (Each section will have 25 questions)
• Total Marks: 200
• Time Duration: 60 minutes (80 minutes for visually handicapped and candidates suffering from cerebral palsy)
• Negative Marking: 0.50 Marks will be deducted for each wrong answer.
• There is no sectional cutoff.

2. Tier-2: Written Exam (Objective)

• The exam will be conducted online.
• There are 4 papers:

a) Paper-1: Quantitative Ability (compulsory for all posts)

b) Paper-2: English Language and Comprehension  (compulsory for all posts)

c) Paper-3: Statistics (only for the post of “Statistical Investigator Gr. II” and “Compiler”

d) Paper-4: General Studies (Finance and Economics)– only for the post of “Assistant Audit Officer”.

• Each paper carries 200 Marks
• Time Duration for each paper: 2 hours (2 hours 40 minutes for visually handicapped)
• Negative Marking: 0.50 Mark will be deducted in Paper-1, Paper-3 and Paper-4; 0.25 Mark will be deducted in Paper-2 for each wrong answer.
• Total number of questions: 100 questions in Paper-1,3 and 4; 200 questions in Paper-2.

3. Tier-3: Written Exam (Descriptive) 

• The exam will be conducted offline.
• Candidate will have to write Essay/ Precis/ Letter/ Application Writing etc.
• The paper will be bilingual-available in both Hindi and English. Candidates can choose any one medium.
• Total Marks: 100
• Time Duration: 60 minutes (80 minutes for visually handicapped and candidates suffering from cerebral palsy)

4. Tier-4: Computer Test/ Skill Test (wherever applicable)

• This stage is only qualifying and is only applicable to certain posts.
• Computer Proficiency Test for Assistant Section Officer in CSS (Central Secretariat Service) only.
• OR Data entry Skill Test at a speed of 8000 key depressions per hour for Tax assistant post only.
• The idea is to test the ability of the candidate to do simple tasks such as typing at a decent speed and knowledge of basic office software like word processor, spreadsheets and slide maker ( MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint).

Note 

• The final marking will only consider the scores of Tier I, Tier-II and Tier-III exams.
• There will be no sectional cutoffs.