SSC CGL Exam Pattern (2026)
Everything you need to know about the exam pattern for the SSC Combined Graduate Level Examination organized by Staff Selection Commission (SSC). Tackle the high competition (~1% (Highly competitive due to massive number of applicants for Group B & C posts) success rate) and hard difficulty with these detailed insights.
Stages & Pattern
Tier-I: Computer Based Examination
Tier-I Examination (objective)
Duration: 60 minutes mins | Marks: 200 | Negative Marking: 0.50 marks deducted for each wrong answer
Tier-II: Computer Based Examination
Paper-I (Session-I): Math, Reasoning, English, GA, Computer (objective)
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes mins | Marks: 390 | Negative Marking: 1 mark deducted for each wrong answer in Sec-I, Sec-II and Module-I of Sec-III
Paper-I (Session-II): Data Entry Speed Test (DEST) (practical)
Duration: 15 minutes mins | Marks: Qualifying | Negative Marking: Evaluated based on error percentage
Paper-II: Statistics (Only for JSO) (objective)
Duration: 2 hours mins | Marks: 200 | Negative Marking: 0.50 marks deducted for each wrong answer
Paper-III: General Studies (Finance and Economics) - Only for AAO (objective)
Duration: 2 hours mins | Marks: 200 | Negative Marking: 0.50 marks deducted for each wrong answer