SSC CHSL 2026 Syllabus and Exam Pattern: Tier-I, Tier-II, Typing

The Staff Selection Commission published the Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination, 2026 notice on 7 September 2026. Applications closed at 11 pm on 7 October 2026. The paper syllabus below is taken from paras 13 and 17 of the notice, F. No. HQ-C1102/5/2026-C-1, on ssc.gov.in.

If you have already applied, the one date that matters this week is 16 October 2026, 11 pm. That is when the correction window shuts.

Correction window open until 16 October

The window runs from 14 October to 16 October 2026, until 11 pm. It is open only to candidates whose completed form and fee reached SSC by the deadline.

A few things in para 11 of the notice catch people out:

• The corrected form replaces the old one. If the correction charge does not go through, the new form shows as "Incomplete", is not accepted, and SSC keeps your previous form.
• Women, SC, ST, PwBD and eligible ex-servicemen still pay the correction charge. Para 11.4 applies it to all candidates "irrespective of their gender/ category".
• Check the typing medium (Hindi or English). Para 13.9.13.7 says the choice in the form is final and will not be changed later. If it is wrong, this window is the only chance to fix it.
• Check your three exam centres. They must be in one SSC region, in order of priority. Para 12.2 says no change of centre will be considered at any later stage.
• Check the question-paper language. Tier-I Parts II, III and IV can be taken in English, Hindi or a language listed in Annexure-XV.
• Correction charges are not refunded, even if you end up making no real change.

After 11 pm on 16 October, para 11.9 says no change will be allowed "under any circumstances".

Posts, pay and who was eligible

The notice gives about 2,536 tentative vacancies. Post-wise and category-wise figures will appear on ssc.gov.in under Candidate's Corner, Tentative Vacancy. SSC does not collect state-wise numbers, so any state-wise CHSL vacancy table you see elsewhere did not come from the Commission.

Age: 18 to 27 on 1 August 2026, so born not before 2 August 1999 and not after 1 August 2008. OBC candidates get 3 more years, SC and ST 5, and PwBD 10, 13 or 15 depending on community.

Qualification: 12th pass by 7 October 2026. One exception matters. DEO and DEO Grade 'A' posts in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in SSC itself, and in the Ministry of Culture need 12th in Science with Mathematics. These are the "Para 8.1" departments the rest of the notice refers to.

Fee: Rs 100. Women, SC, ST, PwBD and eligible ex-servicemen were exempt.

Tier-I pattern

• Time: 60 minutes, with a 15-minute sectional timer for each part. Scribe-eligible candidates get 80 minutes, at 20 minutes per part.
• Negative marking: 0.50 marks per wrong answer, which is a quarter of the question's value.
• Language: English, Hindi, or a language opted for in the form, for Parts II, III and IV.

The sectional timer changes how you should plan. You cannot carry spare minutes from Reasoning into Quant. Each part gets 15 minutes for 25 questions, which works out to 36 seconds a question.

Tier-II pattern

Tier-II is held on a single day, in two sessions.

Each Tier-II question is worth 3 marks, and a wrong answer costs 1 mark in Sections I, II and III. Session-I runs for 2 hours 15 minutes. You re-register between sessions.

You have to clear every section of Tier-II. The Computer Knowledge Test counts only as a pass or fail, but failing it removes you from the merit list.

Typing test and DEO skill test

• The DEO skill test is compulsory for everyone, with no exemptions.
• Hindi typing for LDC/JSA must be done in the Mangal font. Any other font means you do not qualify.
• Errors are calculated to two decimal places, under the evaluation guidelines on the SSC website.
• PwBD candidates certified by a Civil Surgeon as unable to type may be exempted from the LDC/JSA typing test.

15,000 key depressions an hour works out to about 250 a minute. That is a speed you need to build over weeks, not something you can manage on the day. If you plan to rank a Para 8.1 DEO post high when SSC asks for post preferences, start practising on a timed key-depression tool now.

Qualifying marks and how merit is made

Para 17.1 sets the same minimums for Tier-I and for Sections I, II and III of Tier-II:

How the final list is built:

1. Tier-I decides who goes to Tier-II. Its marks are normalised if the exam runs in several shifts.
2. The final merit is Section-I plus Section-II of Tier-II only, which is 360 marks. Sections III and IV must be qualified but do not add marks.
3. Posts are allotted on Tier-II merit and the post preferences you give (para 17.10). Once you get your first available preference, you are not moved to another post later, so rank posts in the order you would actually accept them.
4. Ties are broken by Section-I marks of Tier-II, then Tier-I marks, then age, with the older candidate placed first.

Separate cut-offs may be set for three groups: DEO in Para 8.1 departments, DEO elsewhere, and LDC/JSA.

Tier-I topic list

These are the topics listed in para 13.10.

English Language: spot the error, fill in the blanks, synonyms and homonyms, antonyms, spellings and mis-spelt words, idioms and phrases, one-word substitution, improvement of sentences, active and passive voice, direct and indirect narration, shuffling of sentence parts, shuffling of sentences in a passage, cloze passage, comprehension passage.

General Intelligence: verbal and non-verbal questions, including semantic analogy, symbolic and number analogy, figural analogy, semantic, symbolic, number and figural classification, semantic, number and figural series, space orientation, Venn diagrams, drawing inferences, punched hole and pattern folding, embedded figures, critical thinking, problem solving, emotional and social intelligence, word building, coding and decoding, and numerical operations.

Quantitative Aptitude:

• Number systems: whole numbers, decimals, fractions, relationships between numbers
• Arithmetic: percentages, ratio and proportion, square roots, averages, simple and compound interest, profit and loss, discount, partnership, mixture and alligation, time and distance, time and work
• Algebra: basic school identities, elementary surds, graphs of linear equations
• Geometry: triangles and their centres, congruence and similarity, circles, chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords, common tangents
• Mensuration: triangle, quadrilaterals, regular polygons, circle, right prism, cone, cylinder, sphere, hemisphere, cuboid, regular right pyramid with a triangular or square base
• Trigonometry: ratios, complementary angles, simple heights and distances, standard identities
• Statistical charts: tables, histogram, frequency polygon, bar diagram, pie chart

General Awareness: current events, everyday science, and India and its neighbours, especially history, culture, geography, economy, general policy and scientific research.

Candidates with 40 percent or more visual disability get no maps, graphs, diagrams or statistical data in General Intelligence and Quantitative Aptitude.

What Tier-II adds

Tier-II repeats the Tier-I topic lists with three additions:

• Mathematical Abilities adds statistics and probability: mean, median, mode, standard deviation and simple probability.
• English Language and Comprehension adds at least two passages. One is based on a book or story, and the other on a current-affairs editorial or report.
• Computer Knowledge covers computer organisation, CPU, memory and input/output devices, ports, Windows Explorer and keyboard shortcuts, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint, browsing, email and e-banking, and networking and cyber security basics such as viruses, worms, Trojans and hacking.

Where marks are usually lost

• Guessing in Tier-II. A wrong answer there costs 1 mark against a gain of 3, so a blind guess on four options averages exactly zero. Guess only when you can rule out at least one option.
• Hitting the sectional wall. With a 15-minute timer per Tier-I part, spending two minutes on one geometry question can cost you two or three easier ones.
• Ignoring Section-III. The Computer Knowledge Test adds no marks, but failing it removes you from the merit list however well you did in Sections I and II. The topic list is short, so cover it properly before Tier-II.
• Leaving typing practice for later. Para 13.9.2 puts the typing and skill test in Session-II, on the same day as the Tier-II written paper. Your speed has to be ready when you walk in for Tier-II.

DV is done by the user departments after the final result (para 8.6), not by SSC, so keep original certificates ready for whichever ministry you are allotted to.

Exam dates for Tier-I and Tier-II are "to be notified later", according to the notice. A 20-question Tier-I style set with the 0.50 penalty and 15-minute-per-part pacing is on the SSC CHSL practice page.