SSC CPO 2026 Syllabus: Paper-I, PET, Paper-II 320 Marks

Paper-I is on 20 to 28 November 2026. If you have already applied, this page is the two papers, PET, medical, tattoos and the 320-mark Paper-II split. Paper-II English alone is 200 marks. A wrong answer there costs 0.50. Paper-I still deducts 0.25. Blank answers cost nothing on either paper. Vacancies, licence rules and force-wise seats are on the SSC CPO 2026 recruitment page. The scheme is from paras 12 and 16 of notice E/37/2026-C-2.

Paper-I

Computer-based, objective, 1 hour, with a 15-minute sectional timer on each part. Scribe rules follow the notice. Parts I to III are in Hindi and English.

Negative marking: 0.25 a wrong answer. You cannot carry unused minutes from reasoning into quant. That is 36 seconds a question.

Indicative topics (para 12.9), used for both papers:

Reasoning: verbal and non-verbal: semantic, symbolic and figural analogy, classification and series, problem solving, word building, coding, numerical and symbolic operations, space orientation and visualisation, Venn diagrams, drawing inferences, punched-hole and pattern folding, embedded figures, indexing, address and date matching, critical thinking, emotional and social intelligence.

General Knowledge: environment and current events, everyday science, and India and its neighbours: history, culture, geography, economy, general polity, the Constitution and scientific research.

Quantitative Aptitude: number system, percentages, ratio, square roots, averages, interest, profit and loss, discount, partnership, mixture, time and distance, time and work, school algebra and surds, graphs of linear equations, triangles, circles, polygons, mensuration, trigonometry, heights and distances, histogram, frequency polygon, bar diagram and pie chart.

English: errors, fill in the blanks (verbs, prepositions, articles), vocabulary, spellings, grammar, sentence structure, synonyms, antonyms, sentence completion, idioms, comprehension.

Physical tests

PST and PET are qualifying. Height and chest (men) must be met. Women have no chest minimum. Weight should correspond to height.

Height, Delhi Police

Height, CAPF GD

Height, CISF Fire (men only): general 170 cm, chest 81 / 86; hill 165 cm, 81 / 86; ST including Mizos and Nagas 162.5 cm, 77 / 82.

Hill relaxation needs the Annexure-VIII certificate from the district where you ordinarily live.

PET, men: 100 m in 16 seconds; 1.6 km in 6.5 minutes; long jump 3.65 m in 3 chances; high jump 1.2 m in 3 chances; shot put (16 lb) 4.5 m in 3 chances.

PET, women: 100 m in 18 seconds; 800 m in 4 minutes; long jump 2.7 m; high jump 0.9 m.

A same-day appeal sits on the PST ground if you fail height or chest. Pregnant candidates who declare the pregnancy are held as temporarily unfit and re-tested six weeks after confinement; the vacancy is kept. A false declaration leaves the risk with the candidate. Ex-servicemen skip PET only. They still need written papers, physical standards and the medical.

Paper-II

Objective, two hours, higher difficulty than Paper-I. Parts I to III are bilingual. Negative marking: 0.50 a wrong answer.

Parts I to III share a one-hour block with a 20-minute timer on each part. English is a separate hour. English is 200 of the 320 marks. A candidate who only drilled 15-minute Paper-I English parts is under-prepared for this paper.

The topic heads are the same as Paper-I. The notice says the difficulty is higher.

Medical and tattoos

Everyone who qualifies Paper-II sits a Detailed Medical Examination by a CAPF medical officer or a Grade-I government doctor. Review medical, if you fail DME, is usually the next day. The review board's decision is final. There is no further appeal.

Eyes: near vision N6 (better eye) and N9 (worse eye); distant 6/6 and 6/9, both eyes, without glasses or surgery to improve acuity. In a right-handed person the right eye is the better eye. Knock knee, flat foot, varicose vein and squint fail you. You need high colour vision. You must be in good mental and bodily health and free of a defect that would interfere with the work.

Tattoos: religious symbols or a name, as in the Indian Army, on the inner left forearm or the back of the hands, smaller than one-fourth of that part. Other sites and sizes fail the medical.

The notice also lists an obstacle course (vertical board, Tarzan swing, monkey crawl, vertical rope and the rest). Those items sit under para 12.12. Treat them as printed; the admit-card handout will say whether your PET ground uses them.

NCC bonus and merit

The certificate must have been held on the closing date, 30 September 2026. Bonus is added to the normalised score. Minimum qualifying marks in para 16.2 are counted without the NCC bonus.

Multi-shift marks are normalised (SSC notice dated 2 June 2025). Paper-I, including NCC bonus, only shortlists you for PST and PET. Paper-II, including NCC bonus, shortlists you for the medical. Final selection and allocation of post or force use Paper-II (including NCC bonus on that paper) after you qualify PST, PET and the medical. If two candidates have the same Paper-I plus Paper-II total, ties go to higher Paper-II, then English in Paper-II, then older candidate, then name. There is no re-evaluation. Posts are allotted on merit-cum-preference after Paper-II. Fail a post-specific physical, medical or licence test after allotment and SSC will not move you to your next preference.

Exam day

SSC uploads city details about 10 days before Paper-I and the admit card 2 to 3 days before your shift. Print the admission certificate. Carry two recent photographs and a photo ID whose date of birth matches the card. Listed IDs: voter ID, driving licence, PAN, passport, college ID, employer ID, ESM discharge book, or another Central or State photo ID. If the ID has no date of birth, carry the class 10 certificate. A mismatch keeps you out. Candidates without Aadhaar authentication report two hours early.

After Paper-I, tentative keys go on ssc.gov.in. A challenge costs Rs 50 a question, not refunded. Email and post are not taken. Guidelines on the objection system are in SSC's notice dated 10 April 2026.

How to prepare

Paper-I is about five weeks away.

Every weekday. One 15-minute reasoning block, one 15-minute quant block, one 15-minute English block. Stop when the timer stops.

GK. Constitution, police and CAPF current affairs, medals, appointments and the last six months of national news. The paper names the Constitution expressly.

Paper-II English, now. One hundred questions in one hour is a different paper from Paper-I's 25. Sit a 60-minute, 100-question English set at least twice a week: comprehension, grammar, vocabulary. A wrong answer costs 0.50 against 2 marks.

PET, now, not after the written result. Sixteen seconds for 100 m and 6.5 minutes for 1.6 km are failed in December by people who only ran after Paper-I. Train three days a week. Confirm height with a stadiometer if you are near 170 cm or 157 cm.

Licence. Male Delhi Police applicants: the LMV licence (motorcycle and car) must exist on the PET date, not "applied for".

NCC. If you hold A, B or C, check that the form recorded it. Sixteen marks on Paper-II is large enough to change a cut-off.

After Paper-II. SSC takes the online option form for posts and forces, then calls you for document verification and the medical. Have the degree (result on or before 30 September 2026), caste or EWS papers, and the LMV licence if you ranked Delhi Police. A Delhi-list OBC certificate that is not on the Central list counts only for Delhi Police. Rank CISF Fire only if you hold the science degree or the listed diploma.

Ten questions on dates, PET and the licence rule are on the practice page.