SSC CGL details with eligibility
Staff Selection Commission (SSC) through CGL (Combined Graduate Level) exam, invites application for various group B & group C posts in ministries, departments, and Organizations under the Government of India. As the name implies, it is graduation based exam so prerequisites for you to hold a bachelor’s degree prior to applying for this exam.
What is SSC
SSC is an organization under the Department of Personnel’s and Training (DoPT) under GOI, designed and structured to recruit Human Resources for central Government Departments starting from Administration to Security for Group B and Group C posts. It conducts the exam on year basis for many posts in central government and ministries. SSC recently shifted its mode of exam from traditional offline paper to technically assisted online exams. The exam is usually conducted in more than one stage which may include written test objective one, written part of subjective nature to personal interviews at designated locations.
Classification of Central Services Post
The civil service of Central government is categorized into four groups
Group ‘A’ – which consist of all India Services, Group ‘B+C+D’ services.
Such categorizations are done based on the status of the post, rank structure, and the responsibility level attached to that particular group of a post.
Group ‘A’ post usually carries higher Executive, Administrative powers and responsibilities with them and so holds a senior post in management level in government offices. Junior cadre officers of group ‘A’ with Group ‘B’ officers constitute the middle level of management in any government organization. Group ‘C’ usually tasked to perform work related to supervision and clerical activities. While Group ‘D’ post people are actual workforce means to carry out normal working activities.
Recruitment for the Group ‘A ‘ posts is usually done by UPSC while SSC conducts an exam for Group ‘B+C’ posts.
Why to choose SSC CGL
The SSC CGL Exam is considered best among all the exams conducted by SSC under its purview because of the post for which this particular exam is held. Various prestigious posts can be attained by you if got selected through SSC CGL in the future in central government departments across pan India. This test is conducted to select candidates into Group B & Group C posts in various categories for the posts like Assistant, Inspector, Assistant Section Officer, Assistant, Auditor, Sub-Inspector, Junior Accountant, Tax Assistant, Assistant Account Officer, Upper Division Clerk, Junior Statistical Officer, etc.
SSC CGL Qualification
The basic and compulsory education qualification for you to be eligible to appear in the SSC CGL exam is that you must be holding a Bachelor’s Degree / Graduation or any equivalent qualification from a recognized university. Further additional qualification as desired by respective post/department is listed against the said post in the table below:
Assistant Audit Officer/Assistant Accounts Officer: Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University or Institute.
| Name of the Post | Education Qualification |
| Assistant Audit Officer/Assistant Accounts Officer | Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University or Institute. Desirable – Chartered Accountant or cost & Management Accountant or Company Secretary or Masters in Commerce or Masters in Business Studies or Masters in Business Administration (Finance) or Masters in Business Economics. |
| Junior Statistical Officer | Bachelor’s Degree in any subject from a recognized University or Institute with at least 60% Marks in Mathematics at the 12th standard level. OR Bachelor’s Degree in any subject with Statistics as one of the subjects at degree level. |
| Statistical Investigator Grade-II | Bachelor’s Degree in any subject with Statistics as one of the subjects from a recognized University or Institute. The candidates must have studied Statistics as a subject in all the three years of the graduation course. |
| All Other Posts | Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University or equivalent. |
SSC CGL Posts Details & Age Limit
SSC CGL exam is conducted by SSC for many posts of different grade pay and departments and age criteria are different for each post. All the details in respect of each individual post is discussed and listed below in the table for your reference:
Group A post:
| Post Name | Department | Cadre Classification | Age Limit |
| Assistant Audit Officer | Indian Audit & Accounts Department under CAG | Group ‘B’ Gazetted (Non-Ministerial) | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Assistant Accounts Officer | Indian Audit & Accounts Department under CAG | Group ‘B’ Gazetted (Non-Ministerial) | Not exceeding 30 years |
Group “B” Posts
| Post Name | Department | Cadre Classification | Age Limit |
| Assistant Section Officer | Central Secretariat Service | Group “B” | 20-30 years |
| Assistant Section Officer | Intelligence Bureau | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Assistant Section Officer | Ministry of Railway | Group “B” | 20-30 years |
| Assistant Section Officer | Ministry of External Affairs | Group “B” | 20-30 years |
| Assistant Section Officer | AFHQ | Group “B” | 20-30 years |
| Assistant | Other Ministries/ Departments/Organizations | Group “B” | 18-30 years |
| Assistant | Other Ministries/ Departments/Organizations | Group “B” | 20-30 years |
| Assistant Section Officer | Other Ministries/ Departments/Organizations | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Assistant | Other Ministries/ Departments/Organizations | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Assistant/ Superintendent | Other Ministries/ Departments/Organizations | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Inspector of Income Tax | CBDT | Group “C” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Inspector, (Central Excise) | CBEC | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Inspector (Preventive Officer) | CBEC | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Inspector (Examiner) | CBEC | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Assistant Enforcement Officer | Directorate of Enforcement, Department of Revenue | Group “B” | Up to 30 years |
| Sub Inspector | Central Bureau of Investigation | Group “B” | 20-30 years |
| Inspector Posts | Department of Post | Group “B” | 18-30 years |
| Divisional Accountant | Offices under CAG | Group “B” | Not exceeding 30 years |
| Inspector | Central Bureau of Narcotics | Group “B” | 18-27 years |
| Sub Inspector | National Investigation Agency (NIA) | Group “B” | Up to 30 years |
Group “C” Posts
| Post Name | Department | Cadre Classification | Age Limit |
| Junior Statistical Office | M/o Statistics & Prog. Implementation | Group “B” | Up to 32 years |
Group “D” Posts
| Post Name | Department | Cadre Classification | Age Limit |
| Auditor | Offices under C&AG | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Auditor | Offices under CGDA | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Auditor | Other Ministry/Departments | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Accountant | Offices under C&AG | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Accountant/ Junior Accountant | Other Ministry/Departments | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Senior Secretariat Assistant/ Upper Division Clerks | Central Govt. Offices/Ministries other than CSCS cadres | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Tax Assistant | CBDT | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Tax Assistant | CBEC | Group “C” | 20-27 years |
| Sub Inspector | Central Bureau of Narcotics | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
| Upper Division Clerk | Dte. Gen Border Road Organisation (MoD) | Group “C” | 18-27 years |
The Age Limit for the post of Tax Assistant has been relaxed from 20 years to 18 years i.e. the minimum age limit to apply for the said post is 18 years.
SELECTION PROCEDURE OF SSC CGL:-
Recently, SSC shifted its exam-taking process from traditional offline to a technically advanced online system. The complete examination process for SSC CGL is a combination of Written examination (both Objective and Descriptive type) and skill tests. The objective part of the written exam in conducted online while for a descriptive paper you have to attend it through offline mode or can say traditional way with the help of paper and pen. The examination is divided into a tier system where:
- Tier 1: Computer Based Examination (CBE)
- Tier 2: Computer Based Examination (CBE)
- Tier 3: Descriptive Exam
- Tier 4: Computer Proficiency Test (CPT)/Skill Test/ Document Verification (DV). Details in with respect to each stage are as below:
SSC CGL Tier 1 Selection Process
Tier 1 stage of CGL examination is of Objective type online computer-based test consisting of four sections:
General Intelligence & Reasoning, General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, and English Comprehension. Each section will have 25 questions each with total marks of 200consists i.e. 2 marks each question with a time limit of one hour (60 minutes) to complete the examination. Candidates who are allowed to use scribe are permitted with extra 20 minutes extra i.e. 80 minutes for completion of the examination. This section of the exam also attracts a negative marking of 0.5 marks for each wrong answer, so you must be sure before answering.
As per the latest CGL Notification by SSC, candidates who got qualified in Tier 1 will be eligible for both Tier 2 and Tier 3
SSC CGL Tier 2 Selection Process
The SSC CGL Tier 2 section is also an online process same as of Tier 1, and candidates who scores above the cut off marks in Tier 1 exam will be allowed to write this stage and Tier 3 stage. But, to make your answer sheet eligible for evaluation in Tier 3, you must score marks above cut off in Tier 2 exam first.
Tier 2 exam stage consists of a total of 4 papers: English Language, Quantitative Abilities & Comprehension, Statistics, General Studies. Paper for the English language is of 200 marks while all other papers are of 100 marks. The total marks of each paper are 200 with a negative marking of 0.25 for English paper and 0.5 for all other papers. The total duration of the exam is of 2 hours with 20 minutes extra for the candidates who are allowed to use Scribe.
SSC CGL Tier 3 Selection Process
You must have scored above cut off marks in both Tier 1 & 2 for making yourself eligible for the evaluation of Tier 3. The SSC CGL Stage 3 Exam is conducted in offline mode i.e in traditional mode with pen and paper. Total marks for this stage are 100 while the time allotted for each candidate will be of 60 minutes and an extra 20 minutes for candidates allowed to use Scribe. Tier 3 exam can be written in English or Hindi that means it is a bilingual paper. The SSC CGL Tier 3 Descriptive paper includes writing an essay/precis/Letter/applications, etc.
SSC CGL Tier 4 Selection Process
After scoring qualifying marks in all the above stages of examination, candidates are called upon for the fourth stage of examination which is skill test, Computer Proficiency Test (CPT), and Document verification. This stage is mandatory to appear but is of qualifying in nature that means no marks associated with it.
Syllabus for SSC CGL Tier 1
The major sections asked in SSC CGL Tier – 1 Exam are General Awareness, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English Language. The detailed syllabus for all the above-defined subjects is as follows: –
General Intelligence & Reasoning:
Verbal Reasoning— Analogies, Problem Solving, Judgment, Decision making, Discrimination, Relationship concepts, Mathematical Reasoning, Coding and Decoding, Statement Conclusion, Syllogism, Operations, Venn diagram, Address matching, Numbers Coding, Critical Thinking, Series Problem,
Non-Verbal Reasoning— Analogies, Space Visualization, Spatial Orientation, Analysis, Non-Verbal Series, Pattern- Folding, Classification, Embedded Figures, Visual Memory, Drawing Inferences
English Language:
Improving Sentences, Spotting Errors, Synonyms & Antonyms, Fill in the Blanks, Active/ Passive Voice, Verbs, One-Word Substitution, Idioms & Phrases, Cloze Passage, Comprehension Passage, Spelling/ Detecting Misspelled Words, Direct/ Indirect, Shuffling of Sentence Parts, Shuffling of Sentences in a Passage
Quantitative Aptitude:
Percentage, Ratio & Proportion, Square Roots, Averages, Interest, Profit & Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture & Alligation, Time & Distance, Time & Work, Basic Algebraic Identities, Graphs of Linear Equations, Triangle & Its Various Kinds of Centres, Congruence & Similarity of Triangles, Tangents, Angles Subtended by Chords of A Circle, Common Tangents to Two or More Circles, Triangle, Quadrilaterals, Regular Polygons, Circle, Right Prism, Right Circular Cone, Right Circular Cylinder, Sphere, Hemispheres, Rectangular Parallelepiped, Regular Right Pyramid with Triangular/ Square Base, Trigonometric Ratio, Degree & Radian Measures, Standard Identities, Complementary Angles, Heights & Distances, Histogram, Frequency Polygon, Bar Diagram & Pie Chart, Circle & Its Chords, Relationships Between Numbers.
General Awareness:
History & Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, Indian Polity, General Policy & Scientific Research, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Section, Current Affairs, Current GK, Books & Authors, Persons & Place in News, Abbreviations.
Syllabus for SSC CGL Tier 2
As Tier 2 consists of four paper out of which syllabus for Paper of English and Quantitative Aptitude is same as for Tier I while syllabus for other two paper is discussed below:
Syllabus for Statistics
Collection Classification and Presentation of Statistical Data, Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Dispersion, Moments, Skewness & Kurtosis, Correlation & Regression, Probability Theory, Random Variable & Probability Distributions, Sampling Theory, Statistical Inference, Analysis of Variance, Time Series Analysis, Index Numbers.
Syllabus for General Studies:
Financial Accounting— Nature and scope, Limitations of Financial Accounting, Basic concepts and Conventions, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Basic Concepts of Accounting— Single and double entry, Books of Original Entry, Bank Reconciliation, Journal, ledgers, Trial Balance, Rectification of Errors, Manufacturing, Trading, Profit & loss Appropriation Accounts, Balance Sheet Distinction between Capital and Revenue Expenditure, Depreciation Accounting, Valuation of Inventories, Non-profit organizations Accounts, Receipts and Payments & Income & Expenditure Accounts, Bills of Exchange, Self-Balancing Ledgers.
Economics— Economics, Production possibilities curve, Theory of Demand and Supply, Theory of Production and cost, Various forms of markets, Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly ad Price determination, Agriculture, Industry & Services, national income, Population, Poverty & unemployment, Infrastructure, Economic reforms, Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization, Disinvestment, Monetary/ Fiscal policy.
Syllabus for SSC CGL Tier 3 (Descriptive Paper)
This paper has been introduced to assess the writing skills of the candidates which are necessary for Government jobs. The Paper would comprise writing of an Essay / Passage of 250 words and Letter / Application Writing of approximately 150 words.
A candidate usually goes through all the preparations of objective type exams but when it comes to descriptive papers, he generally uses to get relax and that is the reason average scoring of any descriptive paper is always less. So it is advised to be better prepared for the descriptive papers as well and some of the simple tips you can follow for the same by visiting tips for clearing the CAPF AC exam. Why I am referring to the CAPF exam because the descriptive part of both papers has the same syllabus so you can check and prepare for your strategy accordingly.
SSC CGL Syllabus Tier 4 (Skill Test – CPT/DEST/Typing Test)
Candidates who clear the Tier 3 Exams are called for the Tier 4 phase. This section is qualifying one. This section aims to judge a candidate’s personality traits, communication skills, and leadership skills, in addition to his/her academic knowledge.
Data Entry Speed Test (DEST) –
Tax Assistants Post (Central Excise & Income Tax) – It requires 8,000 Key Depression per hour.
The Data Entry Speed Test will be conducted for passage of about 2000 key depressions for a duration of 15 minutes.
Computer Proficiency Test (CPT) –
for the posts of Assistant Section Officer of CSS, Assistant Section Officer (MEA), Assistant Section Officer in AFHQ, Assistant in Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Assistant (GSI) in the Ministry of Mines, CPT Test comprises in three modules: word processing, spreadsheet, Generation of slides.
FINAL MERIT LIST OF SSC CGL
Final Merit List will be prepared by SSC on the basis of the overall performance of a candidate in all stages of examination. The final selection of candidates into a post also depends on the preference of posts provided by a candidate. Once the candidate is allotted to the first available preference than no further application will be entertained for change of service. So it is advised to take proper care while providing the preference of services to SSC.
