SSC CGL 2025: Notification, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Syllabus, Vacancies

SSC CGL is an open competitive examination, conducted for the recruitment of personnel for Grade B and C categories posts in various Ministries, Departments, and Organizations. The Staff Selection Commission is an organization working under the Government of India, authorized to conduct these examinations for various posts. Candidates are selected on the basis of their performance in the exams.

The 2025 cycle officially notified 14,582 vacancies, featuring roles like Income Tax Inspector, Assistant Section Officer (ASO), Sub-Inspector, etc.

To fill the application form for SSC CGL, the candidates have to pay a requisite application fee which has been set up by the exam conducting authority.

On the below of this page, you will find more information on the SSC CGL such as exam syllabus, vacancies, eligibility criteria, exam pattern, important links and dates, how to apply for the SSC CGL, and other details.

Educational Qualification:

While a Bachelor's Degree is the baseline, certain posts have specific subject requirements:

All Other Posts (Inspector, ASO, Auditor, etc.): Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from a recognized university.

Junior Statistical Officer (JSO): Bachelor’s Degree in any subject WITH at least 60% in Mathematics in Class 12th OR a Bachelor’s Degree with Statistics as one of the subjects.

Statistical Investigator Grade-II: Bachelor’s Degree with Statistics as a subject studied in all years/semesters of the degree course.

Assistant Audit/Accounts Officer (AAO): Bachelor’s Degree (Essential); CA/CMA/CS/M.Com/MBA (Finance) are considered "desirable" but not mandatory.

Age Limit (Post-Specific):

Your age is calculated as of August 1, 2025. The bracket depends entirely on the post you select:

Permissible relaxation in upper age limit and category-codes for claiming age relaxation are as follows:

Physical standards for the post of Inspector (Central Excise/ Examiner/ Preventive Officer), Inspector & Sub-Inspector in CBN:

→ Male Candidates:

Physical Standards:

• Height 157.5 cm.

• Chest 81 cm (fully expanded with a minimum expansion of 5 cm.)

• Height relaxable by 5 cm in the case of Garwalis, Assamese, Gorkhas and members of Scheduled Tribes.

Physical Test:

• Walking: 1600 meters in 15 minutes.

• Cycling: 8 Kms. in 30 minutes.

→ Female Candidates:

Physical standards (Minimum):

• Height: 152 cms.

• Weight: 48 Kgs.

• Height relaxable by 2.5 cms. Weight relaxable by 2 Kg. for Gorkhas, Garwalis, Assamese and members of Scheduled Tribes

Physical Test:

• Walking: 1 Km. in 20 minutes.

• Cycling: 3 Kms. in 25 minutes

Physical standards for the Post of Sub-Inspector in Central Bureau of Investigation:

 (A) Height :

• For men - 165 cm.

• For women - 150 cm.

• Height relaxable for Hillsmen and Tribals: 5 cms.

(B) Chest: 76 cm with expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates

(C) Vision :

• Eye-sight (with or without glasses)

• Distant vision: 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye.

• Near vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eyes.

Physical standards for the Post of Sub-Inspector in National Investigation Agency:

(A)  Height :

• For men - 170 cms.

• For women - 150 cms.

• Height relaxable for Hillsmen and Tribals: 5 cms.

(B) Chest: 76 cm with expansion (There shall be no such requirement in case of female candidates)

(C)  Vision:

• Eye-sight (with or without glasses)

• Distant vision: 6/6 in one and 6/9 in the other eye.

• Near vision 0.6 in one eye and 0.8 in other eyes.

The SSC CGL selection process has been streamlined into a two-tier system where the final selection is determined almost entirely by your performance in the second stage.

Tier 1 (Qualifying): An objective, 60-minute screening test. You must pass this to reach the next stage, but these marks do not count toward your final selection.

Negative Marking: 0.50 marks are deducted for every wrong answer.

Tier 2 (Merit-Deciding): The most critical stage. It is conducted in two sessions on the same day.

Tier 2 is the most misunderstood part of the process because it contains three papers, but you only take the ones relevant to the post you applied for.

For 95% of candidates, Paper 1 is the only paper that matters.

1. Paper 1 (For all the Candidates):

This is compulsory for all posts. Even if you take Paper 2 or 3, you must clear Paper 1 first. It is conducted in two sessions on the same day:

Session I (2 hours 15 mins):

Section 1: Mathematical Abilities (30 Qs) & Reasoning (30 Qs) — 180 Marks total.

Section 2: English (45 Qs) & General Awareness (25 Qs) — 210 Marks total.

Section 3: Computer Knowledge (20 Qs) — 60 Marks (Qualifying only).

Session II (15 mins): * Data Entry Speed Test (DEST) — Typing test (Qualifying only).

2. Paper 2 & Paper 3 (The "Specialist" Papers)

These are only for specific high-level posts. If you didn't apply for these specific roles, you don't take these papers.

Negative Marking: There will be negative marking of 1 mark for each wrong answer in Section-I, Section-II and Section-III of Paper-I and of 0.50 marks for each wrong answer in Paper-II.

Physical/Medical Tests: Mandatory only for specific executive roles like Inspector (Central Excise), Sub-Inspector (CBI/NIA), and roles in the Border Roads Organization (BRO).

Document Verification (DV): Conducted by the respective departments after the final result to verify your educational and category credentials.

Syllabus (Tier-I):

→ General Intelligence & Reasoning:  It would include questions of both verbal and non-verbal type. This component may include questions on analogies, similarities and differences, space visualization, spatial orientation, problem-solving, analysis, judgment, decision making, visual memory, discrimination, observation, relationship concepts, arithmetical reasoning and figural classification, arithmetic number series, non-verbal series, coding and decoding, statement conclusion, syllogistic reasoning, etc. The topics are, Semantic Analogy, Symbolic/ Number Analogy, Figural Analogy, Semantic Classification, Symbolic/ Number Classification, Figural Classification, Semantic Series, Number Series, Figural Series, Problem Solving, Word Building, Coding & de-coding, Numerical Operations, symbolic Operations, Trends, Space Orientation, Space Visualization, Venn Diagrams, Drawing inferences, Punched hole/ pattern- folding & un-folding, Figural Pattern- folding and completion, Indexing, Address matching, Date & city matching, Classification of center codes/roll numbers, Small & Capital letters/ numbers coding, decoding and classification, Embedded Figures, Critical thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence, Other sub-topics, if any. 

→ General Awareness: Questions in this component will be aimed at testing the candidates‟ general awareness of the environment around him and its application to society. Questions will also be designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observations and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of any educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighboring countries especially pertaining to History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General Policy & Scientific Research.

→ Quantitative Aptitude: The questions will be designed to test the ability of appropriate use of numbers and number sense of the candidate. The scope of the test will be computation of whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and relationships between numbers, Percentage. Ratio & Proportion, Square roots, Averages, Interest, Profit and Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture and Alligation, Time and distance, Time & Work, Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra & Elementary surds, Graphs of Linear Equations, Triangle and its various kinds of centers, Congruence and similarity of triangles, Circle and its chords, 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 or square base, Trigonometric ratio, Degree and Radian Measures, Standard Identities, Complementary angles, Heights and Distances, Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar diagram & Pie chart.

→ English Comprehension: Candidates‟ ability to understand correct English, his/ her basic comprehension and writing ability, etc. would be tested.

The questions in Parts A, B, & D will be of a level commensurate with the essential qualification viz. Graduation and questions in Part-C will be of 10th standard level.

Application Fee:

Fee payable: ₹100/- (Rs one hundred only).

Women candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC),Scheduled Tribes (ST), Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) and Ex-servicemen (ESM) eligible for reservation are exempted from payment of fee.

Mode of Payment:

Fee can be paid online through BHIM UPI, Net Banking or by using Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, or RuPay Debit cards.