SSC CGL Exam Goes Online!
Finally the SSC CGL Exam goes Online !! The Commission has made some revisions in the Exam pattern / scheme. The changes are given below.

  1. Number of Questions reduced from 200 to 100 in Tier-I. Number of Marks remain 200.
  2. The duration of the Tier-I examination would be for a period of 75 minutes.
  3. Tier-I and Tier-II will be conducted in computer based examination mode in place of OMR based examination mode
  4. Tier-I is scheduled to be held from 27th August, 2016.
  5. There will be negative marking of 0.50 for each wrong answer in Tier-I. In respect of TierII, the negative marking system will remain unchanged.
  6. In addition to above, the Commission has also decided to introduce a Descriptive Paper of English/Hindi as Tier-III. The Question Paper will be bilingual. The candidates will have the option to choose any one medium.
  7. The final merit will be prepared on overall performance in Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III. However, the candidate will need to qualify all the tiers i.e. Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III separately. There will be no sectional cut-off.

The snap shot of the entire scheme of CGL 2016 is given below.

  Test Area No of Questions Marks Time Remarks/Changes
TIER I General Intelligence & Reasoning 25 50 75 Minutes Pattern changed. Questions reduced to 100 from 200. Duration is 75 minutes. Negative Marking changed to 0.5 from 0.25. Exam goes Online from Paper -pencil mode
General Awareness 25 50
Quantitative Aptitude 25 50
English Language 25 50
TOTAL 100 200






TIER II No change in Exam pattern and Scheme – Paper I and II common for all posts. Additional Paper III (Statistics) for post of Statistical Officer. Additional paper IV on General Studies for post of Assistant Audit Officer. Mode of exam goes online from paper – pencil






TIER III Descriptive Paper in English/Hindi (writing of Essay/Precis/Letter /Application Writing etc
100 60 Minutes The Commission has also decided to introduce a Descriptive Paper of English/Hindi as Tier-III. The Question Paper will be bilingual. The candidates will have the option to choose any one medium . This will be in Pen & paper Mode.






TIER IV Data Entry Skill Test (DEST) / Computer Proficiency Test (CPT) (wherever applicable) No change. Same as published in Notification released in Feb 2016. This remains Qualifying in nature This was earlier Tier III. With introduction of Descriptive Paper as Tier III, this is now Tier IV

The final merit will be prepared on overall performance in Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III. However, the candidate will need to qualify all the tiers i.e. Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III separately. There will be no sectional cut-off.

Click here for Complete Notification