Overview
The Staff Selection Commission conducts the SSC CHSL exam annually for the recruitment of candidates in various Ministries/Departments/Organizations of the Government of India. The full form of SSC CHSL is Staff Selection Commission Combined Higher Secondary Level Examination. The exam is conducted for the recruitment of candidates to various posts, including:
• Postal Assistants (PA) / Sorting Assistants (SA)
• Data Entry Operator (DEO)
• Lower Divisional Clerk (LDC) / Junior Secretariat Assistant (JSA)
• Data Entry Operator (Grade A)
These posts require candidates to have a 10+2 educational qualification or equivalent from a recognized board or university. The SSC CHSL Exam Pattern consists of three phases – Tier I (Computer-Based Examination), Tier II (Descriptive Paper), and Tier III (Skill Test / Typing Test). Candidates who qualify all three tiers are eligible for selection to the various posts.
Eligibility Criteria
There are 3 important eligibility criteria that a candidate must fulfil in order to be eligible for the SSC CHSL exam. The 3 parameters are given below:
SSC CHSL Nationality
A candidate must be either:
(a) a citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India, before the 1st January 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania(Formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.
SSC CHSL Age Limit
The age limit for the posts is 18-27 years. Permissible relaxation in the upper age limit for different categories is as below:
Code No. | Category | Permissible age relaxation beyond the upper age limit |
01 | SC/ ST | 5 years |
02 | OBC | 3 years |
03 | Persons with Disabilities (PwD-Unreserved) | 10 years |
04 | PwD + OBC | 13 years |
05 | PwD + SC/ ST | 15 years |
06 | Ex-Servicemen | 03 years after deduction of the military service rendered from the actual age as on the closing date. |
07 | Candidates who had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from 1st January 1980 to 31st December 1989. | 5 years |
08 | Defence Personnel disabled in operation during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof. | 3 years |
09 | Defence Personnel disabled in operation during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof (SC/ ST). | 8 years |
10 | Central Government Civilian Employees: Who have rendered not less than 3 years regular and continuous service as on closing date for receipt of online applications. | Up to 40 years of age |
11 | Central Government Civilian Employees: Who have rendered not less than 3 years regular and continuous service as on closing date for receipt of online applications (SC/ ST). | Up to 45 years of age |
12 | Widows/ Divorced Women/ Women judicially separated and who are not remarried. | Up to 35 years of age |
13 | Widows/ Divorced Women/ Women judicially separated and who are not remarried (SC/ ST). | Up to 40 years of age |
SSC CHSL Educational Qualification
For LDC/ JSA, PA/ SA, DEO (except DEOs in C&AG): The candidates who are planning to appear in CHSL exam must have passed the 12th Standard or equivalent examination from a recognized Board or University.
For Data Entry Operator (DEO) in the Office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG): 12th Standard pass in Science stream with Mathematics as a subject from a recognized Board or equivalent.
Exam Pattern
The SSC CHSL exam pattern consists of three stages – Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. Here are the details of each stage:
Tier I:
– This is a computer-based exam with 100 multiple choice questions.
– The duration of the exam is 60 minutes.
– The questions are divided into four sections: English Language, General Intelligence, Quantitative Aptitude, and General Awareness.
– The total marks for the exam are 200, with each question carrying 2 marks.
– There is negative marking of 0.50 marks for each wrong answer.
Tier II:
– This is a descriptive paper that tests the writing skills of the candidate in English or Hindi language.
– The duration of the exam is 60 minutes.
– The total marks for the exam are 100.
– The paper requires candidates to write an essay and a letter or application.
Tier III:
– This stage is a skill test or typing test, depending on the post applied for.
– For the DEO post, candidates have to take a typing test of 15 minutes in English or Hindi on the computer, with a minimum speed of 8000 key depressions per hour.
– For the Postal Assistant/Sorting Assistant post, candidates have to take a typing test of 15 minutes in English or Hindi on the computer, with a minimum speed of 35 words per minute.
– The Tier III stage is qualifying in nature.
Syllabus
Since the SSC CHSL is comprised of 3 different levels, we must deal with their syllabus independently.
This is an objective exam that will be conducted online. There are 4 sections in the Tier 1 exam of SSC CHSL, with 100 questions that account for a total of 200 marks. The subject-wise details are given below:
Since the SSC CHSL is comprised of 3 different levels, we must deal with their syllabus independently.
This is an objective exam that will be conducted online. There are 4 sections in the Tier 1 exam of SSC CHSL, with 100 questions that account for a total of 200 marks. The subject-wise details are given below:
Section | Subject | No of Questions | Max Marks | Exam Duration |
1 | General Intelligence | 25 | 50 | 60 minutes |
2 | General Awareness | 25 | 50 | |
3 | Quantitative Aptitude (Basic Arithmetic Skill) | 25 | 50 | |
4 | English Language (Basic Knowledge) | 25 | 50 | |
Total | 100 | 200 |
SSC CHSL Tier 1 Syllabus
English Language: Spot the Error, Fill in the Blanks, Synonyms/ Homonyms, Antonyms, Spellings/ Detecting mis-spelt words, Idioms & Phrases, One-word substitution, Improvement of Sentences, Active/ Passive Voice of Verbs, Conversion into Direct/ Indirect narration, Shuffling of Sentence parts, Shuffling of Sentences in a passage, Cloze Passage, Comprehension Passage.
General Intelligence: It would include questions of both verbal and non-verbal types. The test will include questions on Semantic Analogy, Symbolic operations, Symbolic/ Number Analogy, Trends, Figural Analogy, Space Orientation, Semantic Classification, Venn Diagrams, Symbolic/ Number Classification, Drawing inferences, Figural Classification, Punched hole/ pattern folding & unfolding, Semantic Series, Figural Pattern-folding and completion, Number Series, Embedded figures, Figural Series, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Emotional Intelligence, Word Building, Social Intelligence, Coding and de-coding, Other sub-topics, if any Numerical operations.
Quantitative Aptitude:
Number Systems: Computation of Whole Number, Decimal and Fractions, Relationship between numbers.
Fundamental arithmetical operations: Percentages, Ratio and Proportion, Square roots, Averages, Interest (Simple and Compound), Profit and Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture and Allegation, Time and distance, Time and work.
Algebra: Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra and Elementary surds (simple problems) and Graphs of Linear Equations.
Geometry: Familiarity with elementary geometric figures and facts: Triangle and its various kinds of centres, Congruence and similarity of triangles, Circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords of a circle, common tangents to two or more circles.
Mensuration: 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. Trigonometry: Trigonometry, Trigonometric ratios, Complementary angles, Height and distances
Statistical Charts: Use of Tables and Graphs: Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar-diagram, Pie-chart.
General Awareness: Questions are designed to test the candidate‟s general awareness of the environment around him and its application to society. Questions are also designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of an educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighbouring countries especially pertaining to History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General policy and scientific research
Click Here to View SSC CHSL Detailed Syllabus
Important Points:
• There is negative marking in SSC CHSL Tier 1 Exam. Giving a wrong answer to a question will lead to a penalty of 0.5 marks in all sections
• The exam duration is 75 minutes for candidates who are visually handicapped.
SSC CHSL Tier 2 Syllabus
This is a descriptive exam that is designed to test the written skills of the candidates in English/Hindi. The Paper would comprise writing of an Essay of 200-250 words and Letter/Application writing of approximately 150-200 words. The minimum qualifying marks in Tier-II would be 33 per cent. The performance in Tier-II would be included for preparing merit. The best way to prepare for the same is to read lots of articles from various newspapers. Apart from this, you need to be well aware of the pattern of Letters and Applications.
Application Fee
Category | Fees |
General/OBC | INR 100 |
SC/ST/PH/Female candidates | Nil |
How to Apply
Follow these steps to apply for SSC CHSL on the web:
- Sign in to the SSC CHSL Official website.
- Get yourself registered by using email ID and phone number. Aspirants will get the registration number via mail and text message.
- After clicking on the Apply option, you will get the application structure. Fill it out on the web.
- Aspirants must check the size photo and thumb impression details to complete the application.
- Pay the application fee online or through a Bank Challan, which will be created after you have filled in the necessary SSC CHSL Exam application.
- After enlistment, click on Apply to get the application submitted.
- After double-checking on the details, click on the Submit button. Check the details thoroughly as the alteration process is not allowed most of the entries.
- Download the filled-in application structure.
- Take the printout for future references.