What is SSC CGL

Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level Examination is popularly called SSC CGL; is a national and graduate level exam which is conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) every year for non-technical Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ non Gazetted Officer Posts in the various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and in its Subordinate Offices. SSC CGL is considered as one of the biggest examinations; conducted for graduate students in India. The exam is conducted in 4 stages & each stage is called tier. These stages of examinations are conducted online. SSC CGL Syllabus covers various sections / subjects like – General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Reasoning, Maths and English but subjects of English & Maths are considered crucial for this exam.

SSC CGL is one of the great opportunities for students looking forward for a reputed position / govt. job under the central government. In this article, we are providing all relevant information regarding SSC CGL such as SSC CGL Notification Date, SSC CGL Exam Date, SSC CGL Application Fees, SSC CGL Eligibility Criteria, SSC CGL Syllabus, SSC CGL Exam Pattern, SSC CGL Posts & SSC CGL Selection Procedure.

SSC CGL Exam Highlights

SSC CGL Application Fee

• The required application fee is Rs. 100/-
• Exemption: No fee is required to be paid by female, SC, ST, Physically Handicapped, and Ex-Servicemen candidates
• Applications fee should be pay only through SBI either in the form of challan or through SBI Net Banking or any other bank Credit/Debit Card. Challan form will be generated online
• To pay fee in cash, candidate should take print out of challan generated online after the completion of Part-1 registration. Deposit the requisite fee in any branch of SBI and then continue with the Part-2 registration
• Those candidates who want to pay online can go directly to part-2 registration after completion of part-1 registration. Candidate must supply registration number and date of birth to continue to Part-2 registration

SSC CGL Eligibility Criteria

Educational Qualification

Age Limit

Candidates can claim age relaxation if he/she falls under and considered category. The age limits mentioned here are applicable to general category candidates.

• Assistant, Inspector in Central Excise, Preventive Officer, Examiner in CBEC & Department of Post, Central Bureau of Narcotics: 18-27 years
• Assistant Audit Officer, Assistant Accounts Officer, Inspector of Income Tax in CBDT, Divisional Accountant under CAG: Not exceeding 30 years
• Assistant Section Officer in CSS, IB, Railway, External Affairs, AFHQ : 20-30 years
• Statistical Investigator Gr.II : Upto 32 years
• Assistant/Sub Inspector in CBI : 20-30 years
• ASI/SI in CPOs: 20-25 years

Note: As per the SSC, from this year the age criteria has been modified from 20 to 27 years to 20 to 30 years for some of posts & positions in different departments. For age of the individual SSC posts

Nationality/Citizenship-

• a citizen of India, or
• a subject of Nepal, or
• a subject of Bhutan, or
• a Tibetan refugee who came over to India, before the 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• 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.

Physical Standard

The physical requirements vary from post to post and are also different for male and female candidates. Candidates are advised to go through the notification thoroughly before opting the post category as the onus of fulfilling the physical standard criterion will be exclusively be on the candidate opting for such posts. There are certain requisite Physical Standards for Inspector (Central Excise/ Examiner/Preventive Officer), Sub-Inspector in CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and Sub-Inspector in NIA (National Investigation Agency).

Pay Scale

• Group-B Posts
  • Pay Band II Rs.9300-34800
• Group-C Posts
  • Pay Band I Rs. 5200-20200

SSC CGL Syllabus

The major sections asked in SSC CGL Preliminary Exam are General Awareness, Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and English Language.

SSC CGL Tier-1

General Intelligence and Reasoning

• Classification
• Analogy
• Coding-Decoding
• Word Formation
• Matrix

General Awareness

• Static GK (Indian History, Culture etc.)
• Science
• Current Affairs
• Sports
• Books and Authors
• Important Schemes

Quantitative Aptitude

• Simplification
• Interest
• Averages
• Percentage
• Ratio and Proportion
• Problem on Ages

English Comprehension

• Reading Comprehension
• Fill in the Blanks
• Spellings
• Phrases and Idioms
• One word Substitution
• Sentence Correction

SSC CGL Tier-2

• Paper-I: Quantitative Ability: 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 the 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 Alligations, Time and distance, Time &Work, Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra &Elementary surds, Graphs of Linear Equations, 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, 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.
• Paper-II: English Language & Comprehension: Questions in this components will be designed to test the candidate’s understanding and knowledge of English Language and will be based on spot the error, fill in the blanks, synonyms, antonyms, spelling/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.
• Paper-III: Statistics for Investigator Grade-II, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation & Compiler in RGI: Collection Classification and Presentation of Statistical Data, Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Dispersion, Moments, Skewness and Kurtosis, Correlation and Regression, Probability Theory, Random Variable and Probability Distributions, Sampling Theory, Statistical Inference, Analysis of Variance, Time Series Analysis, Index Numbers.
• Paper IV: General Studies (Finance and Economics): for the post of Assistant Audit Officer in Indian Audit & Accounts Department under CAG.

Part A: Finance and Accounts – (80 marks)

1. Fundamental principles and basic concept of Accounting. 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 organisations Accounts, Receipts and Payments and Income & Expenditure Accounts, Bills of Exchange, Self Balancing Ledgers.

Part B: Economics and Governance – (120 marks)

• Comptroller & Auditor General of India- Constitutional provisions, Role and responsibility
• Finance Commission-Role and functions
• Basic Concept of Economics and introduction to Micro Economics Definition, scope and nature of Economics, Methods of economic study and Central problems of an economy and Production possibilities curve
• Theory of Demand and Supply Meaning and determinants of demand, Law of demand and Elasticity of demand, Price, income and cross elasticity; Theory of consumer’s behaviour-Marshallian approach and Indifference curve approach, Meaning and determinants of supply, Law of supply and Elasticity of Supply.
• Theory of Production and cost Meaning and Factors of production; Laws of production- Law of variable proportions 22 and Laws of returns to scale.
• Forms of Market and price determination in different markets Various forms of markets-Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly ad Price determination in these markets
• Indian Economy Nature of the Indian Economy Role of different sectors-Role of Agriculture, Industry and Services-their problems and growth; National Income of India-Concepts of national income, Different methods of measuring national income Population-Its size, rate of growth and its implication on economic growth Poverty and unemployment- Absolute and relative poverty, types, causes and incidence of unemployment Infrastructure-Energy, Transportation, Communication
• Economic Reforms in India Economic reforms sice 1991; Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation and Disinvestment
• Money and Banking Monetary/ Fiscal policy- Role and functions of Reserve Bank of India; functions of commercial Banks/RRB/Payment Banks Budget and Fiscal deficits and Balance of payments Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003
• Role of Information Technology in Governance

SSC CGL Exam Pattern

There is no sectional cut off. No point will be deducted if the question is left blank or unattempt by a candidate.

SSC CGL Tier-1

SSC CGL Tier-2

SSC CGL Tier-3

Tier-3 of SSC CGL is a descriptive test. The paper will be in English/Hindi and will constitute of 100 marks in Pen and Paper mode of 60 min comprise writing of an Essay/ Passage of 250 words and Letter /Application Writing of approximately 150 words. The entire paper needs to be completed in 60 minutes.

SSC CGL Tier-4

Computer Proficiency Test/ Skill Test (wherever applicable)/ Document Verification, candidates opting for post of Sub-Inspector in CPOs will be required to undergo Physical Endurance Test (PET)/Medical Examination at any convenient time after declaration of result of Tier I.

A Computer Skill Test is conducted in two steps: DEST Test & CPT Test:

• DEST Test : Candidates are required to type 2000 words in 15 minutes on a computer in English. This test is conducted to check a candidate’s writing skills.
• CPT Test : This test is conducted to check a candidate’s proficiency in Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Generation of Slides.

Note : There is No Interview conducted for SSC CGL Exam. It has an objective and descriptive exam pattern. On the basis of the same merit is generated and the candidates who successfully clear all the phases are appointed for the post in the requisite Government Department or Ministry.

SSC CGL Selection Procedure

Various Posts in SSC CGL

1. Assistant (Central vigilance commission)
2. Assistant (Ministry of Railway)
3. Assistant (Ministry of External Affairs)
4. Inspector of income tax(CBDT)
5. Assistant (Intelligence Bureau)
6. Inspector (Preventive Officer)
7. Inspector (Examiner)
8. Inspector (Central excise)
9. Assistant (AFHQ)
10. Assistant Enforcement Officer (Directorate of enforcement, department of revenue)
11. Sub-Inspector CBI – (Central Bureau of Investigation)
12. Statistical Investigator Gr. II (M/O statistics & prog. Implementation)
13. Assistant (Other Ministries/Departments/Organizations)
14. Sub-Inspector NIA – (National Investigation Agency)
15. Assistant section officer (Central Secretariat Service)
16. Inspector (Central Bureau of Narcotics)
17. Divisional Accountant (Offices under CAG)
18. Inspector of Posts (Department of Post)