To recruit candidates in group B and C positions under the branches of ministry and other government departments, the Staff Selection Commission conducts an examination called Combined Graduate Level Examination. The selected candidates get a chance to work in Indian Audit and Accounts Department (under CAG), Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Rail, Ministry of External Affairs, Central Bureau of Investigation, Central Bureau of Narcotics, National Investigation Agency and many other departments. The CGL examination is conducted over Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 levels. While Tier 1 and Tier 2 are computer based online examination, Tier 3 is a written descriptive examination conducted. The Tier 4 examination is a skill and performance test where a candidate’s Data Entry Skills and Computer proficiency are tested. Data Entry Skills are tested only for the candidates who are applying for the post of Tax Assistants (Central Excise and Income Tax) and Computer proficiency is tested for the candidates who are applying for the positions of Assistant Section Officer of CSS, Assistant Section Officer, Assistant in Serious Fraud Investigation Officer (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) and Assistant to GSI (Ministry of Mines).

Eligibility Criteria

1. Candidates who age between 21-32 years are eligible to appear for SSC CGL. (the upper age limit varies according to the requirement of the posts).

2. Candidates must have completed graduation from a recognized university

3. For the candidates who will be applying for the position of Junior Statistical Officer must have obtained 60% in mathematics in class 12 examination and they should have completed graduation in any discipline with Statistics as one of the subjects in graduation.

4. Candidates applying for the post of an inspector in Central Excise, Examiner, Preventive Officer, Sub-Inspector in CBI and Sub-Inspector in NIA must be physically fit as mentioned in the SSC website.

Syllabus For Tier 1 and Tier 2

1. SSC CGL Tier 1 Syllabus – The Tier 1 examination has 4 sections which are General Intelligence and Reasoning, General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, and English Comprehension.

2. SSC CGL Tier 2 Syllabus – The Tier 2 examination has the following sections: Quantitative Aptitude, English Language, Statistics (for Junior Statistical Officer), General Studies - Finance and Accounting (For Assistant Audit Officer and Assistant Accountant Officer).

3. SSC CGL Tier 3 Syllabus – The Tier 3 examination has sections of Application Writing, Essay Writing, Letter Writing, and Precis Writing.

Exam Pattern

Tier 1 SSC CGL comprises of 100 questions in total divided equally into the four sections. It has a total of 200 marks, 50 marks for each section. For each wrong answer, there is a 0.5 negative marking. There is no negative marking in the questions that are not attempted by the candidates.

Tier 2 SSC CGL has 100 questions from Quantitative Aptitude having 200 marks in total, 200 questions in English Language and Comprehension for a total of 200 marks. Candidates who will be sitting for the Statistics and General Studies – Finance and Accounting (for AAO posts) will have to solve 100 questions for 200 marks in total. Candidates will get 2 hours to solve each paper

Tier 3 SCC CGL has 100 marks for descriptive paper and the candidates will get a total time of 1hr to solve the paper.

In Tier 4, Candidates must finish writing 2000 English words in 15 minutes on a computer for qualification. This test checks the typing speed of a candidate and Computer proficiency test is conducted to check skills in Word Processing, Spreadsheets, and Generation of Slides.

SSC CGL is one of the toughest examinations conducted in India to intake candidates in the government sector. Study hard and do your best!