SSC GD Constable 2026: Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Physical Standards, Eligibility and Dates

SSC GD Constable at a glance

These facts are as per the Staff Selection Commission's notice for the Constable (GD) in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and SSF, and Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles Examination, 2026 (F. No. HQ-C-3007/10/2025-C-3), published on 1 December 2025, and the Commission's later notices of 2 January and 22 May 2026.

Selection process

1. Online application on ssc.gov.in or the mySSC app through One Time Registration (OTR). For GD 2026 the window was 1 to 31 December 2025. The form takes three choices of examination city, the domicile State/UT and district, an NCC certificate claim and the order of preference for all seven forces: BSF, CISF, CRPF, SSB, ITBP, Assam Rifles and SSF. Preferences and the domicile entry cannot be changed after submission.
2. Computer Based Examination of 60 minutes. Candidates pick their city and date through the Commission's self-slot facility; a candidate who does not choose a slot is not scheduled. Minimum qualifying marks, counted before any NCC bonus, are 30% for UR, 25% for OBC and EWS and 20% for all other categories. Marks are normalised across shifts by the procedure the Commission notified on 2 June 2025.
3. NCC bonus is added to the normalised score: 5% of the maximum marks for an NCC 'C' certificate (8 marks out of 160), 3% for a 'B' certificate (4.8 marks) and 2% for an 'A' certificate (3.2 marks). The certificate must have been issued on or before 1 January 2026 and claimed in the application form. Ex-Servicemen do not get this bonus.
4. PET and PST, conducted by the CAPFs. About eight times the number of vacancies are shortlisted State-wise, area-wise and category-wise, separately for men and women, on CBE merit including NCC bonus. After biometric verification the race is held first; height, chest and weight are measured next. A candidate who fails height or chest may appeal to the appellate authority at the centre the same day; there is no appeal against the race. Ex-Servicemen are exempt from PET and PST but are measured for record and must pass the medical examination.
5. Detailed Medical Examination and Document Verification, also by the CAPFs. About twice the number of vacancies are called from among those who cleared PET/PST. Medical boards follow the MHA's uniform guidelines for recruitment medical examination in CAPFs and Assam Rifles (of 20 May 2015 and 31 May 2021), and a Review Medical Examination (RME) is provided for. Originals are checked here: the Matriculation certificate, the Domicile or Permanent Resident Certificate of the State/UT and district entered in the form, caste, EWS and NCC certificates, and the Annexure-IX certificate for height or chest relaxation.
6. Final result and force allocation by the Commission. Merit is the normalised CBE score plus NCC bonus, prepared category-wise for each State/UT and, where earmarked, for Border Guarding and Militancy/Naxal-affected districts, separately for men and women. SSF vacancies are filled on an all-India basis. Forces are allotted on merit-cum-preference. No waiting list is kept.

Ties in the CBE score are broken by marks in Part-A, then Part-B, then Part-C, then date of birth (older first) and finally alphabetical order of names. Tentative answer keys are published after the exam and can be challenged online at ₹50 per question. Persons with Disabilities are not eligible for this examination.

Exam pattern

Each question carries 2 marks and each wrong answer costs 0.25 mark. The notice gives one time of 60 minutes for the whole paper. Questions are of Matriculation level. The paper is set in English, Hindi and 13 regional languages; the medium is chosen in the application form. Calculators and electronic gadgets are not allowed. A mock test is available in the Candidate's Corner on ssc.gov.in.

The notice's indicative syllabus for the other parts: General Intelligence and Reasoning is mainly non-verbal and covers analogies, similarities and differences, spatial visualisation and orientation, visual memory, discrimination, observation, relationship concepts, arithmetical reasoning, figural classification, arithmetic number series, non-verbal series, and coding and decoding. Elementary Mathematics covers number systems, computation of whole numbers, decimals and fractions, fundamental arithmetical operations, percentages, ratio and proportion, averages, interest, profit and loss, discount, mensuration, time and distance, ratio and time, and time and work. English/Hindi tests basic understanding of the language and basic comprehension.

General Knowledge and General Awareness syllabus

Part-B carries 20 questions and 40 marks, a quarter of the paper. The GD 2026 notice describes it in these terms:

• General awareness of the environment around the candidate
• Current events
• Matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspect, as may be expected of any educated person
• India and its neighbouring countries, especially Sports, History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General Polity, Indian Constitution and Scientific Research

The notice adds that these questions do not require special study of any discipline, and the paper is of Matriculation level. The following spread is GK24's guidance from past papers, not part of the notice: Sports (tournaments, trophies, venues, winners and Indian players), Indian Polity and the Constitution (Parts, Articles, Schedules, fundamental rights and duties, President, Parliament, Panchayati Raj), History (the freedom struggle, the Mughals, the Mauryas and the Guptas), Geography (rivers, States and capitals, national parks, neighbours and their borders), Economy (budget terms, RBI, banking and government schemes), everyday Science and current events of the 6 to 12 months before the exam, such as awards, appointments, schemes, defence exercises and summits. GK24 maps its content to this list: the GK notes for SSC GD are written topic by topic in Matriculation-level language, the daily current affairs are tagged for SSC GD, and every quiz and previous-year question carries the topic it belongs to.

Physical standards

Physical Efficiency Test (race)

The race is held before the measurements. A woman candidate gives a self-declaration about pregnancy on reporting; a candidate found pregnant is declared temporarily unfit, a vacancy is kept reserved for her, and she is re-tested six weeks after confinement on a fitness certificate.

Physical Standard Test: height

Physical Standard Test: chest (male candidates only)

Chest is not measured for women; the board only checks that it is well developed. Weight must be proportionate to height and age by medical standards. Relaxation in height or chest for categories other than ST needs a certificate from the District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or Tehsildar in the notice's Annexure-IX format, produced at PET/PST; ST candidates show a valid ST certificate. Eligibility for relaxation is checked after the race and before the measurements. A candidate who deliberately creates a swelling on the head or keeps something on the head to gain height is debarred from the rest of the process.

Eligibility and age limit

All conditions are as on 1 January 2026, the crucial date in the GD 2026 notice.

Nationality and domicile

The candidate must be a citizen of India. Vacancies in the CAPFs and Assam Rifles are State/UT-wise, so a Domicile or Permanent Resident Certificate of the State/UT and district entered in the application form must be produced at document verification; a mismatch cancels the candidature. Candidates from Assam, which does not issue domicile certificates, are verified through the district authority. SC, ST and OBC candidates who have migrated from their State of origin choose in the form between reservation from the State of origin and unreserved status in the State of domicile. West Pakistani Refugees settled in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh apply with a nativity certificate instead of a domicile certificate.

Educational qualification

Matriculation or 10th class pass from a recognised Board or University, with the result declared on or before 1 January 2026. A result still under processing on that date does not count.

Age limit

The date of birth in the Matriculation certificate is final. Sons, daughters and dependents of Ex-Servicemen are not Ex-Servicemen for age relaxation or reservation. Ten per cent of the vacancies are reserved for Ex-Servicemen. Persons with Disabilities cannot apply for this examination.

Important dates

Examination city details are put up on ssc.gov.in about two weeks before the CBE and admit cards three to seven days before. Candidates who did not use Aadhaar authentication report two hours early with two passport-size photographs and a photo ID showing the date of birth.

Next cycle: the Commission's tentative calendar for 2026–27, published on 8 January 2026, lists the Constables (GD) in CAPFs, NIA, SSF and Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles Examination, 2027 with the notice in September 2026, the closing date in October 2026 and the CBE in January to March 2027. As of 19 October 2026 that notice has not appeared on ssc.gov.in, so no date for the next CBE is announced. This page will be updated when the GD 2027 notice is published.

How to prepare General Knowledge for SSC GD

Part-B is the quickest part of the paper: 20 questions of recall in a 60-minute paper of 80 questions leave about 45 seconds a question, and every second saved here goes to Mathematics and Reasoning. The questions are of Matriculation level, so breadth matters more than depth.

1. Read the GK notes for SSC GD on GK24. Start with Indian Polity and the Constitution, then Modern History, Geography of India and its neighbours, the Economy and everyday Science, and finish with Culture and Sports. Each note is short enough to revise in one sitting; revise every topic twice before the exam.
2. Follow daily current affairs. GK24 publishes daily current affairs in Hindi and English from official releases, with the items tagged for SSC GD. Cover the 12 months before your CBE date and keep a one-page note per month of awards, appointments, sports results, schemes and defence exercises.
3. Solve previous-year questions. The SSC GD previous-year questions on GK24 show the level and the repeat topics; the same articles of the Constitution, rivers, dynasties and trophies return with different options.
4. Take timed quizzes. Practise 20-question GK24 quizzes in 10 minutes to learn to skip an unknown question, because a wrong answer costs 0.25 mark and a blank costs nothing.
5. Choose your medium early. The CBE is offered in 15 languages; prepare in the language you will take the paper in. GK24's notes, quizzes and PYQs are in both Hindi and English.
6. Keep running. The race is a qualifying stage, not a scoring one, but it comes after the CBE result and cannot be prepared in a week.

Posts and pay

All posts in the examination are in Pay Level-3 of the pay matrix, ₹21,700–69,100, as per the GD 2026 notice. Allowances depend on the force and the posting. The notice listed these tentative force-wise vacancies.

Vacancies are tentative; the State-wise, force-wise and category-wise break-up is published on ssc.gov.in under For Candidates and Tentative Vacancy. Vacancies in every force other than SSF are State/UT-wise, with shares earmarked for Border Guarding Districts and Militancy/Naxal-affected Districts that only candidates domiciled in those districts can claim. Selected candidates are liable to serve anywhere in India and may be appointed in phases as training space in the forces becomes available. The notice reminds candidates that they are applying for a combat force and take part in the physical stages at their own risk.