SSC MTS 2026: Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Eligibility, Dates and Preparation

SSC MTS at a glance

These facts are as per the Notice of Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff and Havaldar (CBIC & CBN) Examination, 2025 (F. No. E/15/2025-C-2 Section) published by the Commission on 26 June 2025, the latest MTS notice on ssc.gov.in, and the Commission's later notices on that cycle up to 7 October 2026. The MTS 2026 notice had not been published by 12 October 2026. The Commission's tentative calendar for 2026-27 lists it with the advertisement in June 2026 and the CBE in September to November 2026, but neither had happened by that date. Check the 2026 notice for any change in the pattern, dates or fee when it is out.

Selection process

1. Online application on ssc.gov.in or the mySSC mobile app through One Time Registration (OTR). In the 2025 cycle the window was 26 June to 24 July 2025. The candidate gives preferences of Post-cum-State/UT/CCA in the application form itself, and is considered only for the preferences given.
2. Computer Based Examination in one sitting with two sessions of 45 minutes each. Session-I (Numerical and Mathematical Ability; Reasoning Ability and Problem Solving) is qualifying. Session-II (General Awareness; English Language and Comprehension) decides merit.
3. Session-I is evaluated first. A candidate's Session-II is evaluated only if he or she has scored the minimum qualifying marks in Session-I.
4. Shortlisting for MTS on normalised Session-II marks, with separate category-wise and State/UT-wise cut-offs. Because MTS vacancies come in two age groups, 18–25 and 18–27, the Commission may fix separate cut-offs for each age group.
5. Shortlisting for Havaldar on Session-II marks in the ratio 1:7 (vacancies to candidates) for PET/PST, with CCA-wise and category-wise cut-offs. In the 2025 cycle this result came on 3 August 2026, and CBIC held the PET/PST from 24 to 31 August 2026. An additional result of 7 October 2026, implementing partial relief granted by the CAT Principal Bench, shortlisted 542 more candidates for the Havaldar PET/PST out of 727 whose results had been withheld for suspected malpractice in the CBE; their candidature stays withheld, and 15 others were kept in a sealed cover pending a police investigation.
6. PET/PST for Havaldar by CBIC and CBN at centres of their choice anywhere in the country. A candidate who fails PET/PST is out for Havaldar but stays in the MTS merit on his or her CBE marks.
7. Final selection and allocation on normalised Session-II marks, the Post-cum-State/UT/CCA preferences and the age group, as a single select list for both posts. Once a post and State/UT/CCA is allotted, the Commission does not change it.
8. Document Verification by the user departments after the final result, when the Matriculation certificate and other documents are checked in original.

Minimum qualifying marks in Session-I and in Session-II are 30% for UR, 25% for OBC and EWS and 20% for all other categories. Marks of the shifts are normalised by the formula in the Commission's notice of 2 June 2025, and the normalised scores decide merit and cut-offs. A tie in Session-II is broken by the General Awareness marks of Session-II, then the total normalised marks of Session-I, then the older candidate, then the alphabetical order of names. Tentative answer keys are put on the website after the exam and can be challenged online at ₹100 per question; there is no re-evaluation or re-checking of scores.

Exam pattern

Session-I (45 minutes, qualifying)

Session-II (45 minutes, decides merit)

Both sessions are held on the same day and both are compulsory. Session-I closes automatically after 45 minutes and Session-II starts immediately after it; candidates eligible for a scribe get 60 minutes per session. Each question carries 3 marks. There is no negative marking in Session-I; in Session-II, 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer. Questions of Session-I and of the General Awareness part of Session-II are set in English, Hindi and the 13 regional languages named in the notice: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Visually handicapped candidates with 40% or more disability get a paper without maps, graphs, diagrams or statistical data.

PET/PST for Havaldar in CBIC and CBN

PET/PST is only qualifying and carries no marks. PwBD candidates get the exemptions from PET/PST conditions that the notice lists for their disability.

General Awareness syllabus

General Awareness is Part I of Session-II: 25 questions, 75 marks, 1 mark cut for every wrong answer. The 2025 notice gives its indicative syllabus in one line.

• Social Studies: History, Geography, Art and Culture, Civics, Economics
• General Science
• Environmental Studies
• All up to the 10th Standard

The following is guidance from previous papers, not part of the notice. SSC asks school-level static facts. History questions cover the Harappan sites, the Mauryas and Guptas, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals, and the freedom movement from 1857 to 1947. Geography asks rivers and their tributaries, soils, crops, national parks, States and their capitals, and India's neighbours. Civics asks the Parts and Schedules of the Constitution, Fundamental Rights and Duties, the President, Parliament, the Supreme Court and Panchayati Raj. Economics asks basic terms, the RBI, budget items and government schemes. General Science covers Class 6 to 10 Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and Environmental Studies asks ecosystems, pollution, conservation and environment-related days. Current affairs of the year before the exam appear as questions on awards, sports, appointments, schemes, books and events, usually paired with a static fact. GK24's GK notes for SSC MTS follow the same subjects, Polity, History, Geography, Economy, Science and Environment, and are written for the 10th Standard level the notice names.

Eligibility and age limit

All conditions below are as on 1 August 2025, the crucial date in the 2025 notice. The 2026 notice will fix its own crucial date.

Nationality

A candidate must be a citizen of India, a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam to settle permanently in India. Candidates other than Indian citizens need a certificate of eligibility from the Government of India before appointment.

Educational qualification

Matriculation Examination or equivalent from a recognised Board, passed on or before the crucial date. The Board must have declared the result by that date; a result still under processing does not count. Candidates with an equivalent qualification must produce an equivalence certificate at Document Verification. There is no higher qualification for either post, so graduates and Class 12 pass candidates compete with Class 10 pass candidates on the same paper.

Age limit

Upper age relaxation: 5 years for SC and ST, 3 years for OBC, 10 years for PwBD (13 for PwBD-OBC and 15 for PwBD-SC/ST), 3 years after deducting the military service for Ex-Servicemen, and 3 years (8 for SC/ST) for defence personnel disabled in operations. Central Government civilian employees with at least 3 years of regular service can apply up to 40 years of age (45 for SC/ST), and widows, divorced women and judicially separated women who have not remarried up to 35 years (40 for SC/ST). The date of birth in the Matriculation certificate is final, and a mismatch with the application is a ground for rejection.

Application fee

The fee is ₹100, paid online through BHIM UPI, net banking or a Visa, MasterCard, Maestro or RuPay debit card. Women candidates and SC, ST, PwBD and Ex-Servicemen candidates eligible for reservation pay no fee. A fee once paid is not refunded or adjusted against another examination.

Important dates

The MTS 2026 notice had not been published by 12 October 2026, so no 2026 date is known. The dates of the 2025 cycle, the latest one, are below.

For MTS 2026, the Commission's tentative calendar for 2026-27, published on 8 January 2026, listed the advertisement in June 2026, the closing date in July 2026 and the CBE in September to November 2026. Since the notice was still awaited on 12 October 2026, the 2026 application window and CBE dates will be known only from the notice when it appears on ssc.gov.in. In the 2025 cycle the CBE itself moved by more than four months from the dates in the notice, so treat every date as tentative until the Commission's schedule notice.

How to prepare General Awareness for SSC MTS

General Awareness is the most valuable part of the paper: 75 of the 150 merit marks and the first tie-breaker. It is also the part where a wrong guess costs a mark, so preparation has to build both knowledge and the discipline to leave a question.

1. Finish the static syllabus at the 10th Standard level. Read the GK24 GK notes for SSC MTS subject by subject: Civics and Polity, Modern History, Geography of India, Economy basics, General Science and Environment. Each note is a short list of facts and tables that can be revised in one sitting.
2. Read daily current affairs. GK24 publishes daily current affairs in English and Hindi from official releases. Cover the 12 months before your CBE date, and keep a monthly revision sheet of awards, appointments, schemes, sports and days.
3. Solve previous-year questions. The SSC MTS previous-year questions on GK24 show the level SSC keeps: the same rivers, rulers, articles, scientific units and schemes return with the options changed.
4. Take timed quizzes. Practise 25-question GK24 quizzes in about 20 minutes, the time you can give General Awareness inside the 45-minute Session-II, and learn to skip what you do not know, because every wrong answer costs 1 mark.
5. Do not lose the paper in Session-I. It is qualifying only, but Session-II is not even evaluated if you miss 30% (UR), 25% (OBC and EWS) or 20% (others) there. Keep Class 10 arithmetic and reasoning in practice.

Posts and pay

The 2025 notice gives the pay only as Pay Level-1; allowances depend on the place of posting. MTS vacancies are reported State/UT-wise under the Commission's Regional Offices, and Havaldar vacancies CCA-wise (Chief Commissioner Chandigarh CGST, Commissioner Goa Customs and so on). The 2025 statement of 27 November 2025 showed the largest MTS numbers in the 18–25 age group in Delhi (1,961), Maharashtra (732), West Bengal (542), Andhra Pradesh (396), Karnataka (374) and Uttar Pradesh (368). The notice first put the MTS vacancies at 4,375 and Havaldar at 1,089 (notice of 28 July 2025); the November statement raised them to 6,810 and 1,138.