SSC Stenographer Syllabus 2026: Exam Pattern, Skill Test Speed and Qualifying Marks

SSC Stenographer exam pattern 2026 (computer based exam)

The CBE is one paper in three parts. All questions are objective multiple choice, and the notice says questions are set in both English and Hindi. Here is the scheme exactly as the 2026 notice gives it.

• Negative marking: 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer. There is no penalty for a question you leave blank.
• Candidates eligible for a scribe get 2 hours 40 minutes: 40 minutes each for Parts I and II and 80 minutes for Part III.
• Because the CBE runs in several shifts, SSC normalises the marks using the method in its notice of 2 June 2025, and the normalised score decides cut-offs and merit.
• There is no re-evaluation or re-checking of scores at any stage.

What changed from the 2025 pattern

The questions, marks and total time are the same as in the 2025 notice. The difference is the sectional timer. The 2025 notice gave 2 hours for the whole paper with no sectional timer. In 2026 each part is locked to its own time: 30 minutes for reasoning, 30 for general awareness and 60 for English. You cannot borrow spare minutes from one part for another, so practise mock tests with the same split.

Notice how the marks are weighted. English alone carries 100 of the 200 marks, and if two candidates tie on total marks, SSC first compares their English marks, then their General Awareness marks. English is where this exam is won or lost.

SSC Stenographer syllabus 2026: topics in each part

SSC publishes only an indicative syllabus for this exam, written as short descriptions rather than chapter lists. It does not give topic-wise weightage, so any page claiming a fixed number of questions per topic is guessing from past papers. Below, each list follows the wording of the 2026 notice.

Part I: General Intelligence and Reasoning

Both verbal and non-verbal questions. The notice names these areas:

• Analogies, similarities and differences
• Space visualisation and visual memory
• Problem solving, analysis, judgement and decision making
• Discriminating observation and relationship concepts
• Arithmetical reasoning and arithmetical computation
• Verbal and figure classification
• Arithmetical number series and non-verbal series
• Questions on abstract ideas, symbols and their relationships, and other analytical functions

Part II: General Awareness

The notice says these questions test awareness of your surroundings and how it applies to society, and need no special study of any discipline. It names:

• Current events
• Everyday science: matters of daily observation and experience in their scientific aspects
• India and its neighbouring countries, especially sports, history, culture and geography
• Economic scene
• General polity, including the Indian Constitution
• Scientific research

For visually impaired candidates with 40% or more visual disability, the reasoning and general awareness parts have no questions based on maps, graphs, diagrams or statistical data.

Part III: English Language and Comprehension

The notice tests your understanding of English through these areas:

• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Sentence structure
• Synonyms and antonyms
• Correct usage
• Writing ability (the notice says this is tested too, although the whole paper is objective multiple choice)

There is no separate mathematics section in the stenographer CBE. Arithmetic appears only inside reasoning, as arithmetical reasoning, number series and computation.

SSC steno skill test: dictation speed and transcription time

Candidates shortlisted from the CBE take the skill test in stenography. You get one dictation lasting 10 minutes, in English or Hindi, whichever you chose in your application form. You take it down in shorthand and then transcribe it on a computer within the time below.

What typing speed do you need for SSC Stenographer?

The notice does not set a separate typing speed. What it sets is a shorthand speed and a transcription time. SSC's evaluation guidelines say the master passage has 1,000 words at 100 w.p.m. for 10 minutes and 800 words at 80 w.p.m. for 10 minutes. Dividing the words by the transcription time gives the average pace you must sustain just to finish:

That is only the floor. You also need time to read your own outlines and correct errors, so aim to type comfortably faster than this before the test.

Hindi skill test: Mangal font only

An addendum issued on 23 September 2026 says that candidates taking the skill test in Hindi must type in Mangal font. A script typed in any other font will not be evaluated and the candidate will be treated as not qualified. Practise Hindi transcription in Mangal from day one.

One more rule matters before you choose the language. If you take the test in Hindi, you must learn English shorthand after appointment, and an English-medium candidate must learn Hindi shorthand. If you don't, your department may not clear your probation. The skill test is held at SSC's regional offices or other centres the Commission decides.

How SSC marks the steno skill test (mistakes allowed)

SSC's revised guidelines for evaluating stenography scripts split errors into full mistakes and half mistakes. The same rules apply to the Hindi test wherever they fit.

• Full mistakes: each word or figure left out, each wrong word substituted, each extra word added, a repeated word, an incomplete word, every word left untyped at the end, an abbreviation typed for a full word (or the other way round), and words or lines typed in all capital letters.
• Half mistakes: a wrong spelling, singular used for plural (or the reverse), a missing or misplaced full stop at the end of a sentence, a small letter at the start of a sentence, and a proper noun not capitalised.
• Accepted forms: where a word has more than one accepted spelling or form, any of them is correct. A figure written correctly in numerals or in words is accepted either way.

Your error percentage is full mistakes plus half the half mistakes, multiplied by 100 and divided by the words in the master passage, rounded to two decimal places.

The 2026 notice says SSC will fix category-wise qualifying standards for the skill test; it does not print them. The latest standards SSC has published are those for the 2025 cycle, shown below so you know the target. Do not assume 2026 will be identical until SSC says so.

Qualifying marks and how the final merit list is made

The 2026 notice fixes these minimum qualifying marks in the CBE: 30% for UR, 25% for OBC and EWS, and 20% for all other categories. On a 200-mark paper that works out to 60, 50 and 40 marks. Clearing the minimum does not get you to the skill test by itself; SSC shortlists candidates category-wise based on CBE marks, so the real cut-off is set by competition.

1. You indicate in the application whether you are applying for Grade C, Grade D or both.
2. SSC shortlists candidates category-wise from CBE marks for the skill test of each post applied for.
3. The skill test is compulsory but qualifying only. Its marks are not added to your score.
4. Among those who qualify the skill test, posts and departments are allotted by CBE merit and your preferences. If you do not submit post preferences online in time, you are not considered for any post.

If totals tie, SSC breaks the tie by English marks first, then General Awareness marks, then the older candidate, then alphabetical order of names.

How high was the cut-off last time?

These are SSC's normalised CBE cut-offs (out of 200) for being called to the skill test in the 2025 cycle, the most recent completed one. They tell you roughly where the bar sits; the 2026 figures will come with the CBE result.

In that cycle, 8,624 candidates qualified for the Grade C skill test and 22,456 for Grade D; 4,907 and 12,564 actually appeared. The final result of 25 August 2026 shortlisted 232 candidates for Grade C and 1,483 for Grade D. So a large share of those shortlisted did not appear for the skill test at all.

Eligibility in brief (2026 notice)

Upper age relaxation is 5 years for SC and ST, 3 years for OBC and 10 years for PwBD (13 for PwBD-OBC, 15 for PwBD-SC/ST). The fee was Rs 100, with women, SC, ST, PwBD and eligible ex-servicemen exempt.

Stenographer Grade D vacancies in the Border Roads Organisation are for men only and carry physical and medical standards, including a one-mile run that must be completed within 10 minutes at the GREF Centre, Pune. If you list BRO in your preferences and fail these standards, SSC will not move you to another post, so read Annexure XVI of the notice before choosing it.

SSC Stenographer 2026: dates and vacancies so far

The notice spoke of about 731 vacancies. SSC's tentative vacancy list as on 4 June 2026 shows 1,170: 1,021 for Grade D and 149 for Grade C. That list is still tentative and can change before the final result. Pay levels by department are in our SSC Stenographer salary guide.

How to prepare for the SSC Stenographer syllabus

Treat this as two exams that need two kinds of practice. The CBE rewards reading speed and accuracy; the skill test rewards months of steady shorthand practice. Start shorthand early, because it cannot be crammed in the weeks after the CBE result.

• English first: read an editorial a day, keep a notebook of new words, and practise grammar-based questions such as error spotting and sentence improvement. English carries half the marks and is also the first tie-breaker.
• Reasoning: series, analogies, classification and coding questions reward speed. Time yourself against the 30-minute sectional limit.
• General awareness: revise static GK (polity, history, geography) alongside daily current affairs. Our general knowledge question bank and Sikhami's free notes and quiz battles are handy for quick daily revision.
• Shorthand: take daily dictations a little above your target speed, then transcribe on a computer, not on paper, within the official time.
• Hindi candidates: practise every transcription in Mangal font, and read the skill test instructions your SSC regional office sends for the exact keyboard and software arrangements.
• Check yourself: count your full and half mistakes on each transcription using SSC's method, and keep a log so you can see your error percentage fall.

Dictation practice is easier with a partner who reads passages aloud at a steady speed. If you have no one at home, a study room or a club on Sikhami is one way to find other steno aspirants to read for each other and keep a daily schedule.