SSC CHSL 2026: notification, exam date, eligibility, syllabus, salary and vacancies

SSC CHSL 2026 notification and last date

SSC published the Notice of the Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination, 2026 on its website on 7 September 2026. These are the dates printed in it:

The 7 October 2026 closing date was also the cut-off date for checking age relaxations, category claims and the Class 12 pass, so late applications were not accepted. The notice gives the helpline 18003093063 (toll free) for form problems.

One thing worth knowing: SSC's own SSC Calendar page had pencilled CHSL 2026 applications for 30 April to 31 May 2026 and Tier-I for July to September 2026. The actual notice came about three months later, and the exam moved to the end of 2026. The 1 October 2026 schedule notice and the CHSL notice are the dates that count. The notice itself says the exam schedule is tentative and changes will appear only on the website of the Commission.

SSC CHSL 2026 exam date and admit card

SSC's Important Notice dated 1 October 2026 lists three exams with "proposed dates". For CHSL it says: Tier-I (CBE), 30 November 2026 to 31 December 2026. No Tier-II date is out.

SSC has not yet published the CHSL 2026 exam city details or admit card. For the CGL 2026 exam, SSC showed exam cities by login on the website and said admit cards would be available for download about two to three days before each candidate's exam date. Expect the same login route for CHSL, but that is a pattern from CGL, not a CHSL announcement. Watch ssc.gov.in and your registered email and phone.

Posts and vacancies in SSC CHSL 2026

The notice says there are approximately 2,536 tentative vacancies. SSC adds that the final number will come after it scrutinises the departments' papers, and that it does not collect state-wise or zone-wise vacancies, so ask the user department for those.

For comparison, the CHSL 2025 cycle ended with 3,522 final vacancies.

SSC allots posts on merit and the preferences you give. Once a post is allotted, it will not be changed even if you fail a physical, medical or educational requirement for it. Only male candidates are eligible for vacancies, if any, in the Border Roads Organisation.

SSC CHSL 2026 salary

The notice gives pay levels, not take-home pay: Level 2 for LDC/JSA, Levels 4 and 5 for DEO and Level 4 for DEO Grade A, as in the table above. Allowances depend on the department and the city of posting, and SSC does not list them in this notice.

SSC CHSL 2026 eligibility

Education:

• For LDC/JSA and for DEO posts in most departments: Class 12 or equivalent from a recognised board or university.
• For DEO / DEO Grade A in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Staff Selection Commission and the Ministry of Culture: Class 12 in the Science stream with Mathematics.
• Students who were still appearing in Class 12 could apply, but the pass result had to be declared by 7 October 2026. A result that was only "processed" by the board did not count.
• Degrees by distance learning count only if the university was approved by the UGC Distance Education Bureau for the relevant period. Candidates with such a qualification must show that approval at document verification.

Nationality: an Indian citizen, or a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or a person of Indian origin who migrated from certain listed countries to settle in India, with a certificate of eligibility from the Government of India where required.

SSC CHSL 2026 age limit and relaxations

The age is counted on 1 August 2026. The limit is 18 to 27 years, which means you must be born between 2 August 1999 and 1 August 2008. The date of birth on your Class 10 certificate is the one SSC accepts.

Age relaxation does not apply to sons, daughters or dependents of ex-servicemen.

SSC CHSL 2026 application fee

The fee was ₹100. Women, SC, ST, PwBD and eligible ex-servicemen paid nothing. Payment was online by BHIM UPI, net banking, or Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and RuPay debit cards, until 8 October 2026. Unpaid applications show as "Incomplete" and are rejected. The fee is not refunded. Correction in the form during 14 to 16 October 2026 carried separate correction charges.

SSC CHSL 2026 exam pattern

The exam is computer based and has two tiers. Questions are in English, Hindi and the regional language the candidate chose (the notice lists Gujarati among them), except the English Language section.

Tier-I: objective, 100 questions, 200 marks, 60 minutes (80 minutes for scribe-eligible candidates). Each of the four parts has 25 questions for 50 marks, with a 15-minute sectional timer. Wrong answers lose 0.50 marks.

Tier-II: conducted in two sessions on the same day. Candidates must qualify in every section.

Wrong answers in Sections I, II and III lose 1 mark. The final merit list uses the combined marks of Sections I and II of Tier-II only. Tier-I and the qualifying sections decide who moves ahead.

Qualifying marks (Tier-I, and Sections I, II and III of Tier-II): 30% for UR, 25% for OBC and EWS, 20% for all other categories. Cut-offs can differ for the three post groups.

Skill and typing tests:

• DEO (departments with the Science and Maths condition): 15,000 key depressions per hour, 15 minutes.
• DEO (all other departments): 8,000 key depressions per hour, 15 minutes.
• LDC/JSA typing: 35 words per minute in English or 30 words per minute in Hindi, 10 minutes. You pick English or Hindi in the form, and Hindi must be typed in Mangal font.

SSC CHSL 2026 syllabus

SSC publishes an indicative syllabus:

• English: spot the error, fill in the blanks, synonyms and antonyms, idioms, one word substitution, voice and narration, sentence shuffling, cloze and comprehension passages.
• Reasoning: analogies, classification, series, coding and decoding, Venn diagrams, pattern folding, number operations.
• Maths: number systems, percentages, ratio, averages, interest, profit and loss, time and work, basic algebra, geometry, mensuration, trigonometry and statistical charts. Tier-II adds mean, median, mode and simple probability.
• General Awareness: current events, everyday science, and India and its neighbours in history, culture, geography, economy and policy.
• Computer (Tier-II): computer basics, Windows and Microsoft Office, internet and email, e-banking, networking and cyber security.

How to apply for SSC CHSL

The window for 2026 has passed, but the route is the same each year, and the CHSL 2026 notice sets it out:

1. Complete the One-Time Registration (OTR) on the new SSC site, ssc.gov.in, or in the mySSC mobile app. An OTR from the old ssc.nic.in site does not work.
2. Opt for Aadhaar based authentication if you can. Such applications are not rejected on photograph or signature grounds.
3. Open the CHSL application, fill in your details and give your post and typing-medium choices.
4. The form captures a live photograph through the camera, so you do not need a ready photo.
5. Preview the form, pay the fee if you are not exempt, and submit before the last date.

SSC takes post preferences through an online option form before the result, and says they are final once submitted.

What happened in SSC CHSL 2025

On 7 October 2026, SSC declared the final result of CHSL 2025: 3,515 candidates were provisionally shortlisted against 3,522 vacancies. The result write-up has category-wise numbers and the last selected candidate's marks for each department.

SSC CGL 2026: where it stands

Many CHSL candidates also write the Combined Graduate Level exam, so here is its status from SSC's notices:

• Applications: opened on 21 May 2026 and closed on 22 June 2026, then reopened from 23 June 2026 to 25 June 2026. SSC said more than 28 lakh candidates had applied in the first window.
• Tier-I: scheduled from 30 September 2026 to 30 October 2026. Exam city details went live for candidates on 21 September 2026.
• Vacancies: the tentative list as on 24 September 2026 totals 10,731, and SSC notes that final vacancies may vary.
• Tier-II date: not announced in the notices we read.

If you are a graduate, a CGL guide with the full pattern is a separate read. If you want other government exam timelines, see our guides to RRB NTPC 2026, the UPSC calendar 2027 and CTET December 2026.