SSC Constable GD Exam Pattern 2016

The Staff Selection Commission is an organization of the Central Government of India which conducts examinations for recruitment in the various Ministries and Departments of the Govt. of India and their Attached and Subordinate Offices to promote the development of the nation. The notifications regarding the vacancies in various government agencies and departments are released by the Commission. The candidates who fulfill the eligibility criteria can apply for them to compete for lucrative posts. Every year, a huge number of applications are received for these examinations and given their competitive nature; they are definitely a tough nut to crack.

The SSC Constable GD Exam is conducted by the Staff Selection Commission for recruitment of constables (GD) in Border Security Force (BSF), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Special Security Forces (SSF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Riflemen in Assam rifles etc. Every year, the commission releases a notification regarding the vacant posts on its official website. A large number of candidates appear for this examination to fill the posts and join these forces as Constables (General Duty) with the zeal to serve the nation.

This recruitment process is conducted in various stages and given the amount of competition, the candidates must be well aware of all the related proceedings in this competitive examination. With the correct know how regarding the exam, the preparation becomes focused and more efficient and the chances of clearing the exam are increased significantly. This article will provide the aspiring candidates with the necessary information regarding SSC Constable GD Exam Pattern 2016. The aspirants who are preparing for this examination this year must read this in order to get familiar with the latest syllabus and scheme of examination.

Scheme of Examination

The SSC Constable GD Exam is conducted in several stages including written examinations, physical examinations and medical examinations to test the candidate’s mental and physical strengths. The candidates are required to perform up to the minimum set standards of each stage so as to become eligible for the final recruitment. Essentially, the examination is conducted in three phases as follows:

1.Physical Standard Test (PST)/ Physical Efficiency Test (PET)

2.Written Examination

3.Medical Examination

The candidates must be well aware of the details of all of these phases of examination so as to start their preparation for the same. The necessary information is provided in the following sections.

Physical Standard Test (PST)

The Physical Standard Test constitutes one of the preliminary phases of the SSC Constable GD Exam. The candidates have to fulfill the physical standards laid down by the Commission for the post of Constable which are as follows:

• Height: For male candidates, 170 cm is the minimum required height while it is set to 157 cm for the female aspirants.

• Chest: The minimum standard set by the commission is unexpanded 80 cm and 5 cm minimum expansion. It is a prerequisite only for the male candidates.

• Weight: For both male and female candidates, the weight must be proportionate to their height and age as per medical standards.

Only those candidates who meet the minimum set standards of height, chest and weight are eligible for the further stages of examination.

Physical Efficiency Test (PET)

The Physical Efficiency Test (PET) constitutes a race in which male candidates will be required to run 5 Km in 24 minutes and female candidates have to cover 1.6 Km in 8 ½ minutes. For Ladakh region, the male candidates will be required to run 1 mile in 6 ½  minutes and female candidates have to cover 800 meters in 4 minutes.

The Staff Selection Commission will conduct written examination of the candidates who qualify in both the Physical Standard Test (PST) and Physical Efficiency Test (PET). Read further to get the details of the written examination.

Written Examination

The written examination is the second phase of examination of the SSC Constable GD Exam. It is conducted after the Physical Standard Test (PST) and Physical Efficiency Test (PET) and the salient features of this phase are as follows:

• The exam is objective type and consists of multiple choice questions (MCQ)
• The total marks for the written examination are 100
• The total number of questions in the written examination are 100
• The exam is conducted for a duration of 2 hours (120 minutes)
• The written exam consists of four sections (A, B, C & D) including General Intelligence and Reasoning, General Knowledge and Awareness, Elementary Mathematics, and Hindi/ English.
• The questions will be of matriculation level
• Each section consists of 25 questions
• There will be negative marking for every wrong answer

The written exam will consist of an objective type paper with the following pattern:

Section	Subject	No. of questions	No. of Marks
Part A	General Intelligence and Reasoning	25	25
Part B	General Knowledge and Awareness	25	25
Part C	Elementary Mathematics	25	25
Part D	Hindi/ English	25	25
Total		100	100

The questions will be either set bilingually in Hindi and English or in accordance with the prominent regional languages such as Urdu script for J&K, Kannada for Karnataka, Marathi for Maharashtra, Gujarati for Gujarat, Bengali for West Bengal and Tripura Malayalam for Kerala, Telegu for Andhra Pradesh, Tamil for Tamil Nadu, Oriya for Orissa, Punjabi (Gurmukhi script) for Punjab, Mizo for Mizoram, Assamese for Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and Manipuri for Manipur.

The syllabus of the four sections of the written examination mentioned above is as follows:

Part A- General Intelligence and Reasoning:

The non verbal type of questions in this section will test the analytical aptitude and the ability to differentiate between patterns by observation. The important topics include Visual Memory, Observation, Analogies, Similarities and Differences, Spatial Visualization, Spatial orientation, discrimination, Relationship Concepts, Arithmetic Number Series, Non Verbal Series, Visual Memory, Arithmetical Reasoning and figural Classification, Coding and Decoding etc. The candidates should practice all of these kinds of questions to score well in this section.

Part B- General Knowledge and Awareness:

The General Knowledge and Awareness section will consist of questions which will be aimed at testing the candidate’s knowledge regarding his/her surrounding. The questions will be framed so as to test the knowledge of current events and of the matters of every day observations and experience of the candidates. It will include questions relating to Sports, History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scenario, General Polity, Indian Constitution, and Scientific Research etc regarding India and its neighboring countries. These questions will be general and do not require a detailed study of any discipline.

General Knowledge cannot be improved within a short span of time. So, the candidates should read newspapers daily so as to remain aware of the current happenings in their surrounding environment and tackle this section effectively.

Part C- Elementary Mathematics:

This section will include questions on the topics such as Number Systems, Relationship between Numbers, Computation of Whole Numbers, Decimals and Fractions, Fundamental arithmetical operations, Percentages, Ratio and Proportion, Averages, Interest, Profit and Loss, Discount, Time and Distance, Ratio and Time, Time and Work, Mensuration etc.

The candidates must practice this section efficiently for mathematics is not a skill which can be acquired in a short duration of time. One has to practice all kinds of questions regularly to develop mathematical skills and efficiency.

Part D- Hindi/ English:

This section will test the candidate’s knowledge and ability to understand basic English and Hindi. The comprehension skills will also be tested.

English: It will include questions from the topics such as- Synonyms/ Homonyms, Antonyms,  Idioms & Phrases, One word substitution, , Spellings/ Detecting Mis-spelt words, Improvement of Sentences, Active/ Passive Voice of Verbs, Conversion into Direct/ Indirect narration, Spot the Error, Fill in the Blanks, Shuffling of Sentence parts, Shuffling of Sentences in a passage, Cloze Passage, Comprehension Passage etc.

All the questions of every component shall be of the matriculation level. The detailed instructions for the written exam and the specimen OMR sheet can be viewed on the commission’s official website.

Medical Examination

The Staff Selection Commission shall fix different qualifying standards for candidates belonging to different categories in different states/UTs, taking into consideration vacancies and shall have the sole discretion to do so. The candidates will have to score above the cut off marks fixed by the Commission in Written Examination to qualify for the final level of selection. The candidates who have cleared the minimum cut off of the written examination have to appear for a medical examination.

Medical boards constituted by the CAPF will medically examine the selected candidates to assess their physical and medical fitness in accordance with the standards set by the Commission. Medical Tests including X-Ray and other laboratory tests shall be conducted for such candidates who are found fit after passing through all the levels of examination. The physical well being of the candidates will be checked through medical tests.The following are some of medical standards that the candidates must abide by for recruitment through this examination:

• The candidates must not have knock knee, flat foot, varicose vein and squint in eyes. They must have good physical and mental health for performing duties in all regions including high altitudes.
• Also, the candidates must be fit to serve in the border areas having extreme climatic conditions and must be free from any physical or mental defect which might interfere with the performance of their duties.
• Eye Sight:

Visual Acuity Unaided (Near Vision)		Uncorrected Visual Acuity (Distant Vision)		Refraction	Remarks
Better Eye	Worse Eye	Better Eye	Worse Eye	Visual Correction of any kind is not permitted even by glasses.	– In right handed person, the right eye is better eye and vice-versa. – Binocular vision is required.
N6	N9	6/6	6/9

Temporary unfitness will not be allowed In case of medical examination. However, in case of any female candidate who is found to be pregnant (twelve weeks or above) during the medical examination, she shall be declared temporarily unfit. The medical examination of such a candidate will be held in abeyance until the confinement is over.

Also, the candidates who have been declared unfit may file an appeal to the designated authority in the CAPFs within 15 days of being declared unfit by the medical board.

All the candidates seeking recruitment to the CAPFs as Constables must go through all the stages of examination, with no exception. There will be three stages of recruitment and the movement to the subsequent levels is subject to the performance in the previous level. The initial stages of examination will include the Physical Standard Test (PST) and Physical Efficiency Test (PET) which will test the physical strength of the candidates. Only those candidates who satisfy the minimum standards set by the Commission are eligible for the subsequent Objective type Written Examination. The Written Examination will comprise of four sections with a total of 25 marks each. The Commission shall set up the minimum cut off marks for qualifying this examination. Those candidates who clear this cut off will further have to undergo a medical examination. The medical examination will be the final step of selection and the candidates who clear this round will be eligible for the final recruitment.

Every year, lakhs of candidates apply for the SSC Constable GD Exam. Most of the candidates are often not able to comprehend how to begin their preparation. It thus leads to unwanted stresses and pressures which in turn affects their overall performance. When you are appearing for an examination with this level of competition, it is important to be well aware of the examination pattern. It not only gives you a glimpse of what is necessary to be done but also helps you in preparing your plan of action.

This article was aimed at providing you with the necessary details of the examination scheme and syllabus of the SSC Constable GD Exam so as to help you in preparing effectively. Read it carefully and decide your course of action.

For more details and updates, stay tuned to the official website of the Staff Selection Commission - http://www.ssc.nic.in