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SSC CHSL preparation

Combined Higher Secondary Level — LDC, JSA, PA/SA and DEO posts.

24 free guides·Conducted by Staff Selection CommissionOfficial website

About the SSC CHSL exam

SSC CHSL is the Staff Selection Commission's exam for candidates who have passed Class 12. It fills posts such as Lower Division Clerk, Junior Secretariat Assistant and Data Entry Operator in central government offices across India. For many it is the first real chance at a permanent government job, with the pay scale and promotion ladder that come with it, and you do not need a degree to sit it.

Tier 1 is an objective test of 100 questions, 25 each in English, reasoning, quant and general awareness, with 15-minute sectional timers. A right answer earns 2 marks and a wrong one costs 0.5, and Tier 1 only decides who moves on. Tier 2 Session I builds your merit: 3 marks per right answer, 1 deducted per wrong one, with English the largest module. Session II is a qualifying skill test, typing for LDC and JSA or a data entry speed test for DEO posts, where the usual standard is 8,000 key depressions an hour.

Read the “Start here” guides: the pattern, the posts, eligibility, the syllabus, the CHSL-versus-CGL comparison, the Tier 1 and Tier 2 strategies and a four-month plan. Then go subject by subject. Start typing practice early, because speed with accuracy takes weeks to build, and you cannot be selected without it.

SSC CHSL exam pattern at a glance
StagesTier 1 (qualifying) → Tier 2 Session I (merit) → Session II skill test
Tier 1100 Qs, 200 marks, 60 min; +2 / −0.5
Tier 2 Session IMaths 90, Reasoning 90, English 120, GA 60; +3 / −1
Computer KnowledgeTier 2 section; qualifying
Skill testTyping (LDC/JSA) or DEST (DEO); qualifying
DEST standard8,000 key depressions/hour; 15,000 only for DEO posts needing Science with Maths

Patterns change. Confirm details in the latest notification on the official website.

Start here

New to SSC CHSL? Read these first, in this order.

  1. 1The SSC CHSL exam pattern explainedSSC CHSL is the Staff Selection Commission's exam for candidates who have passed Class 12 — the route into posts such as Lower Division Clerk, Junior Secretariat Assistant and Data Entry Operator in central government offices. It has two tiers and a skill test. How each stage works, where the marks that decide your rank sit, what is only qualifying, and what the pattern means for how you prepare.
  2. 2SSC CHSL posts, salary and daily workSSC CHSL recruits Lower Division Clerks, Junior Secretariat Assistants and Data Entry Operators for central government offices. These are entry-level posts, but they are permanent, come with a clear pay matrix and allowances, and have a real promotion ladder. What each job involves, how the salary is built up, a worked pay example, and how to think about choosing.
  3. 3SSC CHSL eligibility and age limitsSSC CHSL is open to anyone who has passed Class 12 and is within the age limit, but a few details trip candidates up every cycle — the age cut-off date, the date by which you must have passed Class 12, the science-with-maths rule for some DEO posts, and category certificates in the wrong format. A clear guide with worked age calculations and a checklist.
  4. 4The SSC CHSL syllabus, analysedThe SSC CHSL syllabus covers four subjects in Tier 1, the same four in more depth in Tier 2, plus computer knowledge and a typing or data-entry test. The maths is mostly Class 10 level, the English is precise grammar and vocabulary, reasoning follows fixed patterns, and GA leans on school science and static GK. A subject-by-subject map with priorities, sample questions and sources.
  5. 5SSC CHSL or SSC CGL: differences and how to chooseGraduates often ask whether to take SSC CHSL, SSC CGL or both. The two exams share subjects and question styles but differ in eligibility, level, posts, pay and skill tests. A side-by-side comparison, the marks where they differ, and a practical way to decide whether you are in Class 12, in college or already a graduate.
  6. 6SSC CHSL Tier 1 strategySSC CHSL Tier 1 gives you 15 minutes for each of four sections — English, reasoning, maths and general awareness. It doesn't decide your final rank, but it decides whether you reach Tier 2, and cut-offs can be high. The maths of guessing, a two-pass method for each section, attempt targets, and how to practise for the rhythm of the exam.
  7. 7SSC CHSL Tier 2 strategySSC CHSL Tier 2 is where your rank is decided — 120 scored questions worth 360 marks, with a full mark lost for every wrong answer, followed by a qualifying computer section and a typing or data-entry test. How the marking changes your approach, module-wise methods, a worked target score, the weeks between tiers, and how not to be caught out by the qualifying parts.
  8. 8A four-month SSC CHSL planFour months is a realistic window for SSC CHSL Tier 1 if you study about five hours a day and follow a clear order — foundations first, full coverage next, then mocks, then revision — with typing running throughout. A month-by-month plan with daily hours, a sample mock week, measurable checkpoints and what to cut when you fall behind.

Subject by subject

Strategy

The pattern, posts and pay, eligibility, the syllabus, CHSL versus CGL, strategy for each tier, a four-month plan, mocks, previous papers, cut-offs and post preferences. These set the plan; the subject guides fill it in.

All 16 Strategy guides

Quantitative Aptitude

Arithmetic from the number system and percentages to interest, time and work and speed, plus algebra, geometry, mensuration, trigonometry and data interpretation, mostly at Class 10 level. Tier 1 has 25 questions; Tier 2 has a 90-mark maths module.

All 8 Quantitative Aptitude guides

Latest SSC CHSL guides

SSC CHSLQuantitative AptitudeRatio and problems on ages for SSC CHSL"The ratio of a mother's age to her daughter's is 7 : 2; after 5 years it will be 8 : 3." Age problems and ratio questions are close cousins — both are solved by letting one "part" be x and writing a simple equation. How to handle ratios, combine them, divide amounts, and solve the standard age problems quickly, with worked examples and answers. 3 min read·28 Sept 2026SSC CHSLQuantitative AptitudeDiscounts and marked price for SSC CHSL"Flat 30% off", "20% + 10% off", "buy 2 get 1 free". Discount questions in SSC CHSL mirror the offers on every shop window. Discount is taken on the marked price, successive discounts don't add up, and a shopkeeper can discount and still profit. The methods with reasons, six worked questions and a practice set with solutions. 5 min read·27 Sept 2026SSC CHSLQuantitative AptitudeProfit and loss for SSC CHSLA fruit seller buys at one rate and sells at another, a trader sells to a trader, a dealer uses a false weight. Profit and loss questions in SSC CHSL follow a handful of patterns, and all of them are percentage questions on the cost price. The methods and why they work, seven worked questions and a practice set with solutions. 6 min read·26 Sept 2026SSC CHSLQuantitative AptitudePercentages for SSC CHSLPercentages sit underneath half of SSC CHSL arithmetic: profit and loss, discounts, interest, population, marks, elections and data interpretation. Fraction equivalents, the multiplier method, successive changes and the "more than, less than" reversal, each with the reason it works, plus six worked questions and a practice set with solutions. 7 min read·25 Sept 2026SSC CHSLQuantitative AptitudeSimplification and approximation for SSC CHSLSimplification questions in SSC CHSL look like school arithmetic (brackets, fractions, decimals, square roots) and are lost mostly through haste. BODMAS in the right order and why, fraction and decimal shortcuts, algebraic identities that collapse long expressions, approximation that matches the options, and checks that catch errors. Six worked questions and a practice set. 6 min read·25 Sept 2026SSC CHSLQuantitative AptitudeHCF and LCM for SSC CHSLBells that ring together, the largest tile that fits a floor exactly, the smallest number that leaves the same remainder: HCF and LCM questions in SSC CHSL come in a handful of familiar shapes. How to find HCF and LCM quickly and why the methods work, the product rule, fractions and decimals, how to tell which one a word problem wants, six worked questions and a practice set. 7 min read·25 Sept 2026