SSC Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces Examination (CPO)

No. Paper 1 is only a screening stage — its normalised score decides who is called for PET/PST. The final merit list is drawn from Paper 2 (out of 320) plus NCC bonus. A Paper 1 score barely above the cutoff is as good as a topper's once you qualify.

Three big changes. Paper 1: halved to 100 questions / 100 marks in 60 minutes (was 200Q / 200M in 2 hours) with a new 15-minute sectional timer per section. Paper 2: expanded from an English-only 200Q / 200M paper to four sections totalling 160 questions / 320 marks, with English at 100Q / 200M. Negative marking in Paper 2 rose from 0.25 to 0.50 per wrong answer.

Paper 1: −0.25 per wrong answer (each correct carries +1). Paper 2: −0.50 per wrong answer (each correct carries +2). Unanswered questions cost nothing, so never blind-guess across a whole section — but educated elimination between two options is still worth it.

Paper 1 gives each of the four sections a hard 15 minutes — 25 questions each. When a section's timer ends it locks; unused time from Reasoning cannot rescue a slow Quant section. Paper 2 runs 20-minute timers on Reasoning, GK and Quant and 60 minutes on English. Practise with section-wise clocks from day one.

No attempt limit exists — you can apply every year until you cross the age limit (20–25 for SI posts, 18–30 for SI Fire in CISF, plus category relaxations). Many selections come from second and third attempts once the physical routine is dialled in.

PST: male height 170 cm (165 cm hill areas, 162.5 cm ST) with chest 80–85 cm; female height 157 cm (155 hill areas, 154 ST), weight proportionate. PET (male): 100 m in 16 sec, 1.6 km in 6.5 min, long jump 3.65 m, high jump 1.2 m, shot put 16 lbs to 4.5 m. PET (female): 100 m in 18 sec, 800 m in 4 min, long jump 2.7 m, high jump 0.9 m. Jumps and shot put allow three chances. All qualifying, no marks.

Yes — the 2026 cycle has 259 female seats (112 in Delhi Police SI, the rest across CAPFs). Women get separate, usually higher Paper-1 cutoffs, female-specific PET standards (800 m instead of 1.6 km, no shot put), and no driving-licence requirement.

Male candidates for SI (Executive) in Delhi Police must hold a valid LMV (motorcycle and car) driving licence by the PE&MT driving-test stage. If you don't have one, you can still be considered for CAPF SI posts — indicate preferences accordingly. The licence requirement does not apply to female candidates.

SSC statistically adjusts raw scores using each shift's mean and standard deviation so candidates in harder shifts aren't disadvantaged. The official result notices confirm normalised marks are used for the result. This is why cutoffs refer to normalised scores and why raw marks across shifts aren't comparable.

Yes. NCC certificate holders get bonus marks added to their scores: 'C' certificate 5%, 'B' certificate 3%, 'A' certificate 2% of the maximum marks. The claim is provisionally accepted from the application form and must be proved with the original certificate at Document Verification.

Use the cutoff page as a percentage band, because the 2026 pattern changes the totals: Paper 1 UR cutoffs for men have hovered around 60% of maximum (119–139 out of 200 in 2023–2025; women a bit higher), so on the new 100-mark paper aim 65+/100 for a safe shortlist. In the final merit, last-selected candidates scored roughly 70–89% of maximum (280–355 out of 400 in 2024) — on the new Paper-2-only merit of 320, target 240+/320, with English (200 of those marks) your biggest lever.

The city intimation slip comes about 10 days before your exam shift and the admit card about 3 days before, on the regional SSC website (not the main ssc.gov.in) — the region depends on where you applied from. You'll also get an SMS/email with the download link.

Pay Level 6 (7th CPC): ₹35,400–1,12,400 plus allowances — roughly ₹45–55k in hand at the start, higher in metro postings. CAPF SI posts are Group 'B' (Non-Gazetted), while SI (Executive) in Delhi Police is Group 'C'. SI (Fire) in CISF is also Level 6.

Introduced in the 2026 cycle with 234 seats, male only. Eligibility differs from other SI posts: a B.Sc. with Physics, Chemistry and Maths, or matriculation plus a 3-year engineering diploma in the branches specified in the notification, and the age band is wider (18–30). It appears as preference code G.

At the physicals: admit card, photo ID and recent photographs. At Document Verification: matriculation certificate (DOB proof), degree marksheets + certificate, category/EWS certificate in the central-government format with the correct validity year, driving licence (male Delhi Police SI), Ex-servicemen/NOC documents where applicable, and the original NCC certificate if bonus was claimed. Name mismatches between documents are the single biggest DV headache — carry supporting proof.