SSC says CGL tier-1 question paper 'strictly for personal use'; how to calculate marks using answer key?

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has published the most-awaited answer key for the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) tier-1 exam. Along with the answer key, the SSC CGL response sheet for 13.5 lakh candidates has been uploaded on the official website, ssc.gov.in. SSC CGL 2025 Answer Key (OUT) LIVE

The SSC CGL recruitment 2025 is being conducted to 14,582 vacancies across various government departments covering multiple group B and C posts. The exam was conducted in 45 shifts across 126 cities and 255 exam centres from September 12 to 26.

However, nearly 2,000 candidates registered their concerns through the grievance portal and informed the commission about the technical snags. Following which, the SSC CGL re-exam was held on October 14.

The SSC also faced backlash from the candidates for delaying the release of answer key by a day.

How to calculate SSC CGL marks?

Candidates can cross-check the SSC CGL response sheet 2025 with the provisional answer key to calculate the probable scores.

The tier-1 exam carries 200 marks. The question paper is divided into four sections – general awareness, English language, general intelligence and reasoning, and quantitative aptitude – each carrying 50 marks.

As per the SSC CGL marking scheme, 1 mark will be awarded for each correct answer and 0.50 marks will be deducted for each incorrect answer.

Candidates are required to add all the correct answers and multiply the number of wrong answers by 0.50. Subtract the total negative marks from the marks obtained for correct answers to get the final score.

Notably, the raw marks obtained by the aspirants will not be used to shortlist. The commission has introduced equi-percentile normalization. This method has been adopted to prevent any advantage or disadvantage that may arise from variation in difficulty levels across different exam shifts, it said.

SSC CGL question paper 2025

The SSC has also uploaded the SSC tier-1 question paper on the official website. However, “the question paper will be strictly for personal use and self-analysis only”.

“An undertaking to this effect has been included in the Challenge Management portal which will be visible to the candidates when they will log in into the same,” the official notification read.

Candidates who wish to raise objections against the SSC CGL answer key will have to pay Rs 50 per question. The challenge fee has been reduced by half from Rs 100 to ease the financial burden on candidates.