The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is conducting the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) 2025 Tier 1 exam today, September 16, across three shifts.

The SSC CGL 2025 Tier 1 exam is being held from September 12 to 26, 2025, in 227 exam centres across the country. Initially, the exam was to be held in 260 centres across 129 cities. Out of 2,435 scheduled shifts, only 25 shifts were cancelled, affecting 7,705 candidates, who have already been allotted alternate dates.

This year, the exam is being held in four shifts daily, including an optional shift at select centres.

Exam shifts

• Shift 1: 9:00 am – 10:00 am

• Shift 2: 11:35 am – 12:45 pm

• Shift 3: 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

• Optional Shift: 5:15 pm – 6:15 pm

More than 28 lakh candidates are expected to appear for the CGL exam this year. So far, 3,01,722 candidates have taken the test.

Vacancies

The recruitment process is being conducted for 14,582 vacancies. The category-wise distribution is as follows:

• General: 6,183

• Other Backward Classes (OBC): 3,721

• Scheduled Caste (SC): 2,167

• Scheduled Tribe (ST): 1,088

• Economically Weaker Section (EWS): 1,423

In a major update, SSC announced the adoption of the equipercentile method for score normalisation. This replaces the earlier average-based system.

Under this method, a candidate’s score will be normalised based on their percentile rank within a particular shift. For example, a candidate with an 80th percentile rank in one shift will be mapped to the same percentile in another shift.

Exam Security Measures

SSC has also introduced stricter security protocols to curb malpractice. Measures include:

• Biometric and facial recognition at entry and exit

• CCTV surveillance

• AI-powered analytics to flag suspicious activities

The Commission reiterated its “zero tolerance for malpractices” policy.

Exam cancellations and more

SSC clarified that the recruitment exam is being conducted smoothly nationwide, despite a few disruptions earlier.

• West Bengal: All shifts on September 12 at Mind Matrix, Kalaberia (Kolkata) were cancelled.

• Jammu: All September 13 shifts at Digital Computer Education, Jammu were cancelled.

• Delhi-NCR: Exams at MM Public School, Gurugram, and Bharti Vidya Niketan Public School, Delhi, were cancelled.

SSC has confirmed that all affected candidates have been allotted new dates and the process remains on track.

Candidates can download their admit cards from the official website: ssc.gov.in.