SSC CGL 2025 tier 1 exam to be held in single shift; chairman outlines reforms

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) 2025 tier 1 in a single shift across the country. The confirmation came from SSC Chairman S Gopalakrishnan in an interview with Navbharat Times. This is the first time SSC will move away from the multi-shift format, a decision aimed at addressing candidates’ long-standing concerns over fairness.

In earlier editions, the SSC CGL 2025 Tier 1 exam was conducted in three to four shifts a day over several days. Candidates had long raised objections that differences in question sets created an uneven playing field. Petitions and complaints regarding the normalisation formula reached courts on multiple occasions.

SSC Chairman said the reform aims to remove disparities that often arose due to variations in difficulty levels across multiple shifts. The single-shift format is also expected to eliminate the need for score normalisation, a process that has been frequently challenged by candidates in previous years.

“Earlier, if one shift was relatively easy and another difficult, candidates feared that their scores would be impacted. Now, the effort is to ensure that the final exam is held in a single shift,” he told Navbharat Times.

Technical issues in July exams prompted changes

The announcement comes in the backdrop of technical and administrative issues reported during SSC exams held between July 24 and August 1. Candidates complained of non-functional computers, delays in Aadhaar verification, and being allotted exam centres hundreds of kilometres away.

The Commission admitted these problems and postponed the SSC CGL exam to September to allow for system restructuring. The SSC CGL expected exam date for Tier 1 is in the second half of September, while the SSC CGL exam date 2025 Tier 2 will be announced later on the official website, ssc.gov.in.

According to the Chairman, the exam delivery process has been overhauled. Instead of a single vendor managing all functions, responsibility has now been divided among four agencies — one each for exam conduct, security, application management, and question paper preparation. This separation, he said, would strengthen exam integrity and reduce malpractice.

Exam centre allocation within 100 km radius

On the issue of centre allocation, Gopalakrishnan told Navbharat Times that many candidates had to travel 500 km or more in the last cycle due to vendor limitations. He said exam centres will now be allotted within a 100-km radius of the candidate’s location. He added that enhanced supervision at test centres has been proposed to strengthen examination integrity.

The Chairman also confirmed that Aadhaar authentication will remain a mandatory part of SSC exams, from application to final joining, to prevent impersonation and malpractice. While initial delays were reported during verification, he said the process is stabilising and has significantly reduced fraud.

With the new single-shift system, SSC will continue to use normalisation in Tier 1 to shortlist candidates for tier 2. However, Gopalakrishnan indicated that the final exam, which is the SSC CGL tier 2 or mains exam, will also be attempted in a single shift wherever feasible, in line with court observations against conducting high-stakes exams in multiple sessions.