SSC CGL Exam Date: SSC dropped the CGL 2026 exam dates out of nowhere on September 12th—like, seriously, September 30th to October 30th? That’s barely any breathing room left to panic-revise every single math formula and tricky grammar rule we’ve been putting off!
If you’re anything like me, staring at that official notice on ssc.gov.in probably triggered an instant wave of messy desk setups, cold coffee cups, and absolute chaos, but hey, the clock’s officially ticking now, so we might as well ditch the distractions, hunt down those city slips and admit cards the second they drop, and finally conquer this massive syllabus before test day catches us totally off guard.
SSC CGL Exam Date
SSC CGL 2026 makes my brain hurt just a little bit—nearly 2.85 million people are about to crowd into 141 centers across the country for an entire month starting September 30th, all fighting tooth and nail for just 12,256 tentative vacancies. It’s wild to think about the sheer logistics of running this massive computer-based circus in four daily shifts right up until October 30th, especially when you’ve been stressing over your prep since the application window slammed shut back in June.
If you’re sweating bullets waiting for the hall tickets to drop a couple of days before your slot, take a deep breath; you’re definitely not alone in this madness.
SSC CGL Exam Date 2026 Details
| Exam Name | SSC Combined Graduate Level (SSC CGL) Examination 2026 |
| Conducting Body | Staff Selection Commission (SSC) |
| SSC CGL Notification Release Date | 21st May |
| Vacancies | 12,256 |
| Application Start Date | 21st May |
| Last Date to Apply | 25th June |
| CGL Tier 1 Exam Date Notice | 12th September |
| SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam Date 2026 | 30th September to 30th October 2026 |
| SSC CGL Admit Card | 27th September 2026 (2-3 days before exam) |
| SSC CGL Exam City Slip | 21st September 2026 (9-10 days before exam) |
| Tier 1 Exam Mode | Computer-Based Test (CBT) |
| Tier 1 Exam Shifts | Multiple Shifts |
| Tier 2 Exam Date | December 2026 (Tentative Schedule) |
| Category | Exam Date |
SSC CGL 2026 Admit Card Date
SSC CGL admit card feels like a special kind of psychological warfare we willingly sign up for year after year. With Tier 1 looming on September 30, 2026, the commission is playing it cool per usual, meaning that blessed hall ticket will probably drop a chaotic 48 hours before D-day.
You’ll be tearing through old WhatsApp chats and cluttered desktop folders trying to unearth your registration ID while your heart does backflips, all just to download a PDF that decides your entire future based on a random morning shift. Until they finally drop the regional links, just keep aggressively mashing that refresh button, try not to spiral over those brutal mock test percentiles, and channel all that caffeinated panic into one final, sleep-deprived revision marathon.
SSC CGL 2026 City Intimation Date
SSC CGL city intimation slip is basically an annual ritual of minor panic, but thankfully it’s rumored to drop around September 21st, roughly a week or ten days before the actual exam chaos kicks off. Honestly, trying to book Tatkal tickets while simultaneously second-guessing your geometry prep is a special kind of torture, so having that city and shift info early is a massive lifesaver for travel logistics.
Just keep in mind this isn’t your actual hall ticket—classic bureaucratic plot twist—so you can’t actually walk into the exam hall waving the slip around like a golden ticket. Keep an eye on the official SSC portal instead of refreshing Twitter every two seconds, though we both know everyone’s going to do it anyway.
Read more: SSC Phase 14 Exam Date
SSC CGL 2026 Shift Timings
The SSC CGL 2026 Tier 1 Exam will be held in multiple shifts at various exam centres across India. The Staff Selection Commission has not yet released the official shift timings, thus the table below is based on the expected schedule as per the previous exam.
| Shift | Reporting Time | Gate Closing Time | Exam Timing |
| Shift 1 | 7:45 AM | 8:30 AM | 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM |
| Shift 2 | 10:30 AM | 11:15 AM | 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM |
| Shift 3 | 1:15 PM | 2:00 PM | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM |
| Shift 4* | 4:00 PM | 4:45 PM | 5:15 PM – 6:15 PM |
SSC CGL Tier I Exam Pattern
The SSC CGL Tier I Exam consists of 25 questions in each section. Each question will carry 2 Marks. The duration of the exam will be 1 Hour. Check below table for complete exam pattern for SSC CGL:
| Subject | Number of Questions | Maximum Marks | Time Allowed |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 25 | 50 | 1 hour (with sectional timer of 15 minutes for each subject)
(1 hour and 20 minutes (with sectional timer of 15+5=20 minutes for each subject) for the candidates eligible for scribe |
| General Awareness | 25 | 50 | |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 25 | 50 | |
| English Comprehension | 25 | 50 |
Also more: SSC Stenographer Exam Date
SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam Centre 2026
The SSC CGL Tier 1 will be conducted in a total of 141 exam centres/cities across 34 States and Union Territories. Check the list of SSC CGL Prelims Exam Centres below:
| State/UT | SSC CGL Exam Centres |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Sri Vijaya Puram (4802) |
| Andhra Pradesh | Chirala (8011), Eluru (8016), Guntur (8001), Kakinada (8009), Kurnool (8003), Nellore (8010), Ongole (8014), Rajahmundry (8004), Srikakulam (8015), Tirupati (8006), Vijayawada (8008), Visakhapatnam (8007), Vizianagaram (8012) |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar (5001) |
| Assam | Dibrugarh (5102), Guwahati (Dispur) (5105), Jorhat (5107), Silchar (5111), Tezpur (5112) |
| Bihar | Bhagalpur (3201), Chapra (3208), Darbhanga (3202), Gaya (3203), Munger (3211), Muzaffarpur (3205), Patna (3206), Purnea (3209), Saharsa (3210) |
| Chandigarh | Chandigarh/Mohali (1601) |
| Chhattisgarh | Bilaspur (6202), Durg-Bhilai (6205), Raipur (6204) |
| Delhi | Delhi (2201) |
| Goa | Panaji (7801) |
| Gujarat | Ahmedabad (7001), Gandhinagar (7012), Mehsana (7013), Rajkot (7006), Surat (7007), Vadodara (7002) |
| Himachal Pradesh | Hamirpur (1202), Shimla (1203) |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Jammu (1004), Samba (1010), Srinagar (1007) |
| Jharkhand | Bokaro (4201), Dhanbad (4206), Jamshedpur (4207), Ranchi (4205) |
| Karnataka | Belagavi (9002), Bengaluru (9001), Hubballi (9011), Kalaburagi (9005), Mangaluru (9008), Mysuru (9009), Shivamogga (9010), Udupi (9012) |
| Kerala | Ernakulam (9213), Kannur (9202), Kollam (9210), Kottayam (9205), Kozhikode (9206), Thiruvananthapuram (9211), Thrissur (9212) |
| Ladakh | Leh (1005) |
| Lakshadweep | Kavaratti (9401) |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal (6001), Gwalior (6005), Indore (6006), Jabalpur (6007), Sagar (6015), Satna (6014), Ujjain (6016) |
| Maharashtra | Amravati (7201), Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (7202), Jalgaon (7214), Kolhapur (7203), Mumbai (7204), Nagpur (7205), Nanded (7206), Nashik (7207), Pune (7208) |
| Manipur | Churachandpur (5502), Imphal (5501), Ukhrul (5503) |
| Meghalaya | Shillong (5401) |
| Mizoram | Aizawl (5701) |
| Nagaland | Dimapur (5301), Kohima (5302) |
| Odisha | Balasore (4601), Berhampore (4602), Bhubaneswar (4604), Cuttack (4605), Dhenkanal (4611), Rourkela (4610), Sambalpur (4609) |
| Puducherry | Puducherry (8401) |
| Punjab | Amritsar (1404), Bathinda (1401), Jalandhar (1402), Patiala (1403) |
| Rajasthan | Bikaner (2404), Jaipur (2405), Sikar (2411), Udaipur (2409) |
| Sikkim | Gangtok (4001) |
| Tamil Nadu | Chennai (8201), Coimbatore (8202), Krishnagiri (8209), Madurai (8204), Salem (8205), Theni (8211), Tiruchirappalli (8206), Tirunelveli (8207), Vellore (8208) |
| Telangana | Hyderabad (8601), Karimnagar (8604), Siddipet (8605), Warangal (8603) |
| Tripura | Agartala (5601) |
| Uttar Pradesh | Agra (3001), Bareilly (3005), Gorakhpur (3007), Jhansi (3008), Kanpur (3009), Lucknow (3010), Meerut (3011), Prayagraj (3003), Varanasi (3013) |
| Uttarakhand | Dehradun (2002), Haldwani (2003), Roorkee (2006) |
| West Bengal | Asansol (4417), Burdwan (4422), Durgapur (4426), Kalyani (4419), Kolkata (4410), Malda (4412), Siliguri (4415), Suri (4416) |
SSC CGL 2026 Last Minute Preparation Tips
As the exam date has been announce, candidate need to prepare well in last few days by revision and practice. The candidates are advise to avoid the new topics and focus on strengthening their preparation with mock tests, previous year papers and quick revision of key concepts.
- Honestly, hammering out mock tests for Tier 1 and 2 is basically your only way out if you want to stop staring blankly at the clock. Do them constantly.
- Stop digging through endless textbooks at this stage; just glue yourself to Testbook’s previous year papers so you aren’t blindsided by weird exam twists.
- Stop chasing brand-new chapters you’ll just forget anyway—crack open your messy short notes, formula sheets, and grammar rules for a brutal review instead.
- Actually sit down and brutalize your mock test analytics. Finding out you got half the math section wrong hurts your ego, but staring at those mistakes keeps you from repeating them.
- Full-length computer-based tests are genuinely exhausting, but building that fake-exam panic tolerance in a timed bubble is the only thing that stops your brain from short-circuiting on the real day.
- Cramming random static GK and the last few months of current affairs feels like swallowing a dictionary, but that stubborn General Awareness section will totally tank your rank if you skip it.
- Do not be that stressed-out person frantically printing their admit card at 3 AM; pack your ID and get some actual sleep so you don’t accidentally fall asleep over your OMR sheet.
Check more: AAI Exam Date
FAQs
What is the SSC CGL Exam Date 2026?
The SSC CGL Exam Date 2026 is scheduled from 30th September to 30th October 2026.
SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam Date 2026 will be announced when?
The exam schedule notice of SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam Date 2026 has been released on 12th September the official website of SSC.
When will the SSC CGL 2026 Admit Card be released?
SSC CGL 2026 Tier 1 Admit Card will be released 3-7 days prior to the exam.