Staff Selection Commission (SSC) conducts the Central Police Organization (CPO) exam every year to recruit candidates for various posts such as Sub-Inspector (SI) in Delhi Police, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in CISF. The SSC CPO exam is one of the most competitive and prestigious exams in India for those who aspire to join the police forces.
The SSC CPO exam consists of four stages: Paper-I, Physical Standard Test (PST)/ Physical Endurance Test (PET), Paper-II and Detailed Medical Examination (DME). Candidates have to qualify each stage to be eligible for the next one. The final merit list is prepared based on the marks obtained in Paper-I and Paper-II. In this article, we will provide you with the detailed exam pattern of each stage of the SSC CPO exam, along with some tips and strategies to prepare well for them.
SSC CPO 2023 Paper-I Exam Pattern
Paper-I is the first stage of the SSC CPO exam and it is an online objective test. It has four sections: General Intelligence and Reasoning, General Knowledge and General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude and English Comprehension. Each section has 50 questions and carries 50 marks. The total duration of the paper is two hours. There is a negative marking of 0.33 marks for each wrong answer.
The exam pattern of Paper-I is as follows:
Subject | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks |
General Intelligence & Reasoning | 50 | 50 |
General Knowledge | 50 | 50 |
Quantitative Aptitude | 50 | 50 |
English Comprehension | 50 | 50 |
Note: Total duration is 2 hours.
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SSC CPO PET/PST Test
Category | Height | Chest (Unexpanded) | Chest (Expanded) |
Male (Gen) | 170 | 80 | 85 |
Belonging to Hilly regions & areas of J&K, North East & Sikkim | 165 | 80 | 85 |
Scheduled Tribes | 162.5 | 77 | 82 |
Female (Gen) | 157 | – | – |
Belonging to Hilly regions & areas of J&K, North East & Sikkim | 155 | – | – |
Scheduled Tribes | 154 | – | – |
SSC CPO PET Test
Male Candidates
- 100 metre race in 16 seconds
- 1.6 Km Race in 6.5 minutes
- Long Jump: 3.65 metres in 5 chances
- High Jump: 1.2 metres in 3 chances
- Short put 16 LBS: 4.5 metres in 3 chances
Female Candidates
- 100 metre race in 18 second
- 800 metre race in 4 minutes
- Long Jump: 2.7 metres or 9 feet in 3 chances
- High Jump: 0.9 metres or 3 feet in 3 chances
SSC CPO Medical Test
Criteria for the Medical Test is given below:
- Minimum Near Vision: N6 (better eye) and N9 (worse eye)
- Minimum Distant Vision: 6/6 (better eye) and 6/9 (worse eye)
- Must not have knock knee, flat foot, varicose vein or squint in eyes
- Eye standards should be without visual correction of any kind even by glasses.
SSC CPO Paper – 2 Exam Pattern
SSC CPO Paper-2 will be conducted after PET/PST Test for SSC CPO 2023 is conducted.
- The total time duration of the exam is of 120 minutes i.e. 2 hours.
- The total number of questions asked will be around 200 and the maximum marks for Paper-2 will be 200
- The test will be of English Language and Comprehension conducted online.
SSC CPO 2023 Syllabus
The syllabus for Paper-I and Paper-II is given below:
Paper-I: This paper has four sections: General Intelligence and Reasoning, General Knowledge and General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude and English Comprehension. Each section has 50 questions of 1 mark each. The total duration of the paper is 2 hours. There is a negative marking of 0.33 marks for each wrong answer.
General Reasoning | General Knowledge | Quantitative Aptitude | English Comprehension |
Verbal Reasoning | Current Affairs | Percentage | Reading Comprehension |
Syllogism | Awards and Honours | Ratio and Percentage | Grammar |
Circular Seating Arrangement | Books and Authors | Data Interpretation | Vocabulary |
Linear Seating Arrangement | Sports | Mensuration and Geometry | Verbal Ability |
Double Lineup | Entertainment | Quadratic Equation | Synonyms-Antonyms |
Scheduling | Obituaries | Interest | Active and Passive Voice |
Input Output | Important Dates | Problems of Ages | Para Jumbles |
Blood Relations | Scientific Research | Profit and Loss | Fill in the Blanks |
Directions and Distances | Number Series | Error Correction | |
Ordering and Ranking | Speed, Distance and Time | ||
Data Sufficiency | Time and Work | ||
Coding and Decoding | Number System | ||
Code Inequalities | Data Sufficiency |
Paper-II: This paper has only one section: English Language and Comprehension. It has 200 questions of 1 mark each. The total duration of the paper is 2 hours. There is a negative marking of 0.33 marks for each wrong answer.
- Error Recognition
- Fill in the Blanks
- Vocabulary
- Spellings
- Grammar
- Sentence Structure
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Sentence Completion
- Idioms and Phrases
- Comprehension
Some tips to prepare for this exam:
- Practice mock tests and previous year papers to get familiar with the difficulty level and types of questions asked in the exam.
- Revise the basic concepts and formulas of quantitative aptitude and reasoning topics such as number system, algebra, geometry, mensuration, data interpretation, analogy, coding-decoding, syllogism, etc.
- Read newspapers, magazines and books to improve your general knowledge and awareness of current affairs, history, geography, polity, economy, science and technology, etc.
- Improve your vocabulary, grammar and comprehension skills by reading English passages, articles and novels. Learn new words and their meanings, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases, etc.
- Manage your time well and attempt the sections in which you are confident first. Avoid guesswork and skip the questions that are too lengthy or difficult.
We hope that this article has helped you understand the exam pattern & syllabus of SSC CPO exam. Wishing you good luck with your preparation! Follow us on Insta.
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