The SSC CGL Tier 1 examination 2026 runs from 30 September to 30 October 2026. The answer key is not released shift by shift — it comes out after every shift of the exam is over, including any re-examination the Commission orders for a disrupted centre.
That means no answer key before 30 October, whatever date you have seen quoted elsewhere. Based on how SSC has handled previous CGL cycles, the key and the response sheets usually appear two to four weeks after the last shift.
Why the wait is this long
SSC uses multiple sets of question papers across dozens of shifts. Publishing a key mid-exam would leak the question bank to candidates sitting later shifts. The Commission also has to finish normalisation across shifts, which cannot start until the last paper is submitted.
If a centre is disrupted — a power failure, a server fault, a leaked paper — that shift is re-conducted, and the key waits for the re-exam too. This is the single most common reason the key slips past the date candidates expect.
What you actually get
Two separate things are released together, and people confuse them:
- The answer key — SSC's official correct option for each question, as a PDF per question paper set.
- Your response sheet — the questions in the order you saw them, with the option you marked on each one. This is personal to you and is the only record of what you actually did in the exam.
You need both to calculate your score. The answer key alone tells you nothing about your own paper.
How to download the answer key and response sheet
- Open ssc.gov.in and click Login.
- Enter your registration number and password. The same credentials you used for the admit card.
- Open the Answer Key section and find Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 Tier 1.
- Click the link against your exam date and shift. It opens a page showing each question, your marked option and the correct option side by side.
- Save the whole thing before you leave the page. Download the PDF, and take screenshots as well.
The response sheet is available only during the objection window — usually a few days. Once the window closes, the link disappears and SSC does not restore it. If you later want to verify a mark or dispute a result, an undownloaded response sheet means you have nothing to show.
Calculating your score
Tier 1 has 100 questions for 200 marks — 2 marks per correct answer and 0.50 deducted per wrong answer. Unattempted questions cost nothing.
| Step | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Correct answers | Count × 2 |
| Wrong answers | Count × 0.50 |
| Your score | (Correct × 2) − (Wrong × 0.50) |
Worked example: 70 correct, 20 wrong, 10 left blank. That is (70 × 2) − (20 × 0.50) = 140 − 10 = 130 marks.
Count carefully. Questions you reviewed but never actually submitted an option for count as unattempted, not wrong — check the response sheet rather than trusting your memory of the exam hall.
Your raw score is not your final score
This is where most candidates misjudge their chances. SSC normalises Tier 1 marks across shifts, because different shifts get different question papers and no two papers are exactly equally hard.
If your shift was harder than average, your normalised score goes up. If it was easier, it goes down. The cut-off is applied to normalised marks, not the raw figure you calculated at home. A raw score sitting within three or four marks of last year's cut-off genuinely tells you nothing either way — wait for the result.
Challenging a wrong answer
SSC opens an objection window alongside the key, normally three to seven days. The process:
- On the answer key page, click the challenge option against the question you dispute.
- Select the option you believe is correct and type your justification.
- Attach proof. A scan or screenshot of the page from a standard textbook, an official government source, or an established reference work. Pay the fee and submit.
The fee is charged per question challenged — SSC has used Rs 100 per question in recent cycles, and confirms the exact amount in the notice that accompanies the key. It is refunded if your objection is upheld. If the Commission rejects it, the money is gone.
What actually gets accepted
Objections that succeed almost always fall into one of these:
- A genuinely different correct answer backed by a citable standard source. Not a coaching institute's key — SSC does not treat those as authority.
- Two defensible correct options in the same question. These usually end with the question being dropped for everyone.
- A factual error in the question itself, or a translation mismatch between the English and Hindi versions.
Objections that fail: "this question was too hard", "my coaching class taught it differently", a disagreement with no source attached, or a claim submitted after the window closed. SSC also does not reconsider a rejected objection — there is no appeal stage.
When SSC accepts a challenge, it revises the key for every candidate, not only the person who raised it. Your benefit is the refund and the corrected mark.
Problems candidates hit — and what to do
"The answer key link is not showing in my login." Confirm the key has actually been released — SSC publishes a notice first. If it has, check you are in the Answer Key section rather than Admit Card, and that you have selected Tier 1 for the 2026 cycle.
"The page will not load at all." Traffic spikes in the first hours after release. Try a desktop browser outside peak hours. Do not leave it to the last day of the window — if the site fails on the final evening, you have lost the objection.
"My response sheet shows an answer I did not mark." Raise it through the objection route with your response sheet as the attachment, immediately and in writing. This is exactly why the downloaded copy matters.
"I missed the objection window." There is no extension and no late submission. The key stands as published for you.
"My score looks below the cut-off." Remember normalisation, and remember the cut-off moves every year with vacancy count and paper difficulty. Do not stop preparing for Tier 2 on the basis of a home-calculated raw score.
After the key
SSC releases the final answer key after processing all objections, and the Tier 1 result follows that. Shortlisted candidates move to Tier 2, which is where the marks that decide your posting are earned.
Tier 1 marks are used for shortlisting, so a comfortable Tier 1 score is worth having — but it is Tier 2 that converts into a job. The weeks between the key and the Tier 2 date are the most productive preparation window in the whole cycle, and the candidates who waste them refreshing result pages are the ones who regret it.