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Each year lakhs of students who have passed Class 10 sit one exam hoping to wear the uniform of a central armed police force. Here is what selection asks of you and what the posting is like, from the Staff Selection Commission's own notices.
Who can apply for SSC GD after Class 10?
The rules below come from the SSC notice for the Constable (GD) Examination, 2026. Each year's notice can change them, so check the new one on ssc.gov.in before you apply.
Education: you must have passed Class 10 (Matriculation) from a recognised board, with the result declared by the cut-off date (1 January 2026 for that exam).
Age: 18 to 23 years on the cut-off date. SC and ST candidates get 5 extra years and OBC candidates 3.
Domicile: most vacancies are filled state by state, so you need a domicile or permanent residence certificate for the state you name in your form. A certificate from a different state gets your candidature cancelled at document verification.
Pay: Pay Level 3, ₹21,700 to ₹69,100, for every force.
The 2026 exam advertised 25,487 vacancies, and 14,595 of them were in CISF, according to the same notice. Women are encouraged to apply, though only 2,020 posts were for women.
What are the stages of the SSC GD selection process?
The 2026 notice describes these stages:
Computer-based test (CBT): 80 multiple-choice questions, 2 marks each, in 60 minutes. Four parts of 20 questions: reasoning, general knowledge, elementary maths, and English or Hindi. Each wrong answer costs 0.25 marks. Questions are at Class 10 level.
Physical Efficiency Test (PET): a timed race, with no appeal.
Physical Standard Test (PST): height, and chest for men. PET and PST are held together at centres run by the forces.
Medical examination by CAPF medical boards.
Document verification, done at the time of the medical: Class 10 certificate, domicile, and caste or NCC certificates if you claim them.
An NCC certificate adds bonus marks to your CBT score: 5% of the maximum for 'C', 3% for 'B' and 2% for 'A', per the notice.
What height and running standards does SSC GD need?
The 2026 notice sets these for most candidates:
Race: men run 5 km in 24 minutes; women run 1.6 km in 8.5 minutes. Candidates from the Ladakh region have shorter races.
Height: 170 cm for men and 157 cm for women, lower for Scheduled Tribes, candidates from the North-Eastern states and some other listed states, regions and groups.
Chest (men): 80 cm unexpanded, with at least 5 cm expansion, with some listed relaxations.
For men, 24 minutes over 5 km means 4 minutes 48 seconds for every kilometre, held for the whole distance. For women, 8.5 minutes over 1.6 km is about 5 minutes 19 seconds per kilometre. Time one kilometre on a measured track this week and you will know how far you are from it.
How hard is it to get selected?
SSC's result notice of 12 October 2026 says 21,56,776 candidates sat the 2026 CBT. Adding up its shortlist tables gives about 1.97 lakh people called to the PET and PST, roughly 9 in every 100 who wrote the test. Set against the 25,487 vacancies in the 2026 notice, that is about 85 test-takers for each post.
To be shortlisted at all, you had to score at least 30% (unreserved), 25% (OBC and EWS) or 20% (SC, ST and ex-servicemen), according to that result notice. In most states and categories the actual cut-off was higher, and it varied from state to state.
The maths part covers percentages, ratio, averages, interest, profit and loss, and time and distance. If you lose marks there because you used the wrong method, the Fermi Problem Library has worked problems with a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer.
What is a constable's posting really like?
The 2026 notice states plainly that selected candidates are liable to serve anywhere in India. Your force decides much of your daily work:
CISF guards 361 important national installations, including 70 airports, the Delhi Metro, ports, power plants and nuclear and space sites, according to the CISF website.
CRPF calls itself India's oldest and largest central armed police force, with 201 general duty battalions, per the CRPF website.
BSF guards India's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to Wikipedia's entry on the force.
Serving anywhere can mean long spells away from home, in return for a central government job with steady pay. If being far from family worries you, talk it through with your parents before you apply.
A plan if you are in Class 10 or 11 now
Check your date of birth on your Class 10 certificate against the age window.
Measure your height honestly and read the relaxation list for your state.
Run a timed kilometre every week and record it.
Join NCC if your school has a unit.
Revise Class 8 to 10 arithmetic and try the mock test on the SSC website.
Comparing options? Read our guides to Navy Agniveer MR after Class 10, India Post GDS selection on Class 10 marks and choosing between ITI and polytechnic.
