Historic Changes in SSC CGL 2026: Sectional Timing Introduced for the First Time Historic Changes in SSC CGL 2026: Sectional Timing Introduced for the First Time

A very important and shocking news has come to light for lakhs of youth of the country preparing for Staff Selection Commission (SSC). The Commission has made the biggest and historic change so far in the rules of the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) Exam 2026, one of its most prestigious and biggest recruitment examinations.

For the first time, the rule of ‘Sectional Timing’ has been implemented for this bumper recruitment of 12,256 posts of Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ in various ministries, departments, organizations, constitutional bodies and tribunals of the Central Government. This simply means that now candidates will not be able to give any amount of time to any section as per their wish, rather a certain limit of time has been fixed to solve each subject.

New rule in Prelims (Tier-1) exam: Only 15 minutes will be given for each section.

A total of 100 questions are asked in the first stage (Tier-1) Computer Based Examination (CBE) of one hour (60 minutes) duration, which consists of 4 different sections. According to the new rules, now candidates will have to answer 25 questions every 15 minutes.

• How will the new system work? Being a computer based exam, as soon as your 15 minutes are over, the section running on the screen will automatically lock and you will be presented with the questions from the next section.

• Evaluation: Earlier, candidates used to finish their strong subject of choice (like Reasoning or English) early and give more time to Mathematics, but now this will not be possible. With this change, the actual grip of the candidate in each section will be accurately assessed.

New pattern of Mains (Tier-2) exam: Here also subject wise time is limited

The Commission has surprised the students by setting subject-wise time limit not only in Pre but also in Tier-2 i.e. Mains examination. Where earlier there was time for the entire section together, now restrictions have been imposed there too:

• Maths and Reasoning: Earlier, a total time of 1 hour was given to solve both these subjects together. now for both 30-30 minutes have been determined separately. You will get 30 minutes for 30 questions of Mathematics and 30 minutes for 30 questions of Reasoning.

• English and General Awareness: To solve 45 questions in English in Section ‘B’ 40 minutes Time will be given for 25 important questions of General Awareness (GA/GK) only. 20 minutes Time will be given.

At a Glance: New Sectional Timing Chart of SSC CGL 2026

To easily understand this big change, look at the table given below:

Last date of application and possible dates of examination (Important Dates)

The Commission has opened the online application window for the youth who are dreaming of getting a government job through SSC CGL 2026. Important dates related to recruitment are given below:

• Total No. of Posts: 12,256 posts (Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’)

• Last date of online application: 22 June 2026 (by 11:00 PM)

• Last date for online fee submission: 23 June 2026 (by 11:00 PM)

• Correction Window: 29 June to 1 July 2026 (till 11:00 pm)

• Tier-1 (Pre) Exam Date: August-September 2026 (Proposed)

• Tier-2 (Mains) Exam Date: December 2026 (probable)

Expert advice: After this new change, now the candidates will have to work a lot on their ‘Speed ​​& Accuracy’. Now you cannot pass the entire examination on the basis of one subject. While giving mock tests, you will have to develop the habit of setting a timer and finishing each section within 15 minutes from today itself.