In this guide
- SSC CPO 2026 Exam Pattern at a Glance
- Paper I Syllabus (100Q · 100M · 1 Hr)
- PET / PST — Physical Test
- How to Prepare for SSC CPO 2026
- Paper I Strategy — 100 Questions, Four Timed Sections
- Paper I Section by Section
- PET and PST — Start Training Now
- Paper II — Four Subjects, English the Biggest
- A Six-Month SSC CPO Study Plan
- Five Mistakes That Cost People SSC CPO
- Delhi Police SI or CAPF SI?
- How to Use Mock Tests for SSC CPO
- The Last 30 Days Before Paper I
- FAQs
- Where to Start This Week
SSC CPO recruits Sub-Inspectors for Delhi Police and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) — a role that combines a written exam with a genuine physical test. This guide covers the full Paper I, PET/PST and Paper II syllabus.
The physical stage is what makes CPO different from every other SSC exam, and it is where the most preparation goes wrong. Candidates treat it the way they treat a document verification — a formality to be handled after the written result. It is not. Physical standards and endurance take months to build, the tests are conducted seriously, and every year a substantial number of candidates who cleared Paper I comfortably are eliminated at PET/PST having done no training at all.
The corollary is worth stating plainly: if you are preparing for SSC CPO and not currently running, you are not preparing for SSC CPO. Written preparation and physical training have to run in parallel from day one, and the physical half is the one with a hard floor — no amount of marks compensates for missing a height or timing standard.
SSC CPO 2026 Exam Pattern at a Glance
Watch outThe pattern changed in the 2026 notice (10 September 2026). Paper I is now half as long, and Paper II now tests all four subjects with negative marking. Paper I is on 23 to 28 November 2026.
| Stage | Questions | Marks | Duration | Negative Marking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I (CBT) | 100 | 100 | 1 hr (15 min a section) | −0.25 |
| PET / PST | Physical Test | Qualifying | — | — |
| Paper II (CBT) | 160 | 320 | 2 hrs | −0.5 |
NotePaper II is held after PET/PST, so only physically qualified candidates reach it. Until 2025 it was English only with no negative marking. From 2026 it has Reasoning, GK, Quant and a large English section, and each wrong answer costs 0.5.
Paper I Syllabus (100Q · 100M · 1 Hr)
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Intelligence & Reasoning | 25 | 25 | 15 min |
| General Knowledge | 25 | 25 | 15 min |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 25 | 25 | 15 min |
| English Comprehension | 25 | 25 | 15 min |
Quantitative Aptitude — Key Topics
- Number System
- Percentage
- Profit & Loss
- Ratio & Proportion
- Average
- Time & Work
- Speed & Distance
- Geometry
- Trigonometry
- Data Interpretation
PET / PST — Physical Test
The Physical Endurance Test (PET) and Physical Standard Test (PST) are qualifying stages held after Paper I. Requirements differ for Delhi Police SI and CAPF SI posts, and between male and female candidates — always check the latest official notification for exact height, chest and running-time cutoffs.
How to Prepare for SSC CPO 2026
- Don't neglect physical fitness while focused on Paper I — start PET training in parallel, not after clearing the written exam
- English is 25 marks in Paper I and 200 of the 320 marks in Paper II — vocabulary and grammar practice pays off twice
- Paper II now has −0.5 per wrong answer, so guess with care there too
- Practise full 100-question, 1-hour mocks with a 15-minute clock on each section — the clock, not stamina, is the challenge now
Paper I Strategy — 100 Questions, Four Timed Sections
From 2026, Paper I is 100 questions in 60 minutes, and each section has its own 15-minute clock. You cannot carry spare time from GK into Quant. When a section's 15 minutes end, the paper moves you on. That gives 36 seconds a question, and every section is worth the same 25 marks, so none can be written off.
| Section | Time | Target correct |
|---|---|---|
| General Intelligence & Reasoning | 15 min | 21+ |
| General Knowledge | 15 min | 17+ |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 15 min | 18+ |
| English Comprehension | 15 min | 19+ |
GK takes far less than 15 minutes if you know the answers, but the clock does not give the rest to another section. Use the spare minutes to recheck your GK marks. Quant is the tightest: 25 questions in 15 minutes means skipping long calculations at once and coming back if time is left inside the same section.
Practise with the section clocks on. Candidates who only practise without section timing lose marks in Quant and English, where they are used to borrowing time from GK.
Watch outPaper I carries −0.25 against 1 mark, so four wrong answers cancel one correct. Paper II now carries −0.5 against 2 marks, the same ratio. Do not guess blindly in either paper.
Paper I Section by Section
General Knowledge (25Q) — the quickest marks
Pure recall. You know an answer or you do not, so the section often finishes well inside its 15 minutes. NCERT class 6 to 10 covers the bulk — history, polity, geography and general science. Polity deserves particular attention in a police recruitment: fundamental rights, the constitutional framework, and the structure of the judiciary and law enforcement appear more often here than in other SSC papers.
Static GK and current affairs from the last six months round it out. Fifteen minutes a day for the whole preparation period is enough, and it is the best return on time anywhere in the paper.
General Intelligence and Reasoning (25Q) — fast marks
At CPO level this section is standard and gentle: analogy, classification, series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction, syllogism, Venn diagrams, and non-verbal reasoning. Twenty-five questions in its 15 minutes is a realistic target for a prepared candidate, with twenty-one or more correct. Non-verbal is again the part that slows people down and again the part that a focused week largely fixes.
English Comprehension (25Q) — worth preparing twice over
Twenty-five marks in Paper I, and then 200 of the 320 marks in Paper II. No other section in any SSC exam pays off twice like this. Vocabulary — synonyms, antonyms, idioms, one-word substitution, spelling — is the largest component and the most improvable, and every hour you spend on it counts towards both papers.
That double weighting is the strongest argument for making English your priority subject in CPO preparation, and it is consistently underweighted by candidates who think of CPO as a physical exam with a written component attached.
Quantitative Aptitude (25Q) — the tightest clock
Arithmetic dominates — number system, percentage, profit and loss, ratio, average, time and work, speed and distance — with geometry, trigonometry, mensuration and data interpretation appearing steadily. The level sits below SSC CGL Tier II but above MTS, and with only 15 minutes it is the section where the clock bites hardest.
Calculation speed is again the lever. Tables to 25, squares to 30 and fraction-to-percentage conversions turn a substantial share of this section from calculation into recall, which is what makes twenty-five questions in fifteen minutes achievable rather than aspirational.
PET and PST — Start Training Now
The Physical Endurance Test and Physical Standard Test are qualifying, which candidates hear as unimportant. They are qualifying in the sense that a driving licence is qualifying: you cannot proceed without one, and no written score substitutes.
Standards differ between Delhi Police SI and CAPF SI, between male and female candidates, and carry relaxations for specific categories and regions. The exact height, chest and timing requirements are set out in each year's notification and should be read there rather than taken from any summary. What is constant is the shape of what is tested: a timed run, a longer endurance run, long jump, high jump and shot put, alongside measured physical standards.
How to train alongside written preparation
- Start running from week one. Endurance is built over months and cannot be compressed — this is the single most common preparation failure in CPO.
- Train six days a week at moderate volume rather than three days at high intensity. Consistency builds endurance; intensity builds injuries.
- Practise the specific events, not just general fitness. Long jump, high jump and shot put have technique that a runner does not automatically possess.
- Time yourself monthly under test conditions so you know where you actually stand rather than where you assume you do.
- Check the height and chest standards against your own measurements early. If there is a shortfall you cannot train away, you need to know before investing a year.
- Treat sleep and diet as part of training. Both halves of this exam degrade quickly without them.
Pro tipThe morning is the natural slot for physical training and it costs you almost nothing in study time — most candidates study poorly in the first hour after waking anyway. Run first, study after. It also means the training happens before the day can crowd it out.
Paper II — Four Subjects, English the Biggest
From 2026, Paper II has 160 questions for 320 marks, held after PET/PST so only physically qualified candidates sit it. Reasoning, General Knowledge and Quantitative Aptitude have 20 questions each (40 marks each), and English Comprehension has 100 questions (200 marks). Each question carries 2 marks and a wrong answer costs 0.5. Most sites give 2 hours in all: 20 minutes each for the first three sections and 1 hour for English. Check the timing in the official notice.
Until 2025 Paper II was English only with no negative marking, so older advice to attempt every question no longer holds. English is still most of the paper. The English section covers:
- Reading Comprehension — multiple passages, the largest single block
- Error spotting and sentence improvement
- Fill in the blanks, cloze test
- Synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases, one-word substitution
- Spelling, active-passive voice, direct-indirect narration
- Para jumbles and sentence rearrangement
Because 200 of its 320 marks are English, this paper rewards the vocabulary habit more than any other SSC paper. Fifteen words a day from the start of preparation compounds into a real advantage by the time Paper II arrives — and since Paper II comes after the physical stage, you have additional months to build it while other candidates are focused only on getting through PET.
A Six-Month SSC CPO Study Plan
Six months is a realistic runway, and the physical training runs through all six rather than starting somewhere in the middle. If you are not currently running, treat that as the reason to start today rather than as a reason to shorten the written preparation.
Base, both halves
- Running from week one: 3 km easy, five or six days a week, building towards 5 km.
- Arithmetic fundamentals: number system, percentage, ratio, average, profit and loss.
- Daily calculation drill — tables to 25, squares to 30, fraction-to-percentage conversions.
- Fifteen vocabulary words a day. English pays off twice in this exam, so start immediately.
- NCERT class 6 to 10 for history, polity, geography and science.
- Reasoning basics: analogy, classification, series, coding-decoding.
Coverage and event technique
- Add the specific PET events — long jump, high jump, shot put. These have technique that running alone does not build.
- Remaining maths: time and work, speed and distance, geometry, trigonometry, mensuration, DI.
- Non-verbal reasoning and the remaining reasoning topics.
- Grammar rules one at a time; two reading comprehension passages daily.
- Static GK pass, plus fifteen minutes of daily current affairs.
- One full 100-question Paper I mock a week, with the 15-minute section clocks on.
Peak and correction
- Time yourself on the actual test events monthly, under test conditions.
- Two to three Paper I mocks a week, with analysis exceeding attempt time.
- Error log for every wrong answer, naming the cause.
- Push English hard — it is twenty-five marks now and two hundred later.
- Revise six months of current affairs twice.
- Final ten days: taper the running, revise notes, take no new mocks in the last four days.
Five Mistakes That Cost People SSC CPO
- Starting physical training after the Paper I result. Endurance takes months and the gap between stages is not long enough to build it.
- Practising without section clocks. Paper I gives each section exactly 15 minutes, and candidates used to borrowing time from GK run out in Quant.
- Under-preparing English. It is 25 marks in Paper I and 200 of the 320 marks of Paper II — no other section pays off twice like this.
- Following old Paper II advice. Until 2025 it had no negative marking. From 2026 a wrong answer costs 0.5, so blind guessing now loses marks.
- Not checking the height and chest standards against your own measurements early. That is a month-one task, not a discovery to make after a year.
Delhi Police SI or CAPF SI?
You indicate a preference at application, and the two postings differ meaningfully in what the job looks like day to day.
| Delhi Police SI | CAPF SI | |
|---|---|---|
| Posting | Delhi, largely fixed | Across India, transferable |
| Nature of work | Civil policing, investigation | Armed force, law and order, border duties |
| Living | Urban, city posting | Camp and field, often remote |
| Career | Delhi Police hierarchy | Respective CAPF hierarchy |
Delhi Police SI keeps you in one city with civil policing and investigative work. CAPF SI is an armed-force posting with transfers across the country and periods in field or border locations. Neither is objectively better; they suit different people, and it is worth thinking about which life you actually want before ranking preferences.
How to Use Mock Tests for SSC CPO
Paper I is 100 questions in one hour across four sections, each with its own 15-minute clock, and −0.25 per wrong answer. Mocks should train you to work inside each clock.
- Take full one-hour mocks with the section clocks on, not just untimed practice.
- Record section-wise attempts, accuracy and time. Each section has 25 questions worth the same marks, so a weak section is a big hole.
- Note which section runs out of time. For most candidates it is Quant, and the fix is skipping long sums sooner.
- Track how many questions you skip in Quant and why. Long calculations are the usual time trap.
Keep up physical training throughout. A strong Paper I score does not help if you cannot clear the PET.
The Last 30 Days Before Paper I
- Weeks 1–2: two to three full mocks a week, each with full analysis.
- Week 3: sectional practice on weak topics, daily current affairs, and continued running and fitness training.
- Week 4: no new topics. Revise formulas, GK notes and vocabulary. One light mock mid-week.
- Final two days: rest, and keep training light so you are fresh.
Pro tipDo not stop physical training to study more in the last month. The PET follows Paper I closely, and fitness lost in a month takes longer than a month to regain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I clear SSC CPO without physical training?
Realistically, no. PET and PST are conducted seriously, and candidates with strong written scores are eliminated at this stage every year. Endurance takes months to build. Training has to run alongside written preparation from the beginning, not after the Paper I result.
Does Paper II have negative marking?
Yes, from 2026. Each Paper II question carries 2 marks and a wrong answer costs 0.5. Paper I carries −0.25 against 1 mark. Until 2025 Paper II had no negative marking, so older guides that say to attempt everything are out of date.
Are the physical standards the same for everyone?
No. They differ between Delhi Police and CAPF, between male and female candidates, and carry relaxations for certain categories and hill-region candidates. The exact figures are in each year's notification and should be checked there — measure yourself against them early rather than assuming.
Is SSC CPO harder than SSC CGL?
The written paper is comparable or slightly gentler than CGL Tier I. What makes CPO harder overall is the physical stage, which eliminates a great many otherwise-capable candidates, and the fact that preparation has to be split across two very different kinds of training. For a candidate who is already fit, CPO can be the more accessible route.
How long should I prepare?
Five to six months is reasonable for the written stages if you are starting from a normal base, and the physical training should run for the whole of that period rather than a portion of it. If you are currently not running at all, treat six months as the floor rather than the target.
What is the negative marking in SSC CPO Paper I?
Each wrong answer costs 0.25 marks against 1 mark for a correct answer. From 2026, Paper I has 100 questions in one hour across four sections of 15 minutes each.
Is the PET for SSC CPO difficult?
It requires regular training rather than special ability. Candidates who start running and fitness work early, alongside written preparation, usually clear it. Those who start after the Paper I result often struggle.
Should I prepare for Paper II along with Paper I?
Yes. Paper II covers the same four subjects, and English is 200 of its 320 marks, so good preparation for Paper I builds most of what you need. Keep reading and practising grammar and comprehension throughout, rather than starting Paper II from scratch after Paper I.
Where to Start This Week
Two halves, and only one of them tolerates a late start. Begin the physical training now and let the written preparation build around it.
- Run 3 km this week, five or six days, at an easy pace. Do not time yourself yet — establish the habit before chasing the standard.
- Measure yourself against the height and chest standards in the current notification. A shortfall you cannot train away is worth knowing in week one.
- Start fifteen vocabulary words a day immediately. English is 25 marks in Paper I and 200 of the 320 marks of Paper II — the highest-leverage subject in the exam.
- Take one full one-hour Paper I mock with the 15-minute section clocks on, and note which section runs out of time.
- Decide between Delhi Police and CAPF with the actual posting realities in mind, not the job titles.
The candidates who clear SSC CPO are rarely the ones who scored highest in Paper I. They are the ones who were running in month one and still studying in month six. If you can only start one of the two halves this week, start the running — it is the half with the hard floor.