SSC JE exam pattern 2026
Paper I: 200 questions, 200 marks, 2 hours, 0.25 negative mark, and from 2026 it only qualifies. Paper II: 100 questions of 3 marks each (300 marks) in 2 hours, minus 1 for a wrong answer. The final merit list uses Paper II marks alone.
SSC JE (Junior Engineer) exam pattern
Questions, marks, time and negative marking for each stage.
Marks by section
200 marks in all
- General Intelligence & Reasoning 50
- General Awareness 50
- Part A/B/C — Technical (Civil / Elec / Mech) 100
Time each section gets
At an even 36 seconds a question
120 minutes for 200 questions. A question you get stuck on takes time from the rest of the paper.
Paper I (CBT) at a glance
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Intelligence & Reasoning | 50 | 50 |
| General Awareness | 50 | 50 |
| Part A/B/C — Technical (Civil / Elec / Mech) | 100 | 100 |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
Paper II (Technical, MCQ) at a glance
Negative marking: 3 marks for a correct answer, −1 for a wrong one. Paper II is a 2-hour CBT on your own discipline only (Civil / Electrical / Mechanical). 100 questions of 3 marks each. Final merit is built on Paper II alone; Paper I only qualifies. Date: tentatively December 2026.
How selection works
- Paper I — CBT (200Q, 2 hrs, qualifying)
- Paper II — CBT (100 MCQ, 300 marks)
- Document Verification
SSC JE (Junior Engineer): questions people ask
What is the SSC JE exam pattern?
Paper I: 200 objective questions (50 Reasoning + 50 GK + 100 Technical) in 2 hours, −0.25 per wrong. Paper II: 100 questions of 3 marks each (300 marks) on your technical subject in 2 hours, −1 per wrong. Paper I only qualifies; final merit is from Paper II.
What are the minimum qualifying marks in SSC JE Paper I?
30% for UR (60 of 200), 25% for OBC and EWS (50) and 20% for other categories (40). Only the minimum is not enough: SSC calls candidates to Paper II by merit, and the 2025 UR cut-off was about 127.
Sit a full SSC JE (Junior Engineer) mock this week
The real pattern on the real clock. Your result shows the sections to fix before the exam.