Staff Selection Commission Junior Engineer Examination 2026 Syllabus

SSC JE 2026 Exam Overview

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) conducts the Junior Engineer Examination 2026 for Junior Engineer (Civil), Junior Engineer (Electrical & Mechanical), Junior Engineer (Telecom) and Scientific Assistant (IMD). The notification is dated 02.09.2026 and lists 1,748 tentative vacancies. The notification is the place to check how often the exam is held. The exam matters because it leads to technical posts in central government departments.

Selection has four stages: Paper-I (CBE), Paper-II (CBE), Document Verification and Medical Examination. Both papers are objective multiple-choice tests in Hindi and English.

SSC JE 2026 Exam Pattern

Paper-I totals 200 questions for 200 marks and is qualifying. Shortlisting for Paper-II uses normalized, category-wise marks. Final merit is decided only by the normalized Paper-II score. The stream you opt for in the application cannot be changed later.

The minimum qualifying marks in both papers are 30% for UR, 25% for OBC/EWS and 20% for all other categories. Civil, Mechanical and Electrical questions are set at approximately Diploma level. Computer Science & IT, Electronics & Telecommunication, Physics and Telecommunication questions are set at approximately graduation level. IS 456:2000, the Steam Table and a Scientific Calculator are provided on-screen where required.

Subject-wise Syllabus

General Intelligence & Reasoning (Paper-I)

• Analogies, similarities and differences
• Space visualization, problem-solving, analysis and judgment
• Decision-making, visual memory, discrimination and observation
• Relationship concepts and arithmetical reasoning
• Verbal and figure classification
• Arithmetical number series
• Abstract ideas, symbols and their relationships

General Awareness (Paper-I)

• Current events and everyday scientific observations
• History and Culture
• Geography
• Economic Scene
• General Polity
• Scientific research, with questions relating to India and its neighbouring countries

No special study of any discipline is required.

General Engineering (Paper-I and Paper-II)

Paper-I covers the same broad areas as Paper-II for your stream at a foundational level. Paper-II tests the full stream syllabus.

• Civil & Structural: Engineering Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Structural Analysis, Construction Materials and Management, Estimating/Costing/Valuation, Concrete Structures, Steel Structures, Surveying and Soil Mechanics. Check the notification PDF for the remaining topics.
• Electrical and Mechanical: The full topic lists are in the official notification PDF. Read them there before you plan your study.
• Computer Science & IT: Digital Logic, Computer Organization and Architecture, Programming and Data Structures, Algorithms, Theory of Computation, Compiler Design, Operating System, Databases and Computer Networks.
• Electronics & Telecommunication: Electronic Materials & Components, Diodes, Transistors, Amplifiers & Oscillators, Voltage Regulation, Network Theorems, AC Circuits, Three-Phase Circuits, Resonance, Digital Electronics, Sequential & Combinational Logic, Data Conversion & Codes. The telecommunications section covers Antennas, Radio Wave Propagation, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Modulation (AM, SSB, FM, Pulse), Multiplexing, Digital Communication basics and RF/Wireless Communications.
• Physics: Mathematical Methods, Mechanics, General Properties of Matter and further topics listed in the notification.

The notification does not give topic-wise weightage for any stream, so no weightage is quoted here.

How Cut-offs Are Decided

No verified cut-off is listed for this exam, so none is quoted here. The minimum qualifying percentages above are eligibility thresholds, not selection cut-offs. The real cut-off moves with these factors:

• Number of vacancies in each category and stream
• Difficulty of the paper, which normalization adjusts across shifts
• Number of candidates who appear
• Category relaxation

For actual figures, read the official score card or the result PDF on ssc.gov.in after the result is declared.

Recommended Books

• Reasoning: A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal
• General Awareness: Lucent's General Knowledge; Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
• Civil: Surveying by B.C. Punmia; Strength of Materials by R.K. Bansal
• Electrical: A Textbook of Electrical Technology by B.L. Theraja
• Mechanical: Theory of Machines by S.S. Rattan
• Computer Science & IT: Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne; Computer Networks by Andrew Tanenbaum
• Electronics: Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory by Boylestad and Nashelsky
• Physics: Concepts of Physics by H.C. Verma

Preparation Strategy

Plan for about five to six months if you start from scratch, and study three to four hours on weekdays and more on weekends. This is a suggested plan, not an SSC rule. Start with Reasoning and General Awareness early, since together they carry 100 of the 200 Paper-I marks. Build your stream preparation first, because Paper-II carries 300 marks and decides final merit.

• Months 1 to 3: finish the stream syllabus and basic Reasoning.
• Months 4 and 5: revise, solve previous papers and take one sectional test each week.
• Final month: take full-length mocks on the CBE interface, two or three each week, and review every error.

Practise with the on-screen calculator and learn the IS 456:2000 and Steam Table formats beforehand.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Ignoring Paper-I as only qualifying: You must clear the minimum marks in both papers and rank well to reach Paper-II.
• Guessing in Paper-II: One mark is deducted per wrong answer, four times the Paper-I penalty. Attempt only questions you are reasonably sure of.
• Skipping the notification: Read the stream topics in the official PDF, especially for Electrical and Mechanical.
• Relying on weightage guesses: The notification gives none, so cover the whole syllabus.
• Not practising on screen: Take mocks in the CBE format.