SSC CPO 2026: Applications Closed, Paper-I in November

SSC CPO 2026: applications and corrections are both closed — Paper-I is the live stage

The Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces Examination, 2026 — better known as SSC CPO — is the Staff Selection Commission's route into officer-level posts in Delhi Police and the CAPFs. For this cycle SSC advertised 1,871 tentative vacancies: Sub-Inspector (Executive) in Delhi Police, Sub-Inspector (GD) in the CAPFs — BSF, CISF, CRPF, ITBP and SSB — and Sub-Inspector (Fire) in CISF. Selected candidates are placed in Pay Level 6 of the 7th CPC Pay Matrix, ₹35,400 to ₹1,12,400, with the usual central-government allowances.

The vacancy total breaks down by post — not by individual force — as follows, and this is the split that reconciles with the advertised total:

The application timeline for 2026 has fully run its course. SSC opened the online form on 10 September 2026 and closed it on 30 September 2026 at 11 PM; fee payment remained open till 1 October 2026 at 11 PM; and the application correction window ran 8–10 October 2026 and is now also closed. As of this update (20 October 2026) there is no live form stage left: no fresh application, no correction, no late fee. Paper-I, the Computer-Based Examination, is proposed for 20–28 November 2026 as per the revised SSC schedule, though that window stays provisional until SSC publishes city intimation and admit cards. What you do in the next four weeks — Paper-I preparation and physical conditioning in parallel — decides this selection, because the physical stage follows Paper-I closely.

Who could apply: eligibility under this notification

The notification covers three categories of posts with materially different conditions. For Sub-Inspector (GD) in CAPFs and Sub-Inspector (Executive) in Delhi Police, the educational requirement is a bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised university or equivalent. Male candidates applying for Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police additionally need a valid driving licence for LMV (motorcycle and car) on the date fixed for the physical tests — a condition that is checked at the physical stage and eliminates otherwise-qualified candidates every cycle. For Sub-Inspector (Fire) in CISF, the requirement is narrower: a bachelor's degree in Science with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, or matriculation plus a three-year diploma in a specified engineering branch (Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Automobiles, Chemical, Mining, Aeronautical or Telecommunication).

The age limits differ by post. For SI in Delhi Police and SI (GD) in CAPFs, it is 20 to 25 years as on 1 August 2026; for SI (Fire) in CISF, it is 18 to 30 years as on the same date. Upper-age relaxation follows the usual central-government rules — SC/ST get 5 years, OBC 3 years, and Ex-Servicemen 3 years, with PwBD relaxations as per rules.

The application fee was ₹100 for General, OBC and EWS male candidates; women, SC, ST, PwBD and Ex-Servicemen candidates were exempt. Candidates needed completed One-Time Registration on ssc.gov.in, force and post preferences filled, photograph and signature uploaded to SSC's specifications, and the fee paid online.

The selection chain, and the physical standards in full

CPO is a multi-stage examination and every stage is mandatory: Paper-I (CBE) → Physical Standard Test and Physical Endurance Test (PST/PET) → Paper-II (CBE, English Language & Comprehension) → Detailed Medical Examination (DME), with a Review Medical Examination available, and Document Verification. The physical stage is qualifying — it carries no marks — but it is where the largest number of Paper-I qualifiers fall, so its standards deserve to be read as numbers, not as a formality.

Physical Standard Test (height and chest):

Weight must correspond to height. Physical Endurance Test:

Read the men's long-race standard as a training target: 1.6 km in 6.5 minutes is a sustained pace most desk-prepared candidates cannot hit without four to six weeks of specific running work — which is why physical training cannot wait for the Paper-I result.

On Paper-I itself, the long-standing and most widely reported pattern is 200 objective questions for 200 marks in two hours — 50 questions each from General Intelligence & Reasoning, General Knowledge & Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude and English Comprehension — with the marks from Paper-I and Paper-II together deciding final merit, subject to qualifying the physical and medical stages. Because current sources disagree on whether the 2026 notification changed parts of this scheme (see Flags), treat the table in the notification PDF — not any summary, including this one — as the authority, and check it before your final month of preparation.

What to do right now

If you applied: first, confirm your payment status and final submitted form in your SSC candidate login — an application without confirmed payment is not a valid application, and with the correction window closed there is no route left to repair a defective form. Then run Paper-I preparation and physical training together, on a weekly split that protects both: the proposed Paper-I window opens 20 November, and PET follows for qualifiers. Watch ssc.gov.in and your regional SSC website for the exam-city intimation, which typically precedes the admit card; your individual date, shift and reporting time come on the admit card, not in any general notice.

Documents to keep ready now: degree certificate or final-year proof, category certificate matching exactly what you claimed in the form, driving licence (male Delhi Police candidates), NCC certificates if claimed, domicile certificate where applicable, and the final submitted application and payment receipt.

Common mistakes at this stage: assuming the correction window can still be used (it closed 10 October); training only for Paper-I and meeting the 1.6 km standard for the first time at PET; carrying a driving licence that was not valid on the physical-test date (Delhi Police male candidates); and preparing to a marks scheme read on a coaching page rather than in the notification. The first three are unfixable after the fact. The fourth takes ten minutes to fix today.

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