What SSC Releases After Tier 1
SSC publishes two different things once the Tier 1 window is over, and aspirants often confuse them. The response sheet is your own paper — every question as it appeared in your shift, along with the option you actually marked. The tentative answer key is SSC’s list of correct answers. You need both together to work out your score, and they are usually released at the same time on ssc.gov.in through a candidate login.
When Does It Come Out?
As of 1 September 2026, SSC has not announced the answer key date for this CGL cycle. Historically the key and response sheets appear a few weeks after the last Tier 1 shift, and the objection window stays open for a short fixed period after that — often only about a week. There is no way to know the exact date in advance, so the practical approach is to check the Answer Key tab on ssc.gov.in periodically once your exam window closes, rather than trusting forwarded messages about release dates.
How to Download Your Response Sheet
The process runs through the same login you used for the admit card:
- 1Go to ssc.gov.in and open the Answer Key tab on the homepage.
- 2Find the link for the Combined Graduate Level Examination 2026 Tier 1.
- 3Log in with your Registration ID / Roll Number and password or date of birth.
- 4Your response sheet opens shift-wise — it shows each question, the options, and the answer you marked.
- 5Download or print the PDF immediately. Access closes when the objection window ends, and you cannot retrieve it afterwards.
Calculate Your Tier 1 Score Correctly
SSC CGL Tier 1 is 100 questions for 200 marks, which means every correct answer is worth 2 marks, and 0.50 marks are deducted for every wrong answer. Unattempted questions cost you nothing. So the formula is: (correct × 2) − (wrong × 0.50). A candidate with 70 correct and 20 wrong scores 140 − 10 = 130. The most common mistake is forgetting the negative marking entirely and celebrating a score that is several marks higher than the real one.
Marking Scheme at a Glance
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 100 |
| Total marks | 200 |
| Marks per correct answer | +2 |
| Penalty per wrong answer | −0.50 |
| Unattempted question | No penalty |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
How to Raise an Objection
If you believe a key answer is wrong, SSC lets you challenge it during the objection window — from the same login, against a per-question fee that is refunded if your challenge is upheld. Two things decide whether it is worth doing. First, submit proof: a citation from a standard textbook or an official source carries weight, an argument does not. Second, be realistic about scale — challenges succeed often enough to matter when a question is genuinely defective, but a borderline interpretation rarely wins. If a question is dropped or the key is revised, the correction applies to every candidate, not only those who objected.
What the Answer Key Does Not Tell You
Your calculated score is a raw score. Because Tier 1 runs across multiple shifts of differing difficulty, SSC normalises scores before deciding who clears — so the number you compute is not the number that gets compared against the cutoff. Treat your raw score as a rough band, not a verdict, and do not make decisions on the assumption that it is final.
The Best Use of This Week
Once you have scored yourself, the answer key has done its job. If your score puts you anywhere near contention, the highest-value thing you can do is start Tier 2 preparation now rather than waiting for the result — Tier 2 is a harder, longer paper with a different marking scheme, and the candidates who clear it are usually the ones who did not spend the gap refreshing a results page.