SSC Stenographer Skill Test: Check Guidelines and Skill Test Pattern

What is SSC Stenography Skill Test?

The most crucial aspect of being a stenographer through the SSC Stenographer exam is to understand shorthand and to have a decent typewriter typing speed of at least 30-40 words per minute. This kind of speed is essential since they must listen to the dialogue and then swiftly transcribe it into written form.

According to the SSC Stenographer skill test, candidates must complete one dictation for 10 minutes in either Hindi or English at a speed of 100 words per minute or 80 words per minute. For the post of Stenographer Grade D, the typing speed should be of 80 words per minute (w.p.m.) and 100 w.p.m. for the post of Stenographer Grade C. The transcription of dictated passages will be allowed on computers only. If the candidates pass the exam, they will be assigned to Grade C and Grade D positions, respectively.

SSC Stenographer Skill Test First stage

Candidates are required to write down the Speech. Someone will read the written text at the speed of 100 words per minute (w.p.m) for Hindi/English for 10 minutes, i.e. he will speak 1000 words in 10 minutes, you have to carefully listen to the words and you need to write it in your notebook. If you write in the normal way, you may not be able to write it with the speed that is required. To write the speech in a fast way you need to use the technique called “SHORTHAND”.

Nobody except you is going to read the note written by you. The text that you have written in your notebook from listening is going to be used in the second stage of the Skill test.

SSC Stenographer Skill Test Second stage

In the second stage of the test, you need to type the text that you have written in your notebook within the time given below:

For Stenographer Grade - C:

• 40 minutes (English)
• 55 Minutes (Hindi)

For Stenographer Grade - D:

• 50 minutes (English)
• 65 minutes (Hindi)

Admissible %age of Mistake in Steno Test

• Normally 5% for UR and 7% for others
• Relaxable to 7% for UR and 10% for others if adequate candidates are not available

Time Gap Between SSC Stenographer Written and Skill Test 

Usually, the time gap between SSC Stenographer written exam and Skill Test is 8-10 months as per the previous year trends. You can check out the timeline of the events that took place in SSC Stenographer Selection process.

Evaluation of Skill Test for the SSC Stenographer Exam

To evaluate the SSC Stenographer skill test, SSC has categorized the mistakes into two categories namely full mistakes and half mistakes. In addition to that, SSC determines the mistake percentage by using a specific formula. Candidates can check out the official SSC notification PDF link given below related to the scheme of evaluation of Skill Test for the SSC Stenographer exam

SSC Stenographer Skill Test Evaluation Official Notification PDF Link

Mistakes Allowed in SSC Stenographer Skill Test

There are two categories of Transcription mistakes decided by SSC-

The following will be considered as full mistakes:

• Every omission of a word or figure includes the omission of a definite or indefinite article.
• Every substitution of a wrong word or figure.
• Every addition of a word or figure or a group of words/figures including the addition of a definite article not occur in the passage.
• Handwritten additions/corrections/insertions.

The following will be considered as half mistakes:

• Mis‐spelling, including transposition of letters in a word and also the omission of a letter or letters from a word.
• Using singular for plural noun and vice versa.
• Transposition of words/group of words in a sentence.
• Repeating a word/figure or a group of words or group of figures in the transcript.
• Wrong use of capital letters at the beginning of the sentence.
• Omission or placement of the apostrophe in a word in the possessive case, or in contracted words.
• Insertion of a space in the middle of a word.
• Lack of space between words.
• Wrong syllabification of a word at the end of the line.
• Ambiguous overtyping.
• Complete and ambiguous overlapping.
• Omission or wrong placement of the caret sign.
• Arbitrary and unfamiliar abbreviations.
• More than one error in a single word.

 More than one error in a single word: All the errors are counted but the total mistakes counted in a single word should not exceed one full mistake.

SSC Stenographer Skill Test Details

SSC Stenographer Skill Test is of qualifying nature and is conducted in both English and Hindi medium. If a candidate does not indicate the medium of stenography test in the relevant column of the application form, the commission will consider ENGLISH as the medium of stenography test for such candidates and the candidates will not be allowed to change the medium at a subsequent stage. Candidates who opt to take the Stenography Test in Hindi will be required to learn English Stenography and vice versa after their appointment.

It is important to mention here that there is no exemption from skill tests for steno for any category of candidates. There is also relaxation in the timings for the VH Candidates. VH candidates will be required to transcribe the matter in 75 minutes for English Shorthand or in 100 minutes for Hindi Shorthand for the post of Stenographer Grade ‘D’ and in 70 minutes for English Shorthand test and in 95 minutes for Hindi Shorthand Test for the post of Stenographer Grade ‘C’.

Important Guidelines for SSC Stenographer Skill Test

Following are some of the important guidelines for the SSC Stenographer Skill Test that should be given attention before appearing for the exam. 

(a) The typed text printout will not be taken following the Stenography Skill Test (Transcription).
(b) Candidates for English Transcription (Typing) should choose English (US) as their Keyboard Layout.
(c) Candidates for Hindi Transcription (Typing) should select Hindi Inscript / Hindi Krutidev / Hindi Remington CBI / Hindi Remington GAIL as their Keyboard Layout.
(d) VH applicants who bring their BRAILLE Typewriter will be assigned a separate seat to prevent disturbing other candidates.
(e) The Commission will supply the computer, keyboard, and shorthand notebook for the exam; no applicants will be permitted to bring their own keyboard.
(f) For the test, candidates must bring their own pen/pencil/sharpener/eraser.
(g) Compensatory Time for qualified candidates will be permitted solely during Transcription (Typing); no compensatory Time will be permitted during Shorthand Dictation.

SSC Stenographer Skill Test Sample

To get an understanding of the exam pattern of SSC Stenographer Skill Test, the staff selection commission has already provided the demo test to help users get acquainted with the nitty-gritty. You can check the Demo link for the SSC Stenography Test given below. It is also available under the "Candidate's Corner".

Demo Link for Stenography Test

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