SSC ASO Recruitment 2026 Notification Out - Apply Online for 341 Assistant Section Officer / Assistant Posts

This is a Limited Departmental Competitive Examination open only to in-service government employees of the participating cadres. The SSC ASO Bharti 2026 is conducted to add candidates to the Select List for the grade of Assistant Section Officer / Assistant, a Group B Non-Gazetted post at Pay Level-7. The notification reference number is No. 4/2/2026-CONF-5, published on 25 June 2026.

Candidates appearing in the SSC Assistant Section Officer Exam 2025 must strictly observe the schedule below. The online application window is open for just over three weeks, and hard copies forwarded through the department have a separate deadline. Missing any of these dates will result in rejection of candidature. The last date to submit the SSC ASO online application is 16 July 2026 . After submitting online, candidates must also send the printed application along with required documents through their Head of Department / Head of Office to SSC Northern Region, New Delhi, so as to reach by 23 July 2026 .

The SSC ASO vacancy 2026 is distributed across two cadres - Central Secretariat Service under DoPT and the Ministry of External Affairs Cadre Cell. The CSS cadre carries category-wise reservation including 19 seats reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD). MEA vacancies are all under the Unreserved category with no PwBD reservation reported. *PwBD breakup for CSS: 6 seats for VH (Visually Handicapped), 4 for OH (Orthopedically Handicapped), 4 for HH (Hearing Handicapped), and 5 for Others.

The SSC ASO Limited Departmental Exam 2025 is not open to the general public. Only serving government officials of the specific feeder cadres are eligible. The crucial date for counting approved service is 1 July 2025 for both cadres. Candidates must ensure they meet the exact conditions as specified below before applying. Any officer in the Upper Division Grade of the Central Secretariat Clerical Service who, as on 01 July 2025 , has rendered not less than six years' approved service in that grade is eligible to appear. Officers in the Upper Division Clerk Grade of the MEA Service who, as on 01 July 2025 , have (a) successfully completed such mandatory training programme(s) as prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs and (b) rendered not less than six years' approved service in the grade are eligible. A candidate who resigns, quits service, or whose services are terminated after a

The SSC Assistant Section Officer Exam 2026 is conducted in two parts. Part-I is a Computer Based Examination (CBE) carrying 300 marks, and Part-II involves Evaluation of Service Records (APARs) carrying 100 marks. The final merit is prepared on the combined aggregate of both parts. There is no separate qualifying exam - this is a competitive examination. There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks (25%) for each wrong answer in both Paper-I and Paper-II. Candidates must attempt the examination only in the language (English or Hindi) opted in the application form. There will be no question paper in Braille. One hundred marks are reserved for evaluation of Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs). Candidates shortlisted based on their Part-I aggregate performance will proceed to Part-II. Marks from Part-II will be added to determine the final rank. Once APARs have been evaluated, no req

The SSC ASO selection process 2026 is a two-stage merit-based system. Candidates must clear the Computer Based Examination before their service records are evaluated. Final selection is strictly based on combined merit - no candidate has a right to selection merely by passing the exam. Stage 1 – Computer Based Examination (Part-I): Paper-I and Paper-II, each of 150 marks. The Commission may fix minimum qualifying marks individually for each paper. Stage 2 – APAR Evaluation (Part-II): Only candidates who qualify Part-I are eligible. Service records (APARs) are evaluated for 100 marks. Final Merit: Aggregate of Part-I (300 marks) + Part-II (100 marks) = 400 marks total. Names of finally selected candidates will be arranged in order of merit separately for each cadre. In case of equal aggregate marks, ties are resolved in the following order: (i) Marks in Paper-I, (ii) Marks in Paper-II, (i

Candidates wondering about the salary for Assistant Section Officer will be pleased to know that this is a Group B Non-Gazetted post. The SSC ASO pay scale is at Pay Level-7 in the 7th Pay Commission Pay Matrix , with a pay range of Rs. 44,900 to Rs. 1,42,400 per month . Additional allowances such as HRA, DA, and TA apply as per government rules. Calculate your exact in-hand Salary in 10 seconds - Calculate Now

PwBD candidates in the category of Blindness and Cerebral Palsy are eligible for scribe / assistive technology support. Candidates with other benchmark disabilities may also avail scribe support on producing a certificate from a Government health institution (as per Annexure-II). A compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour of examination is provided to all eligible scribe candidates, including those who choose not to avail the scribe facility.

Candidates must upload the following documents with the online application and also include self-attested photocopies with the printed hard copy forwarded by the department. Original documents should not be submitted.