SSC does not publish a cut-off in advance. It publishes cut-offs when results are declared. The newest notified cycle is the 2026 examination, whose Computer Based Examination (CBE) was held in September 2026, but its result is not out as of 13 November 2026. This page therefore reproduces the official figures from the last completed cycle (Stenographer 2025) and the 2026 vacancy figures, then explains how to use them. Every number is from an SSC notice linked in the sources. Nothing is estimated. Percentages, sums and ranges are our arithmetic and are marked.
CBE cut-off, Stenographer 2025 (shortlisting for the skill test)
The 2025 CBE was held on 6, 7, 8 and 11 August 2025. The result was declared on 28 November 2025. Marks were normalised because the exam ran in several shifts. All figures are out of 200. SSC fixed separate category-wise cut-offs for Grade C and Grade D.
List I: qualified for the Grade C skill test
| Category | Cut-off marks | Candidates available |
|---|---|---|
| UR | 142.42577 | 2,187 |
| OBC | 141.77465 | 2,620 |
| EWS | 137.83071 | 1,468 |
| SC | 135.44087 | 1,219 |
| ST | 120.37748 | 766 |
| PwD: OH | 119.93641 | 108 |
| PwD: VH | 95.27935 | 156 |
| PwD: HH | 73.62062 | 100 |
| Total shortlisted | 8,624 |
List II: qualified for the Grade D skill test
| Category | Cut-off marks | Candidates available |
|---|---|---|
| UR | 132.30789 | 4,299 |
| OBC | 129.22305 | 7,368 |
| EWS | 125.13310 | 3,434 |
| SC | 117.77426 | 4,398 |
| ST | 105.75225 | 1,740 |
| PwD: OH | 107.44537 | 242 |
| PwD: VH | 80.23427 | 234 |
| PwD: Others | 51.94828 | 120 |
| ESM | 40.27012 | 418 |
| PwD: HH | 40.20009 | 203 |
| Total shortlisted | 22,456 |
The write-up adds that, beyond the UR numbers shown, reserved-category candidates who qualified at the UR cut-off are counted under their own categories (for Grade D: 1,141 SC, 159 ST, 4,890 OBC, 2,221 EWS and smaller numbers of others).
Minimum qualifying marks (a floor under the cut-off, per the notice): UR 30%, OBC and EWS 25%, all others 20%. On 200 marks that is 60, 50 and 40. The UR cut-offs were about 71% of 200 for Grade C and about 66% for Grade D (arithmetic).
From shortlist to selection: what happened after the CBE
The numbers in SSC's allocation notices show how sharply the field narrows at the skill test.
| Step, 2025 cycle | Grade C | Grade D |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified in the CBE for the skill test | 8,624 | 22,456 |
| Appeared in the skill test | 4,907 | 12,564 |
| Final vacancies (as on 21 April 2026) | 232 | 1,483 |
| Recommended in the final result (25 August 2026) | 232 | 1,483 |
- Only about 57% of those shortlisted for Grade C and 56% for Grade D appeared in the skill test (arithmetic).
- 10,132 candidates submitted post preferences and were considered for allocation.
- SSC fixed the skill-test standard as a limit on mistakes: Grade C up to 5% for UR and 7% for all reserved categories; Grade D up to 7% for UR and 10% for all reserved categories.
- The first allocation list, declared on 18 June 2026 with 228 Grade C and 1,483 Grade D candidates, was withheld the next day after representations about the evaluation of the skill test. SSC reviewed it and declared a revised list on 31 July 2026.
- After the sliding and identity-verification round on 11 and 12 August 2026, the final result of 25 August 2026 shortlisted 1,715 candidates: 1,055 who chose Fix, 549 who chose Float and 111 new allocations against absentees.
Last-selected marks, Stenographer 2025 final result
Merit is the normalised CBE total out of 200. The skill test only qualifies. The final-result notice lists the last selected candidate for every department and category. The UR rows for the departments with the most UR vacancies follow.
Stenographer Grade C
| Post code and department | UR vacancies | Last selected: total (of 200) | Part III English (of 100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C2 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) | 38 | 148.25194 | 85.00 |
| C6 Armed Forces Headquarters | 31 | 154.44490 | 80.50 |
| C3 Ministry of External Affairs | 23 | 160.70462 | 80.00 |
| C8 Ministry of Labour and Employment | 13 | 147.00886 | 80.25 |
| C4 Intelligence Bureau (English medium) | 5 | 153.16624 | 76.25 |
| C1 Central Administrative Tribunal | 4 | 152.50843 | 88.75 |
Stenographer Grade D
| Post code and department | UR vacancies | Last selected: total (of 200) | Part III English (of 100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| D48 Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) | 217 | 146.30351 | 71.75 |
| D41 Armed Forces Headquarters | 80 | 149.22739 | 83.75 |
| D31 Department of Personnel and Training | 77 | 152.35618 | 80.50 |
| D33 Employees' Provident Fund Organisation | 71 | 145.91859 | 71.25 |
| D53 DRDO (CEPTAM) | 64 | 145.06185 | 83.00 |
| D13 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) | 33 | 145.79421 | 78.75 |
| D32 Border Roads Organisation | 30 | 144.10761 | 82.50 |
| D52 Controller General of Defence Accounts | 23 | 147.33856 | 79.00 |
| D46 Ministry of Labour and Employment | 15 | 145.54605 | 69.00 |
| D16 Ministry of External Affairs | 13 | 162.02499 | 85.00 |
Things to read from these tables:
- The selection line sits well above the shortlisting line. For Grade D the UR shortlisting cut-off was 132.31, but across the ten departments with 10 or more UR vacancies the last-selected UR marks ran from 144.11 to 162.02 (arithmetic from the final-result table). For Grade C the shortlisting cut-off was 142.43 and the last-selected UR marks ran from 147.01 to 161.01 across all departments.
- Department matters. In Grade D, the Ministry of External Affairs closed about 16 marks above CBDT for UR candidates (arithmetic). Preferences decide where you land once you are above the line.
- Category gaps on one post. For CBDT Grade D (D48) the last-selected totals were UR 146.30351, OBC 144.47419, EWS 143.72059, SC 141.38563, ST 128.13702, OH 127.89568 and VH 127.20798.
- Some reserved vacancies went unfilled. In CBDT Grade D only 3 of 44 ESM vacancies were filled; across Grade D, 6 candidates were recommended against 106 ESM vacancies.
The full department-wise, category-wise table is in the official final-result notice.
Vacancies
- Stenographer 2026: the notice of 24 April 2026 says approximately 731. SSC's tentative list as on 4 June 2026 shows Grade D 1,021 (UR 468, OBC 233, SC 133, EWS 109, ST 78; with ESM 82, OH 15, HH 15, VH 10 and other PwD 11 counted within) and Grade C 149 (UR 91, OBC 24, SC 20, EWS 11, ST 3). That is 1,170 in all (arithmetic). The largest Grade D lines are CBDT (249), the Department of Personnel and Training (118) and the Department of Telecommunications (103); the largest Grade C line is the Intelligence Bureau (46).
- Stenographer 2025: the notice of 6 June 2025 said approximately 261. SSC's final list as on 21 April 2026 shows 1,715: Grade C 232 (UR 119, OBC 50, EWS 27, SC 22, ST 14) and Grade D 1,483 (UR 711, OBC 350, SC 190, EWS 146, ST 86).
The 2025 figure grew more than six-fold between the notice and the final list (arithmetic). The 2026 tentative list is already above its notice figure and may change again. Vacancies move the selection line, so treat last year's marks as a reference, not a forecast.
How to use these numbers
- Aim at the selection line, not the shortlisting line. Clearing the CBE cut-off only earns a skill-test call. In 2025 the last-selected UR marks for Grade D began about 12 marks above the UR shortlisting cut-off (arithmetic).
- Convert it to a mock target with a buffer. The lowest last-selected UR mark for a large Grade D department was 144.11 out of 200, about 72% (arithmetic). These are normalised marks from one year, so use them as a reference point.
- Work out your category's number. For Grade D the UR and SC shortlisting cut-offs were about 14.5 marks apart, and UR and ST about 26.6 (arithmetic).
- Treat the skill test as the real filter. More than four in ten shortlisted candidates did not even appear for it in 2025. A candidate who can transcribe within the error limit competes in a much smaller field.
- Check your percentile, not just your score. On Pareeksha everyone in a cohort sits the same fixed paper, so your percentile is a like-for-like comparison. See how fixed-paper percentile works.
- Fill preferences widely. You are not considered for a department you did not choose. See exam pattern.
What this page does not have
- Any 2026 cut-off. The 2026 CBE result was not on the SSC notice board as of 13 November 2026.
- Earlier years (2024 and before). We only publish figures we have read from an SSC notice in this check, and we did not open the older write-ups.
- Every department's category-wise last-selected marks. They are in the official final-result notice; we have shown a selection.
- How many candidates passed the skill test. SSC's notices give the number who appeared and the number allocated, not a pass count.
- A final vacancy list for 2026. The figures above are tentative as on 4 June 2026.
Related: Syllabus · Exam pattern · Preparation strategy