UPSC conducts a Combined Limited Departmental (CLD) Competitive Examination for additions in the Select Lists for the Section Officers’ Grade and Stenographers’ Grade B/Grade ‘1’ of the Services mentioned in the categories mentioned below.
UPSC Calendar has declared that applications for SO/Steno will be begin on 18th September 2019 and the last date to apply is 10th October 2019. The exam is scheduled for 14th and 15th of December 2019.
Category I |
Section Officers’ Grade of the Central Secretariat Service |
Category II |
Sections Officers’ Grade (Integrated Grade II & III) of the General Cadre of the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’ |
Category III |
Section Officers’ Grade of the Railway Board Secretariat Service |
Category IV |
Private Secretary Grade of the Central Secretariat Stenographers’ Service |
Category V |
Grade I of the Stenographers’ Cadre of the Indian Foreign Service, Branch ‘B’ |
Category VI |
Grade ‘A & ‘B’ merged of the Armed Forces Headquarters Stenographers’ Service |
Category VII |
Grade ‘B’ of the Railway Board Secretariat Stenographer’s Service |
Category VIII |
Section Officers’ Grade of the Intelligence Bureau |
Category IX |
Private Secretary Grade in Employees’ State Insurance Corporation |
Important Dates for UPSC SO/Steno
UPSC has notified that applications for SO/Steno exam will begin on the 18th of September and continue till the the 10th of October 2019. UPSC SO/Steno Exam 2019 will take place on the 14th of December 2019 and will be conducted over the course of 2 days.
Date of Notification |
Last Date for receipt of Applications |
Date of commencement of Exam |
Duration of Exam |
18.09.2019 |
10.10.2019 |
14.12.2019 (SATURDAY) |
2 DAYS |
16.09.2020 |
06.10.2020 |
12.12.2020 (SATURDAY) |
1 DAY |
Eligibility for UPSC SO/Steno Exam
Permanent/regularly appointed temporary Officers of the Grade and Services mentioned in the first Column in the images below who satisfy the conditions regarding length of service and educational qualification etc. mentioned in the second column shall be eligible to appear at the examination for the category of service mentioned in column 3.
UPSC SO/Steno Registration
Union Public Service Commission Section Officer exam is limited departmental competitive examination so as to recruit the eligible applicants for the various posts. UPSC holds a combined departmental competitive examination. The selection of the candidates is totally on the basis of their marks in the written examination. Those who will clear the written examination will appear for the personal interview round. Candidates would need to clear the personal interview round to be selected for the post of UPSC SO Stenographer.
Application Process
Before the applicants start filling the form, they should check the eligibility criteria thoroughly. There is no age limit specified by the authority to apply for the SO/Steno department and also there is no specific educational qualification required. Candidates from the central government working as assistant in the Assistant grade of the central secretariat Service are eligible to apply for the examination. It is also recommended that the applicants read the proper instructions to accurately fill the application form. Applicants should follow the below steps to apply for the UPSC SO/Steno Examination:-
- Applicants should visit the official website of UPSC
- Click on the application form of UPSC SO/Steno Exam 2019
- Applicants can register now and fill in all the necessary details.
- Applicants would then need to submit the application fee online for the examination.
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Exam Pattern for UPSC SO/Steno
Part I
(a) Written examination carrying maximum of 500 marks in the subjects as shown in para 2 below.
(b) A qualifying Shorthand test in Hindi or English at 100 w.p.m.
Please Note:
- All the candidates competing for Categories IV, V, VI, VII and IX will be required to take qualifying shorthand test at the time of the written examination. However, evaluation of record of service will be done of only those candidates who qualify both in the written examination as well as in the Shorthand Test.
- Candidates will be required to transcribe their shorthand notes on Computers (PCs) which will be provided at the Examination centre by the Commission.

- Each correct answer carries 1 mark
- Negative marking of 0.33 marks will apply as penalty for every incorrectly answered question.
Part II
Evaluation of record of service carrying a maximum of 100 marks of candidates:-
(i) who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written examination as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion (for categories I, II, III and VIII); and
(ii) who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written examination and the shorthand test as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion (for Categories IV, V, VI, VII and IX).
Please Note:
- Marks obtained in evaluation of record of service will be counted for ranking
- There shall be a minimum of 40% (forty percent) marks in the evaluation of record of service. Therefore, such candidates who obtain less than 40% (forty percent) marks in the evaluation of record of service will not be considered for ranking.
Syllabus for UPSC SO/Steno
Paper I
The paper will include subjects of relevance in the present day. Questions will be set to test knowledge of the broad salient features of the Five Year Plans, Indian Economy and major Developmental Schemes as also intelligence awareness of current affairs both national and international.
- The principles of the Constitution of India
- Rules of procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
- The organisation of the machinery of the Govt. of India, Designation and allocation of subjects between Ministries, Departments and Attached & Subordinate Offices and their relation inter se.
- RTI Act, 2005.
Paper II
This paper is intended to be intensive and detailed test in methods and procedure of work in the Government of India Secretariat and attached offices. Detailed knowledge of General Financial and Service Rules viz., Conduct Rules, Leave Rules, TA Rules etc. will be tested.
Paper III
Candidates are required to prepare notes and drafts on specific problems and précis from a passage.
Admit Card for UPSC SO/Steno
Admit Card for the SO/Steno exam will be made available on the UPSC official website – upsconline.nic.in. Admit cards will be released 1-2 weeks before the examination, ie, 15th and 16th December.
Steps to Download UPSC SO/Steno Admit Card
- Visit the official website of UPSC, https://upsconline.nic.in/
- Here, the notice for e-Admit Card will be available.
- Candidates will be redirected to a pdf of the Admit Card
- Go through details mentioned on e-Admit Card carefully.
- Download and take a print out to carry to examination venue on exam date.
UPSC SO/Steno 2019 Result
A national level examination for UPSC SO Steno (GD-B/GD-I) LDCE to fill various central government vacancies was organized by Union Public Service Commission. All the candidates have fruitfully completed their UPSC Section Officer and Stenographer Written Examination on 14.12.2019. Now, all the examiners are eagerly waiting to download and check their UPSC SO Steno Result 2019. The official page has not released the UPSC SO Steno Result 2019.
Score Card:
The Union Public Service Commission will release the score card for all entrants who took up the UPSC SO/Steno recruitment test about 15 days after the results are declared. To find out your score, use your roll number or registration number and DOB from the website of the Union Public Service Commission. You will be notified once the scorecard is out. You will find a link to the scorecard for UPSC SO/Steno 2019 written test when you visit the website.
Answer Key:
The Union Public Service Commission released UPSC Section Officer Answer Key 2019. You can download the UPSC Stenographer Answer Paper 2019 in a pdf format online. The UPSC SO Solved Paper 2019 is used by all the examiners to match with the correct question paper sets to evaluate their probable scores attained in the UPSC SO/Steno (GD-B/GD-I) LDCE Written Examination. Make sure you download the UPSC Steno Solution Keys 2019 for all question paper set/code wise. There are 4 sets- the Set A, Set B, Set C and Set D of UPSC SO/Steno Answer Keys 2019. It is an important tool for the candidates of this exam.
UPSC SO/Steno Cutoff
UPSC conducts a Competitive Examination such that the Combined Limited Departmental (CLD) for the Select Lists for the Section Officers Grade and Stenographers Grade B or Grade ‘1’. The last date for application fee payment will be on the month of September 2019 and the exam for the year 2019 will be conducted during the month of December.
Cutoff:
Cutoff marks are the minimum marks required by the candidates to get qualified for the next level of the exam. Cutoff marks will be fixed by the exam conducting authority itself. The cutoff marks will vary for each year and also for each category. The cutoff for the exam in 2019 will depend on various factors such as:
- Number of students appearing for the exam the respective year
- The level of difficulty of the exam.
- The number of vacancies available for the respective positions
- The last year cutoff and lot more.
Following is the previous year official SSC Stenographer Cutoff:
Candidates Category |
The Cut- Off
|
Number of Candidates Qualified the exam
|
General |
141 |
2663 |
ST |
100 |
1454 |
OBC |
138 |
2485 |
SC |
127 |
1419 |
VH |
100 |
79 |
OH |
100 |
369 |
The exact date for the exam will be announced later on the official website. So, the candidates are advised to visit the official website often to be updated with the exact dates for application, admit card and exam. The candidates must start preparing for the exam as early as possible to score maximum marks in the exam.