SSC CHSL Skill Test & Typing Test Syllabus

Session 2 of Tier 2 is where CHSL stops being a written exam. Which test you sit depends on the post you applied for, and both are qualifying, so neither adds a mark to your rank while failing either ends the attempt.

This stage removes candidates every cycle. Not because the standards are severe, but because most people start practising after the Tier 2 result rather than before it.

Which test applies to which post

Post	Test	Requirement	Duration
Data Entry Operator	Data entry skill test	8,000 key depressions per hour	15 minutes
Data Entry Operator Grade A in the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General	Data entry skill test on original documents	15,000 key depressions per hour	As notified
Lower Division Clerk and Junior Secretariat Assistant	Typing test	35 words per minute in English or 30 in Hindi	10 minutes

Thirty-five words per minute works out to roughly 10,500 key depressions per hour. Thirty words per minute in Hindi works out to roughly 9,000.

How the data entry skill test works

A passage of around 2,000 to 2,200 key depressions is given and typed into the computer within 15 minutes. Speed and accuracy are both assessed, and the maximum permissible error percentage is set in the notification.

The Grade A test for posts in the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is a different standard entirely at 15,000 key depressions per hour, performed on original documents rather than from a printed passage.

How the typing test works

A passage is typed on the computer in 10 minutes at the speed required for your chosen language. Errors reduce the effective speed, so a candidate typing at 40 words per minute with heavy corrections can still fail against a 35 word per minute standard.

You choose English or Hindi at the application stage. That choice cannot be revisited later and it decides which keyboard layout you need to be fluent on.

The Hindi typing problem

Hindi candidates face a decision that English candidates do not, because Hindi typing can be done through more than one input arrangement and the layout used at the test centre may not be the one you trained on.

Read the notification carefully on which font and keyboard arrangement will be provided, and practise on that one. Candidates who train on one input method and meet another on test day lose the attempt on a technicality, and it happens every cycle.

How to prepare

Start in the first month of your CHSL preparation, not after the Tier 2 result. Ten to fifteen minutes of daily practice for six months clears 35 words per minute comfortably for most people. Six weeks of panic does not.

Practise with an accuracy target rather than a speed target. Speed follows accuracy, and the reverse rarely works, because a habit of racing and correcting is hard to unlearn once it is built.

Type the kind of text the test uses. Official and general prose with punctuation, capitals and numbers, not chat messages. Numerals and punctuation are where untrained typists slow down most.

Frequently asked questions

What typing speed is required for SSC CHSL?

35 words per minute in English or 30 in Hindi for Lower Division Clerk and Junior Secretariat Assistant posts, tested over 10 minutes.

What is the data entry speed for DEO posts?

8,000 key depressions per hour over 15 minutes, and 15,000 key depressions per hour for Data Entry Operator Grade A in the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.