SSC JE Paper 2 Syllabus
Paper 2 changed and a great deal of the material still circulating did not. It used to be a descriptive engineering paper written by hand. It is now an objective computer based test.
Anything telling you to practise long-form answers for SSC JE is out of date.
SSC JE Paper 2 exam pattern
Section | Questions | Marks | Time | Negative marking |
General Engineering in the branch applied for | 100 | 300 | 2 hours | 1 mark |
Three marks per correct answer and one full mark deducted per wrong answer. You attempt only the branch selected in your application, Civil and Structural, Electrical, or Mechanical.
The marking scheme is the thing to understand
Three marks awarded, one mark deducted. Three errors cancel one correct answer.
That is the harshest ratio in a technical SSC paper and it is set against questions where every option is plausible. A half-remembered formula produces a confident wrong answer far more often than a blank, and on this paper the confident wrong answer is expensive.
Work the arithmetic before you build an attempt strategy. A candidate answering 70 with 80 per cent accuracy scores 56 correct at 3 marks and 14 wrong at minus one, giving 154. A candidate answering 90 with 65 per cent accuracy scores 58 correct and 32 wrong, giving 142. More attempts, more correct answers, lower score.
How Paper 2 relates to Paper 1
The syllabus is the same. The depth and the question style are not.
Paper 1 asks 100 branch questions worth one mark each and leans towards recall and short calculation. Paper 2 asks 100 branch questions worth three marks each and goes deeper, with more numerical work and more questions that combine two concepts.
So there is no separate Paper 2 syllabus to learn. There is a separate standard of practice, and the way to build it is on previous years’ Paper 2 papers rather than on Paper 1 sets.
What each branch paper covers
Civil and Structural Engineering
Building materials, estimating, costing and valuation, surveying, soil mechanics, hydraulics, irrigation engineering, transportation engineering, environmental engineering, theory of structures, concrete technology, RCC design and steel design.
Electrical Engineering
Basic concepts, circuit law, magnetic circuits, AC fundamentals, measurement and measuring instruments, electrical machines, fractional kilowatt motors and single phase induction motors, synchronous machines, generation, transmission and distribution, estimation and costing, utilisation of electrical energy, plus basic electronics.
Mechanical Engineering
Theory of machines and machine design, engineering mechanics and strength of materials, thermal engineering, fluid mechanics and machinery, plus production engineering.
Each branch has its own page on this site with the full topic breakdown.
Normalisation between branches
Where Electrical and Mechanical candidates compete for the same posts, the Commission normalises Paper 2 marks across the two branches before preparing the merit list.
That means your raw score is not the number that ranks you, and comparing your score against a friend in the other branch tells you very little. Check the normalised score in the result.
Frequently asked questions
Is SSC JE Paper 2 still descriptive?
No. Paper 2 is now an objective computer based test.
How many questions are in SSC JE Paper 2?
100 questions for 300 marks in two hours.
What is the negative marking in SSC JE Paper 2?
One full mark for each wrong answer, against three marks for a correct one.
Which branch paper do I attempt?
Only the branch selected in your application. Civil and Structural, Electrical, or Mechanical.
Are Paper 2 marks normalised?
Yes, where Electrical and Mechanical candidates compete for common posts.
Marks, timing, negative marking and normalisation on this page follow the scheme of examination in the latest SSC JE notification published on ssc.gov.in.