SSC Stenographer Skill Test Syllabus
The skill test is where SSC Stenographer stops being a written exam and becomes a trade test. A passage is dictated at speed, you take it down in shorthand, then you transcribe it on a computer within a fixed time.
It is qualifying. Nothing you do here improves your rank, and failing it ends the attempt regardless of your computer based test score.
Skill test standards
Post | Dictation | Transcription in English | Transcription in Hindi |
Stenographer Grade C | 100 words per minute for 10 minutes | 40 minutes | 55 minutes |
Stenographer Grade D | 80 words per minute for 10 minutes | 50 minutes | 65 minutes |
Note the direction of the difference. Grade C dictates faster and gives you less time to transcribe. It is the harder test in both halves.
The maximum permissible error percentage is fixed in the notification and differs between grades and between reserved and unreserved candidates. Read it, because it decides how much of your effort should go into accuracy rather than raw speed.
How the test runs
Dictation lasts ten minutes at the stated speed. You write in shorthand as the passage is read.
Transcription follows on a computer within the time allowed for your grade and language. You are typing from your own notes, so the test measures three things at once. Whether you captured the passage, whether you can read your own outlines back and whether you can type quickly enough to finish.
Candidates fail at all three points. The most common is the second, where notes taken under pressure turn out to be unreadable twenty minutes later.
Choosing your language
You select English or Hindi, and the choice changes the transcription time rather than the dictation speed.
Choose the language you think in, not the one that looks easier on paper. Shorthand is transcribed through comprehension, and a passage you half understand produces outlines you cannot reconstruct.
For Hindi candidates, check which font and keyboard arrangement the centre will provide and practise on that one. Training on one input method and meeting another on the day costs the attempt on a technicality.
How to build the speed
Start at the beginning of your preparation, not after the CBT result. Most candidates reach 80 words per minute in six to nine months of daily practice and 100 words per minute takes longer. The gap between the result and the skill test is weeks.
Practise dictation daily in short sessions rather than long ones. Thirty to forty-five minutes a day builds outlines into muscle memory better than a three hour session at the weekend.
Transcribe everything you take down. Dictation practice without transcription practice teaches you half the test, and the half you are skipping is where most candidates lose.
Build typing speed separately. A candidate with perfect notes and slow typing still runs out of time, particularly in Grade C English where you have only forty minutes.
Read your old notes back after a week. If you cannot reconstruct them, your outlines are not yet reliable, however fast you are writing them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the dictation speed for SSC Stenographer Grade C?
100 words per minute, dictated for 10 minutes.
What is the dictation speed for Grade D?
80 words per minute, dictated for 10 minutes.
How long is the transcription?
40 minutes in English and 55 in Hindi for Grade C. 50 minutes in English and 65 in Hindi for Grade D.
Is the skill test scored?
No. It is qualifying and adds nothing to the merit list.
Do errors matter in the skill test?
Yes. The maximum permissible error percentage is fixed in the notification and differs by grade and category.
Dictation speeds, transcription times and error standards on this page follow the scheme of examination in the latest SSC Stenographer notification published on ssc.gov.in.