The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has officially released the provisional answer key for the Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGL) Tier-1 2025. Alongside the answer key, the SSC has also published the candidates' response sheets and question papers on its official website — ssc.gov.in. This allows the 13.5 lakh aspirants who appeared for the examination to review their performance and raise objections, if necessary.
The Tier-1 examination was conducted from September 12 to 26, 2025. Additionally, a re-exam was held on October 14 for candidates at 44 exam centres who were affected by technical issues or other irregularities during the original schedule. The answer key was initially expected on October 15, a day after the re-exam, but its delayed release sparked frustration among candidates due to a lack of official communication from the commission.
Despite the delay, candidates can now access their individual response sheets and the question paper through the login portal on the SSC website. The commission has also opened the objection window, giving candidates the opportunity to challenge any discrepancies in the provisional answer key. This facility will remain open until 9 PM on October 19, 2025.
In a move to ease the financial burden on aspirants, the SSC has reduced the objection fee from ₹100 to ₹50 per question. Candidates are required to pay the fee online while submitting their objections, and must provide valid justifications or references to support their claims.
In a significant update, the commission also announced the implementation of equi-percentile normalization for this year’s examination cycle. This method assesses candidates based on their percentile scores rather than raw marks, thereby addressing discrepancies that may arise due to varying difficulty levels across different exam shifts. The normalization process will be used to prepare the final merit list.
Candidates are advised to download their response sheets, carefully compare them with the official answer key, and raise objections if needed before the deadline. Final answer keys and results will be declared after all challenges have been reviewed by the commission.