SSC Stenographer Answer Key 2026: Challenge, Marking, Final Key

SSC released the tentative answer key for the Stenographer Grade C and D 2026 CBE on 23 September 2026, and the challenge window closed at 11 PM on 26 September 2026. The final answer key comes only after the CBE result is declared, and that result is still awaited. In the last two cycles, the final key was published with candidates' marks.

How was the Stenographer 2026 key challenged?

Under the answer key write-up of 23 September 2026, you logged in on ssc.gov.in with your Registration Number and Password to see your response sheet and the tentative key. Challenges ran from 23 September 2026 (23:00 hours) to 26 September 2026 (23:00 hours). The fee was ₹50 per question, cut from the earlier ₹100. Late representations are not entertained, and the Notice rules out challenges by letter, application or email. The fee is non-refundable.

The challenge module shows the same question and option order to everyone in a shift. So it may differ from your exam screen, but your own answers appear exactly as marked. A saved question paper is for personal use and self-analysis only; the portal asks you to accept an undertaking. SSC does not provide response sheets after the window, so print yours while it is open.

In the 2025 cycle, SSC's annexure described each step:

• Log in, open "Answer Key Challenge" and click "Click Here".
• The response sheet is colour-coded: green for a correct choice, red for a wrong choice, yellow for the actual correct answer, and grey for unattempted questions.
• Under "Grievance about Question", enter the question number, choose a complaint type, explain the issue and upload a scanned image as proof if required.
• Then use "Proceed for payment", pay and press "Submit".

How are challenges decided?

Subject experts examine the challenges under SSC's Challenge/Objection Management guidelines of 10 April 2026, which apply to this exam. A question that is ambiguous, has no correct option or is out of syllabus is discarded, and its marks are added to every candidate's total. If more than one option is correct, any of those options gets full marks; a wrong option still loses marks, and an unattempted question gets zero. There is no re-evaluation or re-checking of scores at any stage.

How do you calculate your Stenographer CBE score?

The CBE has 200 questions of 1 mark each:

• Part I, General Intelligence and Reasoning: 50 questions, 50 marks
• Part II, General Awareness: 50 questions, 50 marks
• Part III, English Language and Comprehension: 100 questions, 100 marks

The test lasts 2 hours, with sectional timers of 30 minutes each for Parts I and II and 60 minutes for Part III. Each wrong answer costs 0.25 marks, so your raw score is correct answers minus 0.25 × wrong answers. If the CBE runs in multiple shifts, scores are normalised under SSC's procedure of 2 June 2025, and normalised scores set merit and cut-offs. To qualify, you need 30% if UR, 25% if OBC/EWS and 20% for all other categories. Part III matters most: it is the first tie-breaker, followed by Part II, then age (older first).

What happens after the tentative key?

The final key is used to prepare the CBE result and is uploaded only after that result. For Stenographer 2025, the CBE result came on 28 November 2025. The final key, response sheets and marks followed on 2 January 2026 and could be viewed until 17 January 2026. For Stenographer 2024, the result came on 5 March 2025, and the final key and marks were open from 20 March 2025 to 4 April 2025.

SSC Stenographer answer key in past cycles