SSC candidates to get full marks if questions incorrect

Prayagraj: The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has issued new guidelines regarding the challenge and objection management system for finalising answer keys in computer-based objective examinations.

The revised framework aims to make the answer key evaluation process more transparent, clear and candidate-friendly, and will be applicable to all examinations conducted in 2026 and thereafter.Under the new rules, candidates will be awarded full marks for questions found to be ambiguous, incorrect or those lacking a correct option in the answer key. Such questions will be cancelled, and marks will be granted to all candidates irrespective of whether they attempted the question or not.

Similarly, if a question has more than one correct answer, full marks will be awarded to all candidates who have selected any of the correct options, while negative marking will still apply for incorrect responses as per existing rules.The Commission has also clarified that if any question is found to be outside the prescribed syllabus, it will be cancelled and full marks will be awarded to all candidates. In cases where translation discrepancies are found between different language versions of the question paper, evaluation will be done separately for the affected language group.

For example, if a question is unclear in Punjabi but correctly framed in English, the decision will apply only to Punjabi-medium candidates.SSC has further stated that technical or minor errors will not be considered valid grounds for cancellation unless the question is unclear to a general candidate with basic understanding. The Commission emphasised that attempts to challenge questions on weak or insignificant grounds will not be entertained.According to the guidelines, all objections will be reviewed by subject experts, and final decisions will be based on their recommendations. “Importantly, the quality and factual strength of objections will be given priority over the number of challenges received. Even a single well-supported objection may lead to acceptance, while multiple weak objections may be rejected,” said regional director, central zone of SSC, Ashish Srivastava.