Services Selection Board (SSB)

• Services Selection Board (SSB) is an organization that assesses the candidates for becoming officers into the Indian Armed Forces. The board evaluates the suitability of the candidate for becoming an officer using a standardized protocol of evaluation system which constitutes of personality, intelligence tests, and interviews.
• The tests are of both types i.e. written and practical task-based.
• An SSB comprises the panel of assessors, who are officers in Indian Armed Forces and having their specialization as Psychologist, GTO (Group Task Officer) and IO (Interviewing Officer).
• In total there are thirteen Service Selection Boards across India, out of which four boards are for Indian Army, four boards are for Indian Air Force and five boards for Indian Navy. SSB is a 5 to 6 days evaluation process.

Do you want to how many SSB centers are there in India?  or

List of SSB centres and their address in India?

- Click here to know more about SSB centers

Check 5-day SSB Interview procedure:

• A major hurdle in the way of defence aspirants after clearing the written exam such as NDA, CDS, AFCAT, & INET is the SSB Interview which is conducted by the respective military institution Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force

SSB Interview Procedure

• The candidates those who clear NDA, CDS, AFCAT, & INET written examination are then called by respective military boards for SSB Interview.

The selected students then need to appear before a Service Selection Board for an Intelligence and Personality Test.

The SSB Interview directed to check the candidates possessing 15- Character traits called "Officer like Qualities". 

Do you want to know what is "Officer like Qualities" ?

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Reporting Day:

• The candidates are usually received at the station by an officer(s) of the board and from there they are taken to the selection centre.
• After the candidates are settled in, an Opening Address takes place where an officer of the board briefs the candidates of their stay for the next 5 days.
• Document Verification takes place after that where the original documents of the candidates are verified.
• In some boards (esp. Air Force) the Reporting day is regarded as the Day 1 of SSB and the testing starts on the same day.

Day 1 (Screening):

The first day involves:

• Officer Intelligence Rating Test
• Picture Perception & Discussion Test (PP&DT)

Officer Intelligence Rating Test (OIR Test):

The first day involves an Officer Intelligence Rating Test which consists of Verbal and Nonverbal Tests. The candidate gets two booklets having 40 questions each. The time allotted for each booklet is 15- 17 minutes.

Click Here to practice - Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR)

Picture Perception & Discussion Test (PP&DT):

This test can be further categorized into:

• Picture Perception: An image is displayed for the time period of 30 seconds and the candidates need to note down its details such as sex, age, and mood of the characters, action performed by them. The candidates then create a story based on that image in a time period of 4 minutes.
• Group Discussion: A group of 10-15 candidates is formed from the batch and each candidate needs to narrate his/her story and then discuss it in the group, to reach a common consensus.

The results are declared after which the shortlisted candidates are retained for the subsequent round of testing.

Day 2 (Psychological Test) 

On the second day of SSB, a Psychological Test is conducted. Following tests take place on this day:

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):

• Candidates are shown 12 images (including 1 blank) and then they need to write a story on each for 4 minutes. The time limit is imposed to gauge the natural response of each candidate.

Click Here to practice - Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Word Association Test (WAT):

• 60 words are displayed in front of the candidates for 15 seconds each and the candidates need to write down a sentence which comes to their mind on seeing the word.

 Click Here to practice - Word Association Test (WAT)

Situation Reaction Test (SRT):

• A booklet is given to the candidates with 60 real-life situations and the candidates are required to write their reactions to those situations. The total duration for this exercise is 30 minutes.

 Click Here to practice - Situation Reaction Test (SRT)

Self-Description Test (SDT):

• Candidates need to write few paragraphs covering their self-description for the context given. For instance, writing the opinion of their parents, teachers, friends etc. and the qualities the candidates wish to develop. Time allotted for this test is 15 minutes. These tests are aimed to gauge the psychological suitability of a candidate for the defence forces.

 Click Here to practice- Self-Description Test (SDT)

Day 3 (Group Testing - I):

Day 3 involves Group Testing. Here several outdoor tests are conducted where the candidates need to take part in groups. This day involves the following group tests:

Group Discussion:

• The group discussion is conducted on two topics back to back on some current events or social issues. The discussion is usually of 20-30 minutes each.

Group Planning Exercise (GPE):

• Here the candidates are clubbed in the group of 10 to 15 people and are then given a story based on a model having certain issues. Candidates need to identify the issues and provide

Progressive Group Task (PGT):

• Candidates need to overcome the 4 given obstacles collectively in a group for which they are given some helping material and a load with some rules

Group Obstacle Race (GOR):

• Commonly referred to as Snake race, each group is required to compete against another group for 6 given obstacles.

Half Group Task (HGT):

• This exercise is like PGT, but it is conducted with a smaller group over a single obstacle.

Day 4 (Group Testing - II):

This day is again dedicated to Group Testing. Following tests are conducted on this day:

Lecturette:

• Each candidate is presented with 4 topics out of which he needs to choose one and speak on it for a period of 3 minutes.

 Click Here for topics of Lecturette

Individual Obstacles (IO):

• Each candidate needs to clear 10 given obstacles in a time period of 3 minutes which are marked from 1-10 based on the difficulty level.

Command Task (CT):

• Each candidate made the commander and is given an obstacle similar to HGT which he/she needs to overcome with the help of his subordinates.

Final Group Task (FGT):

• The entire group is reunited and required to complete the assigned task similar to PGT in the stipulated time.

Personal Interview:

• Personal Interviews are generally conducted during Day 2, 3 and 4 after the respective daily tasks have been completed. Interviews are usually related to everyday experiences, work, education, family, hobbies, achievements in academics, general awareness etc.

 Click here for preparation strategy to clear the interview.

Day 5 (Conference):

Day 5 is the last day in which the assessor starts with a closing address, then the conference of candidates starts.

• A board conference is conducted where all the officers who assessed the candidates in the previous days are present. Each assessor discusses among themselves with respect to the suitability of a candidate.
• Each candidate then appears individually before the board where their total assessment is narrated, and the board makes a recommendation accordingly.
• The candidates who are borderline are given certain situations and then a collective decision is taken.
• After the result is announced the shortlisted candidates are retained for further medical examinations.

Medical Examination (4-5 working days)

The recommended aspirants undergo a detailed Medical Examination in the Military Hospital. Those declared medically fit are recommended for selection. Thereafter, a Merit List of aspirants are prepared. Depending upon the number of vacancies, call letters are sent to the aspirants who make it in the Merit, directing them to report to the Training Institutes. 

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