Checked 29 September 2026. From the ESIC Headquarters revised action plan of 27.06.2025, the HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024 (as circulated by RO Karnataka) and the Information Handout for the online examination of 5 July 2025. The next sitting had not been notified on 29 September 2026; its scheme may differ.
The ESIC LDCE of July 2025 ran a computer-based test (CBT) on 5 July 2025 at venues arranged through IBPS, and skill tests on 6 July 2025 arranged by the Regional Offices. Each of the six posts had its own papers: three for SSO, Assistant/Head Clerk and UDC, one for LDC and PA, and none at all for Stenographer, whose candidates sat only the skill tests. This guide gives every paper’s questions, marks, time and medium from the Headquarters action plan of 27.06.2025, the qualifying benchmark from the HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024, sets the plan against the scheme and the candidate handout where they differ, and works out the minutes you have per question. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation. Every rule here is quoted or summarised from ESIC circulars and office orders; your Regional Office or Headquarters decides every individual case.
Where other pages get this wrong
The pattern differs by post. SSO sits three 100-mark papers on the ESI Act and manuals, service rules and book-keeping, and administrative law and management, plus a qualifying Computer Skill Test. LDC sits one 100-question paper plus a 50-mark, 30-minute qualifying Computer Skill Test. PA and Stenographer also sit a shorthand test. A candidate with a disability certified as unable to type may be exempted from the Computer Skill Test. There is no negative marking, and the qualifying benchmark is 40% (UR) or 30% (SC/ST/PwBD) in the written paper and 17 of 50 in the skill test.
Commonly published instead: A single description of the ESIC LDCE as "English, arithmetic, reasoning and general awareness", which is what the exam record on this site said. It fits none of the six posts exactly: reasoning (mental ability) appears only in the Assistant/Head Clerk paper, and the description left out the SSO rule papers, the Computer Skill Test and the shorthand tests.
The HQ action plan No. A-12023/5/2022-Exam of 27.06.2025 prints the pattern post by post; the HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024 prints the benchmark and the CST exemption; the Information Handout says "There will be no penalty for wrong answers marked by you".
HQ action plan of 27.06.2025, HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024 and the Information Handout (official).
The pattern for every post
Each row is one paper as the action plan prints it. "Medium" follows the plan and the handout: the objective CBT papers are bilingual, English and Hindi, except the English language papers and sections, which are in English only. The skill tests differ: shorthand is taken in English or Hindi, the LDC Computer Skill Test is marked English/Hindi, and the plan prints no medium for the SSO, PA and Stenographer Computer Skill Test.
| Post | Paper | Subject | Questions | Marks | Time | Medium | Date and time (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSO / Manager Grade-II / OS | Paper I | ESI Act, Local Office/Accounts/Medical/Recovery manual, Drafting and Office Procedure | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English/Hindi | 05.07, 9:00-11:00 |
| SSO / Manager Grade-II / OS | Paper II | FR/SR/GFR/Pension/Conduct Rules and Book Keeping | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English/Hindi | 05.07, 1:00-3:00 |
| SSO / Manager Grade-II / OS | Paper III | Administrative Law and Principles of Management | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English/Hindi | 05.07, 5:00-7:00 |
| SSO / Manager Grade-II / OS | Paper IV | Computer Skill Test (qualifying): PowerPoint 10, Word typing 20, Excel 20 | - | 50 | 30 minutes | - | 06.07, 9:00-9:30 |
| Assistant / Head Clerk | Paper I | English Language | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English only | 05.07, 9:00-11:00 |
| Assistant / Head Clerk | Paper II | ESI Scheme and Office Procedure | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English/Hindi | 05.07, 1:00-3:00 |
| Assistant / Head Clerk | Paper III | Arithmetic, Mathematical ability, General Mental ability and General Knowledge | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English/Hindi | 05.07, 5:00-7:00 |
| Upper Division Clerk | Paper I | English Language | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English only | 05.07, 9:00-11:00 |
| Upper Division Clerk | Paper II | ESI Scheme and Office Procedure | 100 | 100 | 1 hour 30 minutes | English/Hindi | 05.07, 1:00-2:30 |
| Upper Division Clerk | Paper III | Arithmetic | 50 | 50 | 1 hour | English/Hindi | 05.07, 5:00-6:00 |
| Lower Division Clerk | Paper I | English 25, Arithmetic 25, General Awareness 40, ESI Scheme 10 | 100 | 100 | 2 hours | English/Hindi (English section in English) | 05.07, 9:00-11:00 |
| Lower Division Clerk | Paper II | Computer Skill Test (qualifying) | - | 50 | 30 minutes | English/Hindi | 06.07, 1:00-1:30 |
| Personal Assistant | Paper I | General Awareness 100 and Comprehension and writing ability of English 100 | 200 | 200 | 2 hours | GA English/Hindi; English in English | 05.07, 9:00-11:00 |
| Personal Assistant | Paper II | Computer Skill Test (qualifying): PowerPoint 10, Word typing 20, Excel 20 | - | 50 | 30 minutes | - | 06.07, 1:00-1:30 |
| Personal Assistant | Paper III | Shorthand: 100 wpm (1,000 words, 10 min; transcription 50 min English / 65 min Hindi) or 120 wpm (840 words, 7 min; 45 / 55 min) | - | - | as stated | English or Hindi | 06.07, from 3:00 |
| Stenographer | Paper I | Computer Skill Test (qualifying): PowerPoint 10, Word typing 20, Excel 20 | - | 50 | 30 minutes | - | 06.07, 1:00-1:30 |
| Stenographer | Paper II | Shorthand at 80 wpm, 10 minutes; transcription 65 min English / 75 min Hindi | - | - | 10 minutes | English or Hindi | 06.07, from 3:00 |
Marks from the HQ action plan of 27.06.2025 (official). The grouping into five colours is ours: SSO Paper II (FR/SR/GFR/pension/conduct and book-keeping) and Paper III (administrative law and management) are shown together. Stenographer has no CBT and is not shown. The skill tests are qualifying and carry no merit marks here.
The chart shows how little the posts have in common. An LDC candidate spends 40% of the paper on general awareness and only 10% on the ESI Scheme. A UDC or Assistant candidate spends a whole paper on the ESI Scheme and office procedure. An SSO candidate has no dedicated English-language, arithmetic or general-awareness paper: two thirds of the marks are service rules, book-keeping, administrative law and management. Preparing for a colleague’s post from their notes is the quickest way to prepare for the wrong exam.
Pick your post
ESIC LDCE pattern by post
As printed in the HQ action plan of 27.06.2025 for the sitting of 5 and 6 July 2025. The next sitting’s pattern is not published.
Minutes per question
The action plan gives time and questions for each paper, so the pace each paper asks for is simple division. The figures in the last column are ours.
| Paper | Questions | Time | Minutes per question (ours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSO Papers I, II and III (each) | 100 | 120 minutes | 1.2 |
| Assistant/Head Clerk Papers I, II and III (each) | 100 | 120 minutes | 1.2 |
| UDC Paper I, English | 100 | 120 minutes | 1.2 |
| UDC Paper II, ESI Scheme and Office Procedure | 100 | 90 minutes in the plan (120 in the scheme letter of 22.11.2024) | 0.9 (1.2 on the scheme letter) |
| UDC Paper III, Arithmetic | 50 | 60 minutes | 1.2 |
| LDC, one paper | 100 | 120 minutes | 1.2 |
| PA, one paper | 200 | 120 minutes | 0.6 |
Two papers stand out. The UDC paper on the ESI Scheme gives 90 minutes for 100 questions in the action plan, the tightest of the three-paper posts; the HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024 printed 2 hours for the same paper, and the plan, being the later document and the one that fixed the timetable, is what ran on the day. The PA paper gives 120 minutes for 200 questions: 0.6 minutes a question, half the 1.2-minute pace of most papers and two-thirds of UDC Paper II’s 0.9 minutes (our arithmetic). The handout counts it as two tests of 100 questions each, general awareness and English, inside one 120-minute window. A PA candidate who reads general awareness questions at the pace of an SSO paper will not finish.
How the day ran
| Shift or slot | Date | Reporting | Exam time | Who |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBT shift 1 | 05.07.2025 | 8:00 am | 9:00 to 11:00 am | SSO I, Asst/HC I, UDC I, LDC, PA |
| CBT shift 2 | 05.07.2025 | 12:00 noon | 1:00 to 3:00 pm (UDC to 2:30) | SSO II, Asst/HC II, UDC II |
| CBT shift 3 | 05.07.2025 | 4:00 pm | 5:00 to 7:00 pm (UDC to 6:00) | SSO III, Asst/HC III, UDC III |
| Computer Skill Test, SSO | 06.07.2025 | 8:30 am (HQ revised plans; an earlier Karnataka schedule, drawn up before the revision, said 8:00 am) | 9:00 to 9:30 am | SSO |
| Computer Skill Test, LDC, PA and Steno | 06.07.2025 | 12:30 pm | 1:00 to 1:30 pm | LDC, PA, Stenographer |
| Shorthand test | 06.07.2025 | 2:30 pm | 3:00 pm onwards | PA, Stenographer |
The handout adds that each of the three papers was a separate shift with its own call letter, that papers were separately timed, and that you "may have to be at the venue for approximately 120/150/180 minutes" for a 60, 90 or 120-minute test, to allow for log-in and checking of call letters. For SSO and Assistant/Head Clerk candidates that made 5 July a day from the 8 am first reporting time to a 7 pm finish; the last UDC paper ended at 6 pm.
Marking: no penalty, but the handout still warns against guessing
The handout is plain: "There will be no penalty for wrong answers marked by you. However, you are advised not to mark your answers by random guessing." Each question has four options with one correct answer. On our arithmetic, a blind guess among four options is right one time in four, so with no deduction it can only add marks on average; eliminating one or two options raises the odds to one in three or one in two. The handout’s advice sits beside a second rule that may explain it: responses "will be analysed with other candidates to detect patterns of similarity of right and wrong answers", and candidature can be cancelled if scores are inferred not to be genuine.
Two more marking points from the handout. If the exam is held in more than one session, scores across sessions "will be equated to adjust for slight differences in difficulty level". And only answers saved with "Save & Next" or "Mark for Review & Next" are evaluated; an option clicked but not saved is not an answer.
Qualifying marks
The HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024, as RO Karnataka circulated it, says the Director General "has also approved the qualifying benchmark i.e, for UR category - 40% in written paper, for SC/ST/PwBD -30 % in written paper and for CST 17 marks out of 50 marks, in LDCE for above posts". Three things it does not say: a separate figure for OBC candidates, whether the percentage is applied to each paper or to the total of a post’s papers, and any pass standard for the shorthand tests. A benchmark is the minimum to be considered, not a cut-off: selection within each year’s vacancies then goes by merit. For SSO, ESIC has since published the last-selected marks: HQ Circular A-22/5/1/2025-E.I (listed 01.06.2026) puts the UR cut-off between 169 and 199 out of 300 for vacancy years 2019 to 2025 (2023 printed as 0), far above the 120 that 40% of 300 would be on our arithmetic. Every category and year is in our results guide. No cut-off for the other posts was found.
Where the documents differ
| Point | Other document | HQ action plan (27.06.2025) | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA test | Handout: two tests, General Awareness 100 questions and English Language 100 questions, 120 minutes in all | Paper I of 200 questions and 200 marks in 2 hours, then the Computer Skill Test and a shorthand test | Consistent on the CBT. The handout covers only the 5 July CBT and leaves out the skill tests; use the action plan. |
| LDC skill test | Handout: one test of 100 questions, no skill test listed | Paper II, Computer Skill Test, 50 marks, qualifying, on 06.07.2025 | Same reason: the handout is for the CBT only. |
| Stenographer | Handout: not listed (the handout covers five posts) | Computer Skill Test and an 80 wpm shorthand test | No CBT for Stenographer. |
| UDC Paper II time | HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024: 100 questions, 2 hours | 100 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 1:00 to 2:30 pm | A real difference between two HQ documents. The plan is later and fixed the timetable; prepare for 90 minutes unless the next scheme says otherwise. |
| Which plan is final | - | The J&K region forwarded a revised plan dated 25.06.2025; the plan of 27.06.2025 refers to letters of 15.06 and 26.06.2025 | Several revisions in two weeks. We treat 27.06.2025 as the final plan. |
| The Karnataka schedule | Headed 28.11.2024 but cites the HQ letter of 15.06.2025; SSO CST reporting 8:00 am, LDC, PA and Steno CST at 11:00 am | SSO CST reporting 8:30 am; LDC, PA and Steno CST at 1:00 pm, as in the revised plan of 25.06.2025 | The header date is an error, and the timings are those of the plan before its revision of 25.06.2025. The Karnataka schedule was superseded. |
What the handout says about the day
From the Information Handout
- Bring the call letter with a recent photograph pasted on it, a blue ball-point pen and your ESIC Employee ID card, for every shift you sit.
- Calculators (including watch calculators), books, notes and phones are not allowed. A sheet of paper is given for rough work and must be handed back.
- The clock is set at the server; the exam ends by itself when the timer runs out. You cannot "finally submit" before the time is over.
- Do not press keyboard keys once the exam starts; the handout says this "will lock the exam".
- Disclosing or storing test content can lead to prosecution; the handout draws attention to the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
ESIC Information Handout for the online examination of 5 July 2025 (official).
The handout also prints sample questions by type: fill-in-the-blank vocabulary and error spotting for English; simple sums, multiples and a work-rate problem for arithmetic; direction, seating-row and letter-rearrangement puzzles and a table of percentages for mental ability; and general knowledge on India’s economy and institutions. It adds that "questions in the other tests will be based on the relevant information, Acts and rules, circulars, etc.", which is the only official description of the ESI and rules papers’ content we found beyond their titles. The SSO guide in this series sets out what the 2015 draft regulations listed under those titles.
Is there negative marking in the ESIC LDCE?
No. The Information Handout says there will be no penalty for wrong answers, though it also advises against random guessing.
How many papers are there for the ESIC UDC LDCE?
Three: English Language (100 questions, 2 hours), ESI Scheme and Office Procedure (100 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes in the 2025 action plan; the scheme letter of 22.11.2024 said 2 hours) and Arithmetic (50 questions, 1 hour), 250 marks in all.
What is the ESIC LDC LDCE pattern?
One paper of 100 questions in 2 hours: English 25, Arithmetic 25, General Awareness 40 and ESI Scheme 10. Then a qualifying Computer Skill Test of 50 marks in 30 minutes.
Is the ESIC LDCE in Hindi?
The objective CBT papers are bilingual, English and Hindi, except the English language papers and sections, which are in English only. The shorthand tests are taken in English or Hindi, and the LDC Computer Skill Test is marked English/Hindi; see the table for each post.
Does the Assistant/Head Clerk LDCE have a computer test?
No. In the 2025 plan, the Computer Skill Test was for SSO, LDC, PA and Stenographer only.
Is there a written paper for Stenographer?
No. The Stenographer test in 2025 was a qualifying Computer Skill Test and an 80 wpm shorthand test.
Are calculators allowed?
No. The handout bans calculators, including those in watches.
What are the qualifying marks?
The HQ scheme letter of 22.11.2024 gives 40% in the written paper for UR candidates, 30% for SC, ST and PwBD candidates, and 17 of 50 in the Computer Skill Test. It states no separate OBC figure and no pass standard for shorthand. For SSO, the published cut-offs of 2019 to 2025 (HQ circular listed 01.06.2026) were far higher: UR 169 to 199 out of 300, apart from 2023.
Who conducted the CBT?
The action plan says the CBT venues for 5 July 2025 were arranged by IBPS, and the handout was prepared on that basis. Skill tests were arranged by the Regional Offices.
Sources
- official — ESIC HQ Action Plan (revised), No. A-12023/5/2022-Exam (Comp. No. 20385) dated 27.06.2025: paper-wise pattern, dates, timings and skill tests for SSO, Assistant/Head Clerk, UDC, LDC, PA and Stenographer
- official — ESIC HQ letter No. A-12023/5/2022-Exam (Comp. No. 20385) dated 22.11.2024, as circulated by ESIC RO Karnataka (circular No. 53.A.12.27.06.2018.Estt dated 28.11.2024, with the SRO Mysore covering circular of 29.11.2024): vacancy years, a single online examination, year-wise select lists, regional and all-India cadres, the scheme of examination for all six posts, the qualifying benchmark, the PwD exemption from the CST; enclosing HQ letter F.No. A-36(11)/2012/LDCE/Exam dated 02.08.2013 on the SSO Paper III syllabus
- official — ESIC HQ Circular No. A-22/5/1/2025-E.I (e-file I/3942115/2026, listed on the ESIC circulars database 01.06.2026): declaration of marks of successful candidates (Annexure 1) and year-wise, category-wise cut-off marks (Annexure 2) of the LDCE for promotion to Social Security Officer, vacancy years 2019-25 (we print the cut-offs only; no names or roll numbers)
- official — ESIC Information Handout (prepared for the online examination of 5 July 2025, English): test structure per post, four options with one correct answer, "no penalty for wrong answers", no calculators, sample question types
- official — ESIC RO Jammu & Kashmir forwarding (30.06.2025) of the HQ revised action plan dated 25.06.2025 (scanned; read by OCR)
- official — ESIC forwarding letter F.No. 111-A-36/12/1/LDCE/2024/ADMNII dated 16.06.2025: HQ letter of 15.06.2025, LDCE for 2019 to 2025 on 05.07.2025 and 06.07.2025
- official — ESIC RO Karnataka circular No. 53.A.12.27.06.2018.Estt (header dated 28.11.2024, text cites the HQ letter of 15.06.2025): schedule of the CBT, Computer Skill Test and Stenography Skill Test
- official — ESIC RO Gujarat circular No. 37.A.12.23.2024.LDCE.Estt dated 26.11.2024: eligibility per post, "a single examination shall be conducted in online mode", application proformas
- official — ESIC RO Delhi circular No. 11-A/36/38/1/2024/Rectt-1 (December 2024): SSO and PA; NIL Stenographer vacancy; seniors-considered rule; PwBD exemption from the Computer Skill Test; scheme letter of 22.11.2024 at console Sl. No. 9989/2024
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
