SSC CGL Post Preference 2026: Sliding, FIX vs FLOAT, Physical Standards

In SSC CGL your rank does not choose your post — your rank and your preference list do. SSC fills posts down the merit list, giving each candidate the highest post on their list that still has a seat in their category, and “once the candidate has been given his first available preference, as per his merit, he will not be considered for any other option” (notice para 16.15). Since CGL 2025 there is a second step: a first round of tentative allocation (FRTA), then identity verification and a one-time choice to FIX the allotted post or FLOAT for a better one. This guide covers the option form, the sliding round, the physical and colour-vision rules that can void an allotment, and the tie-breaks.

SSC CGLE 2025 final-result write-up (14.05.2026), para 4.

The numbers from the first sliding round are worth reading closely. Of 15,118 candidates allotted posts in April, 10,165 chose FIX and 4,501 chose FLOAT; SSC then made 452 new allocations to replace allottees who did not turn up for verification, keeping the total at 15,118 (our arithmetic: 10,165 + 4,501 + 452 = 15,118 — 452 absentees, 452 replacements). FLOAT is not a free option: a floated candidate who is moved up must take the new post. Anyone who is content with the first allotment, or who ranked a physically demanding post above one they actually want, should think hard before floating.

The rule that makes these tables matter is in para 16.16 of the notice: if a candidate is selected for a post and then “fails to meet the medical/ physical/ educational standards for that post, his candidature will be rejected and he will not be considered for any other posts”. The tests are held by the department after selection, not by SSC before it. So a candidate who is 155 cm tall and ranks CBIC Inspector first can lose everything, including the lower preference they would otherwise have received.

The option window is short and has been extended at the last minute in both recent cycles — in 2024 from 27 February to 2 March 2025, in 2025 from 12 to 13 March 2026. Do not count on an extension. Build the list before the window opens: every post you would genuinely accept, in the order you want them, with the physical, colour-vision and degree catches above checked against yourself. A post left off the list can never be allotted to you, and a post placed too high can be allotted and then lost.

Section-I — mathematics and reasoning — is therefore the first tie-breaker for almost every post. With merit marks in whole or half numbers in 2025 and thousands of candidates within a few marks of each other, ties are not rare; a strong Section-I is worth slightly more than its 180 marks suggest.