SSC Phase 13 Exam Won’t Be Cancelled, Retest on Cards for Affected Candidates
Amid growing protests and social media outrage over alleged mismanagement during the Selection Post Phase 13 examination, Staff Selection Commission (SSC) Chairman S Gopalakrishnan has ruled out the possibility of cancelling the exam altogether. However, the Commission is considering holding a retest for candidates who were adversely affected during the test window.
The Selection Post Phase 13 exam was conducted from July 24 to August 1 across 194 centres in 142 cities. Approximately 5 lakh candidates appeared for the recruitment examination that faced significant disruptions, including sudden cancellations, software failures, biometric verification issues, and incorrect exam centre allotments. These technical and logistical setbacks led to widespread frustration and prompted thousands of aspirants to take to the streets in Delhi last week, demanding a re-examination and accountability.
In response to the mounting pressure, Chairman Gopalakrishnan acknowledged the lapses and said, “We are analysing the data. If we find even one candidate who has been wronged, we will conduct the exam again for them.” He also confirmed that the Commission has written to its exam vendor, Eduquity Career Technologies, instructing them to resolve all reported issues related to the examination process.
Partial Retest Already Conducted
To address immediate concerns, the SSC conducted an additional exam on August 2 in three separate shifts. Two exam centres—Pawan Ganga in Delhi and Educasa in Uttar Pradesh—faced complete cancellations, impacting around 2,500 candidates. For the August 2 retest, about 16,600 candidates were scheduled to appear, but only 8,048 turned up, indicating an attendance rate of just 60%.
Despite this, the Chairman has stated that another round of retests may be organised if required. “We will conduct another re-test for affected candidates, if necessary,” Gopalakrishnan said, adding that efforts were underway to ensure such issues do not recur in future exams.
Vendor Issues and Use of AI Under Scrutiny
One of the main sources of concern was the performance of Eduquity Career Technologies, the vendor responsible for conducting the exam. Several candidates reported frequent system crashes, mouse malfunctions, and long travel distances to allotted centres. Gopalakrishnan admitted there were “teething problems” due to onboarding a new vendor and assured that penalties would be imposed for proven lapses.
However, he rejected calls to remove the vendor outright, citing logistical constraints. “Based on one test, I cannot remove them. How will I conduct examinations in the coming weeks? I will have to float a new tender, and it will take until December for a company to be finalised. Till then, what will I do?” he asked. The Chairman added that the vendor had shown improvements in system stability over the week, and the Commission was monitoring the situation closely.
Concerns were also raised over the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the exam process, with candidates alleging repetition of questions. In response, the SSC clarified that only a basic AI mechanism is used to prevent duplication, and each question is tagged with metadata to avoid errors.
Data Analysis and Future Exams
Gopalakrishnan assured that the Commission is taking every possible step to uphold the integrity of its examinations. The SSC is relying on exam logs, CCTV footage, and detailed electronic data analysis with support from the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) to identify affected candidates and fix accountability.
Looking ahead, the Chairman expressed confidence that upcoming exams scheduled from August 6 to 8 would be conducted more smoothly. “In this exam, we have seen what issues can arise. The upcoming exams will be much less disruptive. There will be 3.5 lakh candidates in the upcoming exams,” he stated.
As the Commission works on damage control, aspirants across the country are hoping for a more transparent and glitch-free examination experience in the days ahead.
