Army Clerk Syllabus: Agniveer Clerk and SKT Exam Guide

From soldier clerk to Agniveer Clerk

The old Soldier Clerk and Store Keeper Technical entry was replaced by the Agniveer Clerk/SKT category under the Agnipath scheme. Selected Agniveers sign on for four years, and one common online test serves the clerk and the store keeper roles alike. Selection runs in phases.

1. Phase I: the computer based CEE and an English typing test, both at the exam centre named on your form. Clerk applicants must pick a centre that has typing facilities.
2. Phase II: a rally where your fitness, body measurements and papers are checked, followed by the Army medical.
3. Merit: CEE marks plus any bonus marks you hold. Physical test marks are counted only for GD and tradesmen, so for clerks the run is pass or fail.

Army clerk exam pattern

The scheme reported for recent Clerk/SKT CEEs is set out below. Each question carries 4 marks.

Those same reports state that every incorrect option costs you 1 mark, and they give a minimum of 32 in each part and 80 overall. Set against that, the newest recruitment notice simply says the CEE has either 50 questions in one hour or 100 questions in two hours depending on the category, that results are normalised across shifts, and that shortlisting follows a cut off tied to vacancies.

Army clerk syllabus, subject by subject

General English (Part 2)

• Locating the error in a given line, improving a phrase, changing voice and narration
• Prepositions, articles, tenses and subject-verb agreement
• Synonyms, antonyms, idioms, one word substitutes and spellings
• Unseen passage and sentence ordering

Mathematics

• Number system, HCF and LCM, fractions, square roots
• Percent, ratio, shop sums on cost and sale, interest of both types, averages
• Algebra up to Class 12 basics, linear and quadratic equations
• Trigonometry, mensuration, statistics and simple probability

General knowledge and general science

• Indian history and freedom movement, geography, Constitution
• Defence facts, sports, awards, books and recent events
• School science up to the senior secondary stage: forces and electricity, everyday chemistry, the human body, diet and disease

Computer science

• Hardware basics: CPU, RAM and ROM, hard disk, keyboard, printer
• What an operating system does, MS Office style word processing and spreadsheets
• Internet, email, networking terms and computer viruses

The typing test

The latest notice makes typing part of the online phase for clerks. It states that 30 words per minute in English during the test is desirable and that only candidates who qualify the typing test are called to the rally. The precise pass standard is not printed in the notice.

If you have never typed on a keyboard, start early. Expect roughly two months of daily practice to reach a steady 30 words per minute with few errors.

Eligibility and physical standards

• Education: a Class 12 pass from any stream, scoring 60% overall with no subject under 50%; English and one of maths, accounts or book keeping must each be 50% or more.
• Age: 17.5 to 22 years under the latest notice, with the date of birth window printed in it.
• Height and chest: 162 cm for most regions, lower for some hill and north-eastern areas; chest 77 cm with 5 cm expansion. Weight must match the chart for your height and age.
• Physical fitness test: a 1.6 km run, pull-ups, a 9 feet ditch and a zig-zag balance walk, each judged as pass or fail.

Only unmarried men can apply for this category in the current notice. Rules change between cycles, so read the notice for your recruiting year.

Where to put your hours

• English first: 25 questions and 100 marks in the reported scheme. Grammar rules and vocabulary practice give the fastest return.
• Maths next: 10 questions worth 40 marks, mostly arithmetic and basic algebra you met in school.
• Computers and science: 10 questions in total, simple and factual, best handled with short notes.
• Typing: fifteen to twenty minutes every day, from the first week.

A twelve week routine works for most Class 12 students: weeks 1 to 4 on grammar and arithmetic, weeks 5 to 8 on GK, science and computers with typing every day, and weeks 9 to 12 on timed online mock tests and a weekly 1.6 km run trial.

Books and official sources

School English grammar books and NCERT maths and science from Class 9 upwards give you most of what the paper asks. A basic computer awareness guide covers Part 1's computer questions. The Army's recruitment site publishes the notification, sample instructions and admit cards for the CEE.

Thinking about a different Army or forces entry? The nursing assistant entry suits science students, you can see how Army merit lists were drawn up in our Agniveer cut off notes, and Navy and Air Force routes sit in the forces and police section.