DSSSB ASO syllabus for Tier I and Tier II

How DSSSB selects Assistant Section Officers

There are three steps to the ASO post. First comes Tier I, an online objective screening test. Those who clear it write Tier II, which has an objective part and a descriptive part held in one sitting. Ranking uses Tier II scores, after which DSSSB checks the papers of those in the merit zone.

Reports on the scheme for post code 804/26 describe Tier I as qualifying, meaning its score is not carried into the merit list. Still, the number shortlisted for Tier II depends on vacancies, so a comfortable Tier I score matters.

DSSSB ASO exam pattern for both tiers

Every objective question carries one mark, and a wrong response costs a quarter mark. Skipping is free, so a blank never reduces your score.

Topics in general awareness and reasoning

General awareness

• News from India and abroad over roughly the six months before the test
• History of India from the Harappan age to independence, plus art and culture
• Indian polity and the Constitution, with a few Delhi governance basics
• Indian and world geography, economy and budget terms
• General science, inventions, books and authors, sports, important organisations

General intelligence and reasoning

• Analogy and odd one out, spotting likeness and difference
• Missing terms in number, alphabet or picture sequences; coding patterns
• Family trees, directions, seating plans and order ranking
• Syllogism, statement and conclusion, judgement and decision making
• Space visualisation, visual memory, mirror and water images

Arithmetic and numerical ability topics

• Number properties, LCM and HCF, BODMAS based simplification, fractions and decimals
• Percentage, ratio and proportion, averages, mixtures
• Discount, cost and selling price, interest of both kinds
• Work and wages, filling tanks, trains crossing platforms, boats in a stream
• Mensuration of plane figures and solids
• Reading data from tables and charts, mean and other basic statistics

The level is close to class 10 mathematics with speed added. In a 40 question section you have roughly the same time per question as in other graduate level tests, so practise with a timer from the first week.

DSSSB ASO Hindi syllabus and the English sections

Hindi Language and Comprehension appears only in Tier I, while English is tested in both tiers.

• Hindi (Tier I): संधि and समास, synonyms (पर्यायवाची) and opposites (विलोम), one word substitution, idioms (मुहावरे) and proverbs, spelling and sentence correction, gender, number and tense, an unseen passage
• English (both tiers): spotting errors, improving a sentence, filling gaps with the apt word, changing voice and narration, one word substitution, idioms, cloze passages and reading comprehension
• Computer proficiency (Tier II): basics of hardware and software, Windows, MS Office tools, internet and email, networking terms, databases, viruses and cyber security, keyboard shortcuts

Many Delhi aspirants who studied in English medium lose easy marks in Hindi grammar. Since Tier I has 40 Hindi marks, treat it like a full subject rather than an afterthought.

Tier II descriptive paper in English

Part II tests whether you can draft the kind of notes and letters an Assistant Section Officer writes daily. It is in English.

• Essay or expansion of ideas (50 marks): a social, governance or current topic, or a proverb to be expanded into an argument
• Letter or application (25 marks): official letters, complaints, requests, applications to a department head
• Precis (25 marks): summarising a passage in about one third of its length while keeping every main point

Study plan for the two tiers

• First phase: cover arithmetic, reasoning and Hindi grammar in full, since together they make 120 of the 200 Tier I marks.
• Second phase: build GA from NCERT history, polity, geography and science books, adding Delhi specific facts and six months of current affairs.
• Third phase: add computer proficiency and start weekly descriptive writing, which is where Tier II ranks are often decided.
• Final month: full length mocks for both tiers, keeping guesses low because of the quarter mark penalty.

The ASO pattern shares topics with other Board exams, so compare it with the DSSSB syllabus overview and the DSSSB MTS syllabus. For anyone writing central government tests too, the SSC CGL syllabus overlaps heavily with the objective parts. For more Delhi and state level tests, see the state exams hub.

DSSSB ASO syllabus in Hindi

डीएसएसएसबी सहायक अनुभाग अधिकारी भर्ती में लिखित परीक्षा के दो चरण हैं। टियर एक में 200 प्रश्न और 200 अंक हैं, समय दो घंटे। विषय हैं सामान्य जानकारी, तर्कशक्ति, अंकगणित, हिंदी भाषा और अंग्रेज़ी भाषा, हर विषय से 40 प्रश्न। टियर दो में दो भाग हैं: पहला वस्तुनिष्ठ भाग 200 अंकों का, जिसमें हिंदी की जगह कंप्यूटर ज्ञान आता है, और दूसरा 100 अंकों का वर्णनात्मक अंग्रेज़ी पेपर, जिसमें निबंध, पत्र और सार लेखन है। किसी वस्तुनिष्ठ सवाल का उत्तर गलत होने पर 0.25 अंक कम हो जाते हैं। चयन सूची टियर दो के प्रदर्शन पर तैयार होती है।