CGLTyping
Yes, backspace is allowed in the SSC CHSL typing test. You can correct mistakes as you go, exactly as you would in normal typing. But "allowed" comes with a few specific boundaries worth understanding before exam day.
On This Page
What You Can Do
Use backspace freely to fix typos, misspellings, or mistyped words as you're typing. There's no penalty specifically for pressing backspace, and no limit on how many times you can use it during your attempt. This matches how SSC's other typing tests — including CGL's DEST — handle corrections, so the rule is consistent across SSC's typing components.
What You Can't Do
You cannot clear the entire text field and restart the passage from the beginning partway through your attempt. Corrections are meant to happen in the normal flow of typing — fixing the word or few characters you just got wrong — not wiping the slate clean and beginning again. In practice, this rarely comes up unless something goes badly wrong early in your attempt, but it's worth knowing the boundary exists.
Does Using Backspace Hurt Your Score?
Not directly. What matters for scoring is your final typed output — the words on screen when you submit — measured against the original passage for full and half mistakes, and your speed based on total key depressions within the time limit. Backspace itself doesn't add a penalty; using it to fix a mistake before submitting is strictly better than leaving that mistake uncorrected, since an uncorrected error counts against your accuracy while a corrected one doesn't. See Full vs. Half Mistakes for exactly how errors are scored.
Where backspace does cost you indirectly is time — every correction takes a few seconds you're not spending typing forward, and 10 minutes is a fixed window. Excessive backspacing (constantly second-guessing yourself) can meaningfully slow your net output, even though each individual correction is "free" in terms of scoring.
How to Practice With This in Mind
Every typing test on this site includes a backspace toggle, so you can practice both ways:
- Backspace on (default): practice your normal typing flow, correcting mistakes as you notice them — this matches the real exam.
- Backspace off: a stricter mode that forces you to see your uncorrected error rate, useful as an occasional diagnostic to understand how often you're actually making mistakes versus how often you're catching and fixing them.
Most of your practice should happen with backspace on, since that's the real exam condition — save backspace-off sessions for occasional accuracy checks.
Try it yourself
Run the full CHSL mock with backspace on, exactly as exam day works.
