Delhi Police Head Constable Eligibility 2026: Age, Qualification, PET
Delhi Police Head Constable eligibility is the first thing to check before you spend months preparing. For the Head Constable (Ministerial) post, a candidate must be an Indian citizen aged 18 to 25 years, hold a 10+2 pass certificate, and be able to type at 30 words per minute in English or 25 words per minute in Hindi on a computer. Physical standards and a qualifying physical test apply on top of that.
This page explains each condition in plain language: nationality, age and relaxation, qualification, typing skill, height and chest, the physical efficiency test, medical fitness and the application fee. Figures belong to the latest recruitment cycle (Delhi Police Examination 2025, conducted by the Staff Selection Commission), and they can change in a new notification, so always confirm them on the official notice.
Table of Contents
Delhi Police Head Constable Eligibility
Latest Update on the Recruitment Cycle
Nationality Requirement
Age Limit and Age Relaxation
Educational Qualification
Typing and Computer Skills
Physical Standards (Height and Chest)
Physical Efficiency Test (PET) Standards
Medical Fitness and Other Conditions
Application Fee
Documents to Keep Ready
Ministerial vs AWO/TPO: Do Not Mix the Criteria
Selection Stages and Where Eligibility Is Checked
Delhi Police Head Constable Eligibility
Criterion | Requirement (2025 cycle) |
|---|---|
Post | Head Constable (Ministerial), Male and Female |
Recruiting and conducting body | Delhi Police, with the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) conducting the computer-based exam |
Nationality | Citizen of India |
Age limit | 18 to 25 years as on 1 July 2025 |
Qualification | 10+2 (Senior Secondary) or equivalent from a recognised board |
Typing speed | 30 wpm in English or 25 wpm in Hindi on a computer |
Height | 165 cm for men and 157 cm for women (relaxation as per rules) |
Physical test | 1,600 m race for men and 800 m race for women, plus long jump and high jump |
Vacancies announced | 509 (341 male and 168 female) |
Latest Update on the Recruitment Cycle
Online applications for Head Constable (Ministerial) in Delhi Police Examination 2025 ran from 29 September to 20 October 2025. The computer-based examination was held from 7 to 12 January 2026, and SSC declared the result on 5 June 2026, shortlisting 7,217 candidates for the physical endurance and measurement test (PE&MT), document verification and the trade (typing) test.
Delhi Police has since issued PE&MT notices in stages. One notice scheduled the test from 31 July 2026, and a later notice announced a schedule from 2 September 2026 for shortlisted candidates. If you are in the shortlist, follow the notices on the Delhi Police recruitment page and the SSC regional website. If you are preparing for the next cycle, treat the conditions below as the working benchmark until a fresh notification is released on ssc.gov.in.
Nationality Requirement
The candidate must be a citizen of India. The Ministerial post is open to both men and women, and the vacancies are announced separately for each. In the 2025 cycle, 341 posts were for male candidates and 168 for female candidates, so the competition and the cut-off are not the same for the two groups.
Age Limit and Age Relaxation
The age limit for Head Constable (Ministerial) is 18 to 25 years, counted as on 1 July 2025 in the latest cycle. That means a candidate had to be born between 2 July 2000 and 1 July 2007. The cut-off date can shift in a new notification, so recalculate your age against the date printed in the advertisement.
Age relaxation
Category | Relaxation | Upper age limit |
|---|---|---|
General and EWS | None | 25 years |
OBC | 3 years | 28 years |
SC and ST | 5 years | 30 years |
Ex-servicemen, departmental candidates, widowed, divorced or judicially separated women | As per the notification | Check the notice |
Relaxation is allowed only on proof, such as a valid caste certificate in the prescribed format or discharge papers for ex-servicemen. Read the age clause in the official notice carefully, because the rules for departmental candidates and ex-servicemen differ from the general rule.
Educational Qualification
A candidate must have passed 10+2 (Senior Secondary) or an equivalent examination from a recognised board. The qualification must be held at the time of filling the application form. A candidate who is still waiting for the Class 12 result on the closing date is not eligible, even if the result arrives later.
Marksheet and pass certificate: Both should show the same name, date of birth and parents' names as your application.
Equivalent qualifications: If your qualification is not a regular board 10+2, keep the equivalence proof ready for document verification.
No higher qualification needed: Graduates can apply, but a degree gives no extra marks or preference in the selection.
Typing and Computer Skills
The Ministerial post is a clerical role, so typing is part of eligibility and not only a later test. The requirement is a speed of 30 words per minute in English or 25 words per minute in Hindi on a computer. After the computer-based exam, shortlisted candidates take a typing test, which is reported to carry 25 marks, and a computer formatting test, which is qualifying in nature.
Basic computer use, including word processing and spreadsheet formatting, is expected. If you can type at the minimum speed but make many errors, you can still be rejected, so build accuracy first and speed second.
How to prepare for the typing requirement
Practise daily: 20 to 30 minutes of timed typing is better than one long weekly session.
Choose your language early: Decide between English and Hindi and train in one, because switching late wastes time.
Learn formatting: Practise bold, alignment, bullets, tables and page layout in a word processor.
Physical Standards (Height and Chest)
Candidate | Minimum height | Chest |
|---|---|---|
Male (General, OBC, SC) | 165 cm | 78 to 82 cm, with at least 4 cm expansion |
Male (ST) | 160 cm | 73 to 77 cm (relaxed) |
Female (General, OBC, SC) | 157 cm | Not applicable |
Female (ST) | 152 cm | Not applicable |
Height and chest are relaxable by 5 cm for candidates of the reserved categories as listed in the notification. The exact relaxation and the categories that qualify for it are printed in the official notice, so match your own category against it. No relaxation is given in medical standards.
Physical Efficiency Test (PET) Standards
The PET is qualifying, which means it adds no marks to your merit, but failing it ends your candidature. The race time depends on gender and age group.
Candidate | Age group | Race | Time allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
Male | Up to 30 years | 1,600 m | 7 minutes |
Male | 30 to 40 years | 1,600 m | 8 minutes |
Male | Above 40 years | 1,600 m | 9 minutes |
Female | Up to 30 years | 800 m | 5 minutes |
Female | 30 to 40 years | 800 m | 6 minutes |
Female | Above 40 years | 800 m | 7 minutes |
For candidates up to 30 years, the jump standards are a long jump of 12.5 feet and a high jump of 3.5 feet for men, and 9 feet and 3 feet for women. Each candidate gets limited attempts at the jumps. Most open-category candidates fall in the first age group, so the other age bands matter mainly for ex-servicemen and departmental candidates.
Medical Fitness and Other Conditions
Selection is subject to medical fitness, police verification of character and antecedents, and the correctness of every document. A candidate with a pending case, a false declaration or a missing certificate can be rejected at any stage, even after the written result.
Medical examination: It is held only for finally selected candidates, and the standards cannot be relaxed.
Character verification: The department verifies antecedents before appointment.
Declaration: Every statement in the application should be true and supported by a document.
Application Fee
Category | Fee (2025 cycle) |
|---|---|
Male candidates of General, OBC and EWS | Rs. 100 |
Women, SC, ST, PwD and ex-servicemen | No fee |
The fee is paid online by card, net banking or UPI. Pay before the stated deadline, because an application without a successful payment is not accepted.
Documents to Keep Ready
Class 10 certificate for date of birth and name.
Class 12 marksheet and pass certificate.
Category certificate in the prescribed format, if you claim relaxation or a reserved vacancy.
Discharge certificate for ex-servicemen, or proof of status for departmental or widowed or divorced women candidates.
Recent photographs, a valid photo ID and your admit card for each stage.
Ministerial vs AWO/TPO: Do Not Mix the Criteria
Delhi Police also recruits Head Constables for the Assistant Wireless Operator and Tele-Printer Operator (AWO/TPO) trades. That recruitment has its own notification, and its age limit, qualification and exam pattern are different from the Ministerial post. Many websites show both on one page, which leads to wrong assumptions.
Before you rely on any figure, check that the page you read is about Head Constable (Ministerial). The age limit of 18 to 25 years, the typing requirement and the 100-mark paper described here apply to the Ministerial post only.
Selection Stages and Where Eligibility Is Checked
Stage | What is checked |
|---|---|
Computer-based examination | Subject knowledge, 100 questions in 90 minutes |
PE&MT | Race and jumps, then height and chest, qualifying |
Document verification | Age, qualification, category and identity |
Typing test | Speed and accuracy on a computer |
Computer formatting test | Basic formatting skills, qualifying |
Verification and medical | Character, antecedents and fitness for finally selected candidates |
Applying is easy, but eligibility is truly tested at document verification. A candidate who clears the exam but fails here loses the seat, which is why the next sections matter.
Common Eligibility Mistakes
Counting age on the wrong date: Use the date in the notification, not the application date.
Applying before passing Class 12: The qualification must be in hand when you fill the form.
Ignoring typing: Some candidates prepare only for the exam and discover the speed requirement late.
Claiming the wrong category: A certificate that does not match the claimed category can cancel the candidature.
Skipping physical practice: The race time is strict, and the result-to-PET gap can be short.
Using AWO/TPO information: The criteria differ, so verify the post name.
How to Check Your Eligibility Step by Step
Open the latest Head Constable (Ministerial) notice on the official website and note the age cut-off date.
Calculate your age on that date and apply your category relaxation, if any.
Confirm that you hold 10+2 and that your name and date of birth match on all documents.
Time yourself on a typing test to check whether you meet 30 wpm in English or 25 wpm in Hindi.
Measure your height and chest and compare them with your category standard.
Run 1,600 m (men) or 800 m (women) against the clock to see how far you are from the limit.
After You Confirm Eligibility
Eligibility only gets you into the process. The computer-based exam decides who moves ahead, and in the 2025 cycle the unreserved cut-off for male candidates was above 82 out of 100. Plan for steady accuracy across General Awareness, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, English and Computer Fundamentals.
Frequently Asked Questions
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