How Steno Skill Test Mistakes Are Counted: Full and Half Mistakes Explained

Why marking matters more than speed

Many students who can take dictation at 100 WPM still fail the skill test. The reason is almost always the transcription: too many small mistakes that add up past the allowed limit. Knowing exactly how mistakes are counted tells you where to be careful and where you can afford to move on.

This guide explains the common rules used in SSC-style steno skill tests. The exact rules for any exam are in its official notice, so always read that before your test. But the general pattern below is followed by most central and state exams.

The allowed mistake limit

Your mistakes are counted and divided by the total number of words in the passage, giving a percentage. In recent SSC Stenographer notices, the limits were:

For a 1,000-word passage, 5% means you can make up to 50 mistakes. For an 800-word passage at 7%, the limit is 56. That sounds like a lot until you see how quickly small errors add up.

Full mistakes

These are usually counted as one full mistake each:

• Omission: a word or figure from the passage is missing from your transcription.
• Substitution: you typed a different word in place of the correct one (form for from, there for their, Govt. for Government when the rule says no short forms).
• Addition: you typed a word that wasn't dictated.
• Repetition: the same word typed twice by mistake.
• Missing a whole line: every word in it counts as an omission.

Half mistakes

These are usually counted as half a mistake each:

• Spelling errors: goverment for government, recieve for receive.
• Wrong capital or small letter where it matters, like a proper noun in small letters.
• Wrong or missing punctuation in some exams, especially full stops that change sentence boundaries.
• Joining or splitting words wrongly: in to for into, alot for a lot.
• Wrong singular or plural: member for members, in some exams.

Rules for half mistakes vary the most between exams. Some exams ignore punctuation completely. Check your exam's notice.

A worked example

Say the original sentence is:

The hon. Minister has assured the House that the matter will be examined carefully.

And the transcription is:

The hon. Minister assured the house that matter will be examine carefully.

The mistakes are:

1. has left out: 1 full mistake (omission)
2. the before matter left out: 1 full mistake (omission)
3. examine for examined: 1 full mistake (substitution, a different word form)
4. house for House (Parliament): ½ mistake (capitalisation)

Total: 3.5 mistakes in a 14-word sentence. Across a 1,000-word passage, this kind of carelessness quickly goes past 50.

Where most marks are lost

These are the causes of mistakes that come up again and again in practice transcriptions:

1. Small words dropped: the, a, of, to, has, have, is. They're easy to skip when your notes are rushed.
2. Wrong word forms: examine/examined, member/members, take/taken. Your notes look the same but the grammar is different.
3. Similar words confused: there/their, then/than, accept/except, affect/effect, principal/principle.
4. Spelling of long words: parliamentary, accommodation, commitment, occurrence, embarrassment.
5. Skipped lines during transcription when your eyes jump in the notebook.

How to reduce mistakes

• Read the sentence, not the word. When you transcribe, read a whole phrase from your notes, understand it, then type it. Grammar will tell you whether it's examine or examined.
• Keep a finger or pencil on your notes. It stops you from skipping lines.
• Leave 8–10 minutes to proofread. Read your transcription once from start to finish. You'll catch missing small words and spelling errors.
• Never leave a blank. If you can't read an outline, type the word that best fits the sentence. A blank is a sure mistake; a good guess is often right.
• Learn spellings of common exam words. Make a list of 100 words you misspell and revise it weekly.
• Don't add words to "improve" the sentence. Type what was dictated, even if it sounds odd.

Practise with automatic mistake counting

Counting mistakes by hand is slow, and most students are too lenient with themselves. On Steno Daily, every dictation has a transcription box. When you submit, your text is compared with the original word by word. You'll see full and half mistakes, your mistake percentage, and a colour-coded view of exactly which words were wrong.

The mock test series goes one step further: the audio plays once without pausing, you get the exam time limit for transcription, and your result shows pass or fail against the allowed limit for your post.