City Slip vs Admit Card — Two Documents, Two Jobs
Two documents, released weeks apart, and candidates mix them up every single exam cycle. The city intimation slip tells you which city and date. The admit card tells you the exact centre, shift and reporting time, and it is the only one that gets you through the door.
Turning up with a printed city slip and no admit card means you do not sit the paper. Invigilators have no discretion on this.
The difference at a glance
| City intimation slip | Admit card | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | About 10 days before your exam | 2 to 7 days before, depending on the body |
| Tells you | City, date, shift | Full centre address, reporting time, instructions |
| Gets you into the hall | No | Yes |
| Purpose | So you can book travel | Entry pass and identity document |
| Also called | Exam city slip, city intimation | Hall ticket, e-Call Letter, Admission Certificate |
Why recruitment bodies split them
It is a practical decision rather than bureaucracy. Large recruitments run across several days and dozens of cities, and centre allocation is finalised late. Publishing the city early gives candidates two weeks to arrange trains and rooms, which for a candidate travelling 600 kilometres is the difference between sitting the paper rested and sitting it after a night on a platform.
The exact centre is held back because it can still change. Centres get reassigned when capacity shifts, so printing an address too early would strand people at the wrong building.
The naming confusion
Every body uses its own vocabulary, which is most of why this gets muddled:
| Body | What it calls the admit card |
|---|---|
| Staff Selection Commission | Admission Certificate |
| Railway Recruitment Boards | e-Call Letter |
| IBPS and banking | Call Letter |
| NTA and entrance exams | Admit Card |
All four mean the same thing. If a portal offers an "Admission Certificate" and you were looking for an "admit card", you have found it.
Mistakes that actually cost people the exam
- Assuming a friend's date is yours. Multi-day exams allocate candidates across different dates and shifts. Go by your own document, every time.
- Printing only the city slip. It looks official, carries your photo and roll number, and is useless at the gate.
- Waiting for the admit card before booking travel. With two or three days' notice and a city 500 kilometres away, you are booking at whatever price is left.
- Not checking the photo and signature. A missing or unclear image has to be fixed with the regional office, and that takes longer than the admit card window allows. The city slip is your early warning for this.
- Carrying a photocopy of your ID. Originals only. This is the most common reason people are turned away at the door.
If your slip or admit card does not appear
First, check whether it is actually due. Both are released in batches tied to your own exam date, so an empty login a fortnight out usually means nothing is wrong.
If it is genuinely overdue, contact the regional office of the recruiting body directly, with proof that you submitted your application. Do not wait. SSC states in its own notification that a candidate who cannot find their details one week before the exam must contact the regional office immediately, and that failing to do so forfeits any later claim. Other bodies take a similar line. The burden sits with you, not with them.
What to carry on exam day
- A printed admit card, in colour, with a recent photograph attached where the document asks for one
- One original photo identity document — Aadhaar, voter ID, passport, driving licence or PAN card
- A transparent ballpoint pen
Leave everything electronic at home, including smartwatches and fitness bands. Reporting usually closes an hour before the paper starts and gates shut well before the first question appears.
Currently live
Both documents are in play this week. The SSC CGL Tier-1 city slip has been out since 21 September with admit cards following from around 27 September, and the RRB Technician city slip was released on 27 September for the 6 October sitting.
Source. Based on the published procedures of the Staff Selection Commission, the Railway Recruitment Boards, IBPS and NTA, as stated in their own notifications. Timelines vary between bodies and between cycles, so treat the ranges above as typical rather than guaranteed.
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