RRB NTPC UG Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

The stages

1. 1st Stage CBT: common to all four posts, screening only.
2. 2nd Stage CBT: common to all four posts. This one decides merit.
3. Computer Based Typing Skill Test: only for Junior Clerk cum Typist and Accounts Clerk cum Typist, and qualifying only.
4. Document Verification and Medical Examination for all posts.

1st Stage CBT: 100 questions, 90 minutes

2nd Stage CBT: 120 questions, 90 minutes

One mark a question in both stages. Both papers run 90 minutes, or 120 for scribe-eligible candidates. The CEN calls the section split indicative, so it may vary.

Negative marking and the qualifying bar

1/3 mark is deducted for every wrong answer in both CBTs.

PwBD candidates may be relaxed by 2 marks where there's a shortage against reserved vacancies.

The Typing Skill Test

For the two typist posts only, and qualifying: its marks don't count towards merit.

• 30 words per minute in English or 25 in Hindi.
• On a personal computer only, without editing tools or spell-check.
• Hindi typing uses the Krutidev and Mangal fonts.

Candidates permanently disabled by blindness or low vision, cerebral palsy, or locomotor disability of not less than 40% permanent disability are exempt, on uploading a scanned Typing Skill Test Exemption Certificate from the competent medical board in the prescribed format. Their merit is drawn on the 2nd Stage CBT alone.

Both CBTs draw on the same three subjects. The stages differ in the number of questions and the standard, not in the ground covered.

General Awareness (40 questions in CBT 1, 50 in CBT 2)

Current events of national and international importance; games and sports; art and culture of India; Indian literature; monuments and places of India; general science and life science up to 10th CBSE; history of India and the freedom struggle; physical, social and economic geography of India and the world; Indian polity and governance (constitution and political system); general scientific and technological developments including the space and nuclear programme of India; UN and other important world organizations; environmental issues concerning India and the world at large; basics of computers and computer applications; common abbreviations; transport systems in India; Indian economy; famous personalities of India and the world; flagship government programmes; flora and fauna of India; important government and public sector organizations of India.

Mathematics (30 in CBT 1, 35 in CBT 2)

Number system, decimals, fractions, LCM, HCF, ratio and proportions, percentage, mensuration, time and work, time and distance, simple and compound interest, profit and loss, elementary algebra, geometry and trigonometry, elementary statistics.

General Intelligence and Reasoning (30 in CBT 1, 35 in CBT 2)

Analogies, completion of number and alphabetical series, coding and decoding, mathematical operations, similarities and differences, relationships, analytical reasoning, syllogism, jumbling, Venn diagrams, puzzle, data sufficiency, statement-conclusion, statement-courses of action, decision making, maps, interpretation of graphs.

The CEN describes these lists as illustrative, not exhaustive.

Qualification

12th (+2 stage) or equivalent, with not less than 50% in aggregate. The 50% is not insisted upon for:

• SC and ST candidates;
• Persons with Benchmark Disability;
• ex-servicemen;
• candidates with a qualification higher than 12th (+2 stage).

For Junior Clerk cum Typist and Accounts Clerk cum Typist, typing proficiency in English or Hindi on a computer is essential.

You must hold the qualification on the crucial date. If you're still awaiting a final result, don't apply.

Age: 18 to 30, as on 1 January 2026

Relaxations: 5 years for SC and ST; 3 for OBC-NCL; 3, 6 or 8 years by category for ex-servicemen with six months' service after attestation, after deducting length of service; 10, 13 or 15 years by category for PwBD; maximum ages of 40, 43 or 45 for serving Railway Group C and erstwhile Group D staff and substitutes with three years' service; and 35, 38 or 40 for women who are widowed, divorced or judicially separated and not remarried.

Relaxations aren't cumulative. You get the largest one, not the sum. SC, ST and OBC-NCL candidates applying against UR vacancies get no relaxation. PwBD candidates against UR vacancies get the PwBD-UR relaxation only.

The date of birth in the application must match your SSC, SSLC or matriculation certificate exactly. Any difference disqualifies you, and no change is allowed later.

Medical standards

B2 for Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, C2 for the two typist posts, A3 for Trains Clerk. Trains Clerk also needs a self-declaration about LASIK or other corrective eye surgery, in the format at Annexure VII of the CEN.

1. 1st Stage CBT. Screening only, set to the educational standard of the posts. Normalised marks shortlist at 15 times the community-wise vacancies of the chosen RRB.
2. 2nd Stage CBT. Normalised marks decide merit. For posts with no typing test they shortlist straight to Document Verification. For the two typist posts they shortlist to the Typing Skill Test first.
3. Typing Skill Test (typist posts only), held for up to eight times the community-wise vacancies of each post. Qualifying; marks don't count.
4. Document Verification and Medical Examination for all posts.

Submit only one online application, through any RRB website. Marks are normalised wherever a stage runs in more than one session.

Aadhaar biometric check at the centre

Aadhaar-linked biometric authentication is done at the centre before you enter the hall. Bring the original Aadhaar card or a printout of an e-verified Aadhaar. RRBs warn that the Aadhaar must be unlocked in the UIDAI system before you arrive. It should also carry the correct name, the date of birth as on your Class 10 certificate, a current photograph, biometrics updated after the age of 14, address and father's name. A locked or stale record has to be fixed days before, not at the gate.

Commercial cum Ticket Clerk starts Rs 1,800 a month higher in basic pay than the other three.

On top of basic pay come Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance and Transport Allowance at the rates for the posting, plus departmental allowances. These move with DA revisions and city classification, so there's no single gross figure.

Apply online at rrbapply.gov.in.

Fee, and how much comes back

Only candidates who sit the 1st Stage CBT get the refund. Payment is online only (internet banking, debit or credit card, or UPI), and you bear the service charges. An application without the fee is summarily rejected.

EBC

EBC is not OBC or EWS, and it isn't the Extremely Backward Class certificate some states issue. To claim the EBC concession you must already hold the EBC certificate, a BPL card or an Izzat MST when you fill the form, enter its details, and produce it in original at Document Verification. A certificate issued after the closing date won't be accepted.

Minorities

Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians (Parsis). To keep the fee waiver you must give an affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper, in the CEN's format, naming your community at Document Verification. Otherwise the candidature is liable to be rejected.

The RRBs fix the date, time and venue for both CBTs, the Typing Skill Test, Document Verification and the Medical Examination, and tell you in due course.

Requests to postpone, or to change the venue, date or shift, are not entertained under any circumstances.

CEN No. 07/2025 was published on the RRB websites on 28 October 2025. Corrigendum 1 of 27 November 2025 extended the application window.

The corrigendum also moved the crucial date, so a certificate dated between 27 November and 4 December 2025 became acceptable.

Where the cycle stands

For each stage the RRB websites release:

• the Exam City and Date link, with the travel authority for SC and ST candidates, 10 days before the exam;
• the e-call letter, 4 days before.

Bring the e-call letter and your Aadhaar (see the biometric check under Selection Process). If you haven't yet authenticated your identity at rrbapply.gov.in, do it in advance.

No calculators or electronic gadgets. Anyone found with a mobile phone, Bluetooth device or any other wireless device, working or switched off, has their candidature cancelled and may be debarred from RRB exams.

Mock tests go up on the RRB websites before each CBT so you can get used to the interface.

Results of each CBT, the Typing Skill Test and the final empanelment go up on the website of the RRB you applied to, linked from the RRB portal.

Merit is the 2nd Stage CBT on normalised marks. The 1st Stage only shortlists, and typing test marks don't count.

If you were shortlisted for the 2nd Stage using an OBC-NCL, SC, ST, EWS, PwBD or ex-servicemen reservation, you stay in that category for every later stage.

The qualifying percentages (UR and EWS 40%, OBC-NCL 30%, SC 30%, ST 25%) only make your paper count. Shortlisting is a separate, higher bar: 15 times the vacancies into CBT 2, then merit against the vacancies (or 8 times, for the typing test).

Every cut-off is drawn RRB-wise, community-wise and post-wise on normalised marks, so the same score can clear in one board and miss in another. Commercial cum Ticket Clerk has 2,424 vacancies against Trains Clerk's 77.

RRBs publish the cut-off marks with each result on the website of the board concerned, reached from the RRB portal.

1. General Awareness is the paper. It's 40 of 100 questions in CBT 1 and 50 of 120 in CBT 2, more than either other subject. Most candidates treat it as a side section. Here it moves the merit list more than anything else.
2. Prepare the GA syllabus as written, not current affairs alone. The list runs from general science to 10th CBSE through polity, geography, history, the space and nuclear programme, transport systems, flagship schemes and public sector organisations.
3. Put Commercial cum Ticket Clerk first if you're eligible. Most vacancies, the only Level 3 post, no typing test.
4. Only two posts need typing. If you aren't opting for a typist post, typing practice earns you nothing. If you are, practise with no autocorrect or spell-check, since the test has none.
5. Treat CBT 1 as a gate. Its marks never reach the merit list.
6. Mind the 1/3 penalty. Three wrong answers cancel one right one.
7. Sort out your Aadhaar days before the exam, not on the morning.
8. Choose your RRB on vacancies. Shortlisting is board-wise and community-wise.

• RRB portal (Indian Railways): notifications, and links to each board's site
• rrbapply.gov.in: application and Aadhaar authentication
• CEN No. 07/2025, full notification (PDF)
• Corrigendum 1 (PDF): revised dates and crucial date
• 2nd Stage CBT schedule notice (PDF): 17 September 2026, with Aadhaar instructions

Results, e-call letters and cut-offs appear on the site of the board you applied to, not centrally.

Which posts are covered?

Commercial cum Ticket Clerk (Level 3, 2,424 posts), Accounts Clerk cum Typist (394), Junior Clerk cum Typist (163) and Trains Clerk (77), all three at Level 2. That's 3,058 in total.

Do I need 50% in 12th?

Not if you're SC, ST, PwBD, an ex-serviceman, or hold a qualification higher than 12th. Everyone else does.

Is there a typing test?

Only for Junior Clerk cum Typist and Accounts Clerk cum Typist: 30 wpm in English or 25 in Hindi, qualifying only.

Do 1st Stage CBT marks count?

No. The 1st Stage shortlists at 15 times the vacancies. The 2nd Stage decides merit.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, 1/3 of a mark for every wrong answer at both stages.

What is the age limit?

18 to 30 as on 1 January 2026, with category relaxations that don't add up.

When is the 2nd Stage CBT?

17 September 2026, per the tentative schedule of 24 August 2026.

How much is the fee, and is it refunded?

Rs 500, of which Rs 400 comes back if you sit the 1st Stage CBT. Rs 250 for SC, ST, Ex-servicemen, PwBD, Female, Transgender, Minority and EBC candidates, refunded in full.

Anything specific to Trains Clerk?

Medical standard A3, plus a self-declaration about LASIK or other corrective eye surgery in the Annexure VII format.