RRB NTPC 2025-26: Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Eligibility, Dates and Preparation

RRB NTPC at a glance

The facts on this page are as per CEN 06/2025 (Non-Technical Popular Categories, Graduate, dated 20 October 2025), CEN 07/2025 (Under Graduate, dated 27 October 2025) and the exam notices the Railway Recruitment Boards issued for them up to September 2026.

Selection process

1. Online application on the RRB application portal. A candidate applies to one RRB only and gives preferences for the posts and Railway zones of that RRB. More than one application leads to rejection of all of them.
2. CBT-1 (1st Stage Computer Based Test) is common for all posts of a notice and is of screening nature. Normalised marks decide who goes to CBT-2. Candidates equal to 15 times the community-wise vacancies of each RRB are shortlisted.
3. CBT-2 (2nd Stage Computer Based Test) has 120 questions in 90 minutes. Its normalised marks make the merit list for posts without a skill test, and shortlist candidates for the typing or aptitude test where one applies.
4. Computer Based Typing Skill Test (CBTST) is held for Senior Clerk cum Typist and Junior Accounts Assistant cum Typist (Graduate) and for Junior Clerk cum Typist and Accounts Clerk cum Typist (Under Graduate). It is qualifying only: 30 words per minute in English or 25 words per minute in Hindi on a personal computer, without editing tools or spell check. Eight times the vacancies are called. Kruti Dev and Mangal fonts are provided for Hindi. PwBD candidates with 40% or more disability of the listed kinds may be exempted.
5. Computer Based Aptitude Test (CBAT) is only for Station Master and Traffic Assistant. Eight times the vacancies are called after CBT-2. A minimum T-score of 42 in each test battery is needed, with no relaxation for any category and no negative marking. Merit for these two posts is 70% CBT-2 marks and 30% CBAT marks. Candidates must produce a vision certificate in the notice's format at the test.
6. Document Verification (DV): candidates equal to the vacancies (1:1) are called RRB-wise on merit in the CBTs, the CBAT or after the CBTST, subject to the minimum qualifying marks.
7. Medical Examination by Railway medical authorities against the medical standard of the post (A2, A3, B2 or C2).

Minimum qualifying marks in each CBT: UR 40%, EWS 40%, OBC-NCL 30%, SC 30%, ST 25%. These may be relaxed by 2 marks for PwBD candidates if there is a shortage against their reserved vacancies.

Exam pattern

CBT-1 (common for all posts)

Duration 90 minutes (120 minutes for candidates eligible for a scribe). Each question carries 1 mark. 1/3 mark is deducted for every wrong answer. The section-wise split is indicative and may vary slightly in the actual paper.

CBT-2

Duration 90 minutes (120 minutes with a scribe). 1 mark per question and 1/3 mark deducted per wrong answer. Marks are normalised when a test runs in more than one session. The pattern is the same in the Graduate and Under Graduate notices; the standard of questions follows the qualification prescribed for the posts.

General Awareness syllabus

Both notices list the same General Awareness topics for CBT-1 and 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 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 Organisations
• Environmental issues concerning India and the world
• 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 Organisations of India

What RRB favours. The list opens with current events, and the section leans on them: awards, sports, appointments, schemes, summits, and science and space news of the year before the exam. General Science up to Class 10 is the next big block. History (the freedom struggle above all), Geography, Polity and Economy come as one-line static facts. Computer basics, abbreviations, transport in India (railways in particular), government organisations and flagship programmes are the small but predictable RRB-specific topics that other exams tend to skip. There is no separate English or Hindi language section in RRB NTPC.

Eligibility and age limit

As per CEN 06/2025 and CEN 07/2025, the qualification had to be complete on the closing date of the application: 20 November 2025 for Graduate posts and 27 November 2025 for Under Graduate posts. Candidates awaiting a final result could not apply.

Relaxation in the upper age limit: SC and ST 5 years; OBC-NCL 3 years; PwBD 10 years (UR/EWS), 13 years (OBC-NCL) and 15 years (SC/ST); Ex-Servicemen 3, 6 or 8 years after deducting the length of service, for UR/EWS, OBC-NCL and SC/ST respectively. Relaxations for serving Railway staff and other groups are in para 5.2 of the notices.

Fee: ₹500 for the general category, of which ₹400 is refunded after appearing in CBT-1. SC, ST, Ex-Servicemen, PwBD, female, transgender, minority and Economically Backward Class candidates pay ₹250, refunded in full after CBT-1. Bank charges are deducted from refunds, and bank details must be given in the application. There is no refund for candidates who do not appear in CBT-1.

Important dates

An exam date stays tentative until the city intimation and e-call letter come out: the city and date link opens 10 days before the exam and the e-call letter 4 days before. Aadhaar-linked biometric verification is done at the centre, so the original Aadhaar card is needed. As of 25 September 2026 no NTPC notice for the next cycle has been published on the RRB websites.

How to prepare General Awareness for RRB NTPC

General Awareness is 40 of 100 questions in CBT-1 and 50 of 120 in CBT-2, the largest section in both. It is also the fastest to answer, which leaves time for Mathematics and Reasoning. A workable plan:

1. Daily current affairs. Read GK24's daily current affairs for the 8 to 10 months before your CBT: national and international events, sports, awards, appointments, schemes, defence, space and science. Revise them week by week rather than in one go before the exam.
2. Static GK notes. Go topic by topic through GK24's GK notes: General Science up to Class 10, Indian History and the freedom struggle, Geography of India and the world, Polity and the Constitution, Indian Economy, art and culture, and the RRB-specific topics of transport in India, government organisations, abbreviations and computer basics.
3. Previous-year questions. Solve the RRB NTPC previous-year questions on GK24 to see how the board frames one-line factual questions and which topics repeat from cycle to cycle.
4. Quizzes. Take GK24's RRB NTPC quizzes daily in exam style. With 1/3 negative marking, practise leaving a question you cannot narrow down to two options.
5. The last month. Revise monthly current affairs, Class 10 science basics and static lists, and attempt the static mock test link RRB releases before each CBT to get used to the interface.

Posts and pay

Initial pay is the basic pay of the level under the 7th CPC; allowances are added as per Railway rules. Vacancies are provisional and may change; Annexure B of each notice gives the RRB-wise and zone-wise split. Medical standards: A2 for Station Master, Goods Train Manager and Traffic Assistant; A3 for Trains Clerk; B2 for Chief Commercial cum Ticket Supervisor and Commercial cum Ticket Clerk; C2 for the typist and accounts posts.