Railways · Railway Recruitment Boards (RRB), Indian Railways
RRB NTPC — Railway Recruitment Board — Non-Technical Popular Categories, CBT 1
The complete RRB NTPC blueprint: tier-wise pattern, topic weightage from previous-year analyses, and free chapter-by-chapter study material.
100 questions, 90 minutes, one sitting1/3 negative marking per wrong answer20x vacancies shortlisted to CBT 2 Free · tutor-verified
RRB NTPC at a glance
Conducted byRailway Recruitment Boards (RRB), Indian Railways
CycleNotified periodically by RRB for specific NTPC posts; conducted across multiple shifts/days
ModeComputer-based, MCQ only — 4 options per question, no typed/TITA questions
Eligibility10+2 (Undergraduate-level posts) or a bachelor's degree (Graduate-level posts) from a recognised board/university, depending on the specific post applied for
LanguagesEnglish, Hindi, and 13 other regional languages
Shortlisted forJunior Clerk cum Typist, Accounts Clerk cum Typist, Junior Time Keeper, Trains Clerk, Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, and — via CBT 2 + CBAT — Station Master
NTPC posts you can pursue
Station Master (via CBT 2 + CBAT)Commercial cum Ticket ClerkJunior Clerk cum TypistAccounts Clerk cum TypistJunior Time KeeperTrains Clerk
⚡ What changed recently
- CBT 1 scores do NOT carry into final merit — they only shortlist candidates (at ~20x vacancies) for CBT 2, which retests the same three subjects at greater depth and is what actually decides merit, combined with a Typing Skill Test or CBAT for specific posts.
- No sectional time lock within CBT 1's single 90-minute window — candidates can move freely between Mathematics, Reasoning, and General Awareness in any order.
- Multi-shift normalization applies: raw scores are converted to a percentile within each candidate's own shift before cross-shift comparison, since RRB NTPC runs across multiple shifts and days.
- Zero penalty for an unattempted question — only a wrong answer costs 1/3 mark, making the guessing threshold the standard 'eliminate at least one option first' rule.
How RRB NTPC selection works
Know what each stage is for before you spend a single hour preparing.
SCREENING ONLY — SHORTLISTS ~20X VACANCIES FOR CBT 2
CBT 1 — Mathematics, Reasoning, General Awareness
90 minutes, 100 questions, no sectional time lock. +1 for a correct answer, −1/3 for a wrong one, 0 for unattempted. Multi-shift scores are normalized to a percentile before shortlisting; CBT 1 marks do not carry into final merit.
DETERMINES FINAL MERIT (WITH TYPING/CBAT FOR SPECIFIC POSTS)
CBT 2 — same three subjects, greater depth
120 marks, same 90-minute format and marking scheme, but post-specific question depth. For Junior/Senior Clerk cum Typist posts, a Typing Skill Test follows; for Station Master, a Computer-Based Aptitude Test (CBAT) contributes 30% of the final merit alongside CBT 2's 70%.
FINAL SELECTION
Document Verification & Medical Examination
Shortlisted candidates undergo document verification and a medical fitness examination before final appointment to their allotted post.
The exam pattern, tier by tier
Marks, timing and negative marking exactly as per the official notification.
CBT 1 — Mathematics, General Intelligence & Reasoning, General Awareness
Qualifying/screening only — does not count toward final merit100 marks · 100 Q
90 min (120 min for PwBD candidates), no sectional time lock · −1/3 (−0.333) per wrong answer; 0 for unattempted
| Section | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 30 | 30 | — min |
| General Intelligence & Reasoning | 30 | 30 | — min |
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 | — min |
💡 Category-wise qualifying percentage: UR/EWS 40%, OBC/SC 30%, ST 25%. This is an OVERALL cutoff on total CBT 1 score, not a per-section cutoff.
Where CBT 1's 100 questions come from
CBT 1 is a common, qualifying screening stage every NTPC applicant sits, regardless of the specific post — its marks do NOT count toward final merit, they only determine who is shortlisted (at roughly 20x the vacancies) for the tougher CBT 2. 100 questions in 90 minutes, no sectional time lock, split across Mathematics (30), General Intelligence & Reasoning (30), and General Awareness (40) — click any block to open its chapters:
General Awareness40 marks · 40%
40 questions — the single heaviest section, and the fastest to attempt (pure recall, no calculation). General Science alone is roughly a quarter of this section's weight.
Mathematics30 marks · 30%
30 questions across 13 chapters, from Number System through Elementary Statistics — Percentage and Profit & Loss are the two heaviest individual topics.
General Intelligence & Reasoning30 marks · 30%
30 questions across 12 chapters — Analogies and Alphabetical & Number Series are the two heaviest individual topics, together over a fifth of this section.
Subjects in RRB NTPC
Chapter-by-chapter study material built to the exam's own blueprint.
Topic-wise weightage — what to study first
Question counts per topic, distilled from previous-year paper analyses. Click any topic with a link to open its full chapter.
| Topic | Qs in CBT 1 | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Number System | ~2-3 | Medium |
| Decimals & Fractions | ~1-2 | Medium |
| LCM & HCF | ~1-2 | Medium |
| Ratio & Proportion | ~2 | High |
| Percentage | ~3 | Very high |
| Mensuration | ~2-3 | High |
| Time & Work | ~2-3 | High |
| Time & Distance | ~2-3 | High |
| Simple & Compound Interest | ~2-3 | High |
| Profit & Loss | ~3 | Very high |
| Algebra | ~2-3 | Medium |
| Geometry & Trigonometry | ~2 | Medium |
| Elementary Statistics | ~1-2 | Medium |
🎯 RRB NTPC's Mathematics stays at a 10th-standard level throughout — no question demands more than a clean, memorised formula applied carefully under a tight per-question time budget. Percentage and Profit & Loss are tied as the single heaviest topics, and both build directly on the same successive-percentage-change logic. Time & Work, Time & Distance and Simple & Compound Interest form a closely-weighted middle tier, each rewarding a specific shortcut (rate-addition, the km/h-to-m/s conversion, the CI−SI 2-year difference) over slower first-principles derivation. Number System, Decimals & Fractions and LCM/HCF are the fastest points on the paper once their rules are automatic, while Geometry & Trigonometry and Elementary Statistics stay deliberately basic — standard-angle trig and the four core statistical measures, nothing more.
| Topic | Qs in CBT 1 | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Analogies | ~3 | Very high |
| Alphabetical & Number Series | ~3-4 | Very high |
| Coding-Decoding | ~3 | High |
| Mathematical Operations | ~2-3 | High |
| Syllogism | ~2 | Medium |
| Puzzle | ~2-3 | High |
| Data Sufficiency | ~2 | Medium |
| Statement-Conclusion | ~2 | Medium |
| Blood Relations | ~2 | High |
| Directions | ~2 | Medium |
| Analytical Reasoning | ~2 | High |
| Venn Diagrams | ~2 | Medium |
🎯 Analogies and Alphabetical & Number Series are tied as the section's heaviest topics, together worth over a fifth of the section — both reward the same core discipline of stating a relationship or pattern precisely before matching it. Coding-Decoding and Mathematical Operations both hinge on the same rewrite-first-calculate-second habit: verify a rule or substitution against the ENTIRE given example before applying it. Puzzle, Blood Relations and Analytical Reasoning are the section's most time-hungry topics, rewarding a drawn structure (family tree, seating grid) over mental tracking. Syllogism has exactly two classic invalid patterns (All+Some, Some+Some) worth recognising instantly, and Venn Diagrams resolves almost entirely via the two- and three-set inclusion-exclusion formulas.
| Topic | Qs in CBT 1 | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Current Affairs — Science & Technology | ~3 | High |
| Current Affairs — Sports | ~3 | High |
| Current Affairs — Culture | ~2 | Medium |
| Current Affairs — Personalities | ~2-3 | High |
| Current Affairs — Economics | ~2 | Medium |
| Current Affairs — Politics | ~2 | Medium |
| General Science | ~10 | Very high |
| Indian History | ~5-6 | Very high |
| Indian Geography | ~5 | Very high |
| Indian Polity & Constitution | ~5 | Very high |
🎯 General Awareness is CBT 1's single heaviest section, and General Science alone accounts for roughly a quarter of it — broad, accurate recall across school-level physics, chemistry and biology, not depth in any one branch. Indian History, Indian Geography and Indian Polity & Constitution together form the other durable-fact core: History concentrates heavily on the Freedom Struggle and Medieval India, Geography rewards a clean mental map of India's physical divisions, and Polity's Constitutional structure — unlike current affairs — never goes stale once learned correctly. The six Current Affairs chapters (Science & Tech, Sports, Culture, Personalities, Economics, Politics) deliberately do NOT pre-load specific facts that would be outdated by exam day — each teaches the recurring categories and a tracking method instead, since anything more specific stated today would likely be wrong by the time you sit the exam.
RRB NTPC resources
Everything you need to prepare.
Need structured RRB NTPC guidance?
Combine our free study material with a live course or 1-on-1 tutoring.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
100 questions, 100 marks, in a single 90-minute sitting with no sectional time lock. It's split across Mathematics (30), General Intelligence & Reasoning (30), and General Awareness (40). CBT 1 is a common, qualifying stage every NTPC applicant sits, regardless of the specific post they've applied for.
No — CBT 1 is a screening stage only. It shortlists candidates (at roughly 20x the vacancies per post/community) for CBT 2, a tougher second-stage exam covering the same three subjects at greater depth. CBT 2 (combined, for specific posts, with a Typing Skill Test or Computer-Based Aptitude Test) is what actually determines final merit.
+1 for a correct answer, −1/3 (−0.333) for a wrong answer, and 0 for an unattempted question. With 4 options per question, a blind guess has negative expected value — the standard rule is to guess only after eliminating at least one option.
A category-wise OVERALL percentage on total CBT 1 score: 40% for UR/EWS, 30% for OBC-NCL/SC, and 25% for ST (relaxable per RRB norms). This is a single cutoff on the combined score, not a separate cutoff per section — so there's no need to 'balance' effort evenly across all three sections defensively.
RRB NTPC runs across multiple shifts and days, so raw scores aren't compared directly — each candidate's score is converted to a percentile within their own shift, then compared across shifts using a statistical normalization formula. Your rank depends on your percentile within your own shift, not your raw score in isolation.
Eligibility depends on the specific post: Undergraduate-level posts require 10+2, Graduate-level posts require a bachelor's degree. NTPC posts include Junior Clerk cum Typist, Accounts Clerk cum Typist, Junior Time Keeper, Trains Clerk, Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, and — via CBT 2 plus a Computer-Based Aptitude Test — Station Master.
Take the next step
RRB NTPC — find a tutor
Pair self-study with a tutor, a live course or a coaching centre.
