RPF SI and Constable 2026: Pattern, PET, Cut-Off, Salary, 60-Day Plan

Every year, lakhs of young people in India look at the Railway Protection Force and think the same thing: a uniform, a stable central government job, and a pay level that actually moves with the years. Then they open the notification, see a computer test, a running track and a tape measure, and wonder where to even begin. This guide is written for exactly that moment. It covers both posts, Sub-Inspector (SI) and Constable, and tells you clearly wherever the two differ.

One honest note before we start. Most of the numbers below come from the last full cycle, CEN RPF 01/2024 (SI) and CEN RPF 02/2024 (Constable), because that is the most recent complete, official notification. As of late September 2026, we could not find an official notice for a new cycle, and several websites say the recruiting body may change from the Railway Recruitment Boards to the Staff Selection Commission. We could not confirm that from an official source, so treat it as a strong rumour, not a fact. When the next notice arrives, its figures win over anything written here. Wherever a number differs between sources, we say so.

The big picture: what is RPF recruitment?

The Railway Protection Force guards railway property, passengers and passenger areas. It is an armed force of the Union, and it is separate from the Government Railway Police run by the states. People often mix the two up, so remember it: RPF is central, and its recruits are paid on the central pay matrix.

In the last cycle, the notices were issued together in April 2024, and the application window ran from 15 April to 14 May 2024 according to the secondary sources we checked. The cycle offered 4,660 posts in total: 4,208 for Constable and 452 for Sub-Inspector. Of the Constable posts, 3,577 were for men and 631 for women. Of the SI posts, 384 were for men and 68 for women. These split figures were reported consistently across the sources we saw, though we could not open the notice PDF itself.

The selection stages are the same in outline for both posts: a computer-based test (CBT), then a physical efficiency test (PET) and physical measurement test (PMT), then document verification, then a medical examination. Each stage is qualifying for the next, and the final merit is built on CBT marks. For SI, reports also mention that the merit list is based on CBT performance after the other stages are cleared.

At a glance: SI versus Constable

Point	Sub-Inspector (SI)	Constable
Last cycle notice	CEN RPF 01/2024	CEN RPF 02/2024
Vacancies (2024)	452 (384 male, 68 female)	4,208 (3,577 male, 631 female)
Education	Graduation from a recognised university	Class 10 pass or equivalent
Age (as on 1 July 2024)	20 to 28 years, including a one-time relief reported for the Covid period	18 to 28 years, with the same reported relief
CBT	120 questions, 120 marks, 90 minutes	120 questions, 120 marks, 90 minutes
Negative marking	One-third mark per wrong answer	One-third mark per wrong answer
Pay level	Level 6, starting basic pay Rs 35,400	Level 3, starting basic pay Rs 21,700
PET (men)	1600 m in 6 min 30 sec, long jump 12 ft, high jump 3 ft 9 in (as reported)	1600 m in 5 min 45 sec, long jump 14 ft, high jump 4 ft
PET (women)	800 m in 4 min, long jump 9 ft, high jump 3 ft (as reported)	800 m in 3 min 40 sec, long jump 9 ft, high jump 3 ft
Height (UR/OBC, men / women)	165 cm / 157 cm	165 cm / 157 cm
Application fee (reported)	Rs 500 general and OBC; Rs 250 for SC, ST, women, ex-servicemen, EBC	Same

Two cautions on this table. First, one source gave the Constable age band as 18 to 25, while others said 18 to 28. The difference appears to be the one-time three-year relief, so check the age line of your own notice carefully. Second, the SI physical standards are from secondary sources that describe the SI (Executive) test. If the new notice changes them, go with the notice.

Eligibility in detail

Nationality and basic conditions

You must be an Indian citizen. RPF posts also come with the usual conditions of good character, medical fitness and passing the physical tests. A candidate who is found to have hidden a case, a dismissal or a false detail can be rejected at any stage, even after joining.

Education

For Constable, a Class 10 pass certificate from a recognised board is enough. For SI, you need a graduation degree from a recognised university. If your final-year result is pending when you apply, read the notice's cut-off date for degree proof; boards and universities are not always forgiving about this.

Age and relaxations

The age is counted on a fixed date given in the notice. In 2024 it was 1 July 2024. The sources we checked reported these relaxations: five years for SC and ST, three years for OBC (non-creamy layer), and for ex-servicemen with at least six months of continuous service, three years for UR and EWS, six for OBC, and eight for SC and ST, after deducting the length of service. We could not read the notice text ourselves, so confirm these on the official PDF before you make decisions around your age.

Women candidates

Women can apply for both posts against posts reserved for them, and the physical standards for women are lower on running distance and jumps, as shown in the table above. Chest measurement is applicable to male candidates only.

CBT pattern: what you face on the screen

The 2024 CBT for both posts followed the same shape. There were 120 multiple-choice questions for 120 marks, in 90 minutes. The sections were General Awareness (50 questions), Arithmetic (35) and General Intelligence and Reasoning (35). Every wrong answer cost one-third of a mark. The paper was available in English, Hindi and several regional languages.

Section	Questions	Marks
General Awareness	50	50
Arithmetic	35	35
General Intelligence and Reasoning	35	35
Total	120	120

Qualifying marks and normalisation

Qualifying marks reported for the CBT are 35 percent for UR and EWS candidates, and 30 percent for SC and ST candidates. Because the test runs in several shifts, the Boards publish normalised marks scaled to 100, and the cut-offs you will see in the news are in that scale. This matters: a cut-off of about 76 is not 76 out of 120 raw. It is a normalised figure, and your raw score might be a bit different from it.

Is SI harder than Constable?

On paper, the pattern is the same. In practice, SI competition is thinner in seats but heavier in graduates, so the cut-off pressure is real, as the numbers further down show. Constable has many more seats but a much bigger crowd. Neither paper is about tricks. It is about accuracy under time pressure.

Syllabus, section by section

Arithmetic (35 questions)

Expect the usual school-level topics: number system, LCM and HCF, fractions and decimals, percentages, ratio and proportion, average, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time, speed and distance, mensuration, algebra basics, and data interpretation in simple form. The level is around Class 10, as the sources describe it.

General Intelligence and Reasoning (35 questions)

Analogy, classification, series (number, letter, figure), coding and decoding, blood relations, direction sense, ranking and order, syllogism, Venn diagrams, statement and conclusion, mathematical operations, and non-verbal topics such as mirror images and paper folding.

General Awareness (50 questions)

This is the biggest section and the most scattered. Think of it as five buckets: Indian history, geography, polity and the Constitution, general science (Class 6 to 10 level physics, chemistry and biology), and current affairs of roughly the last six to twelve months, including sports, awards, schemes and important appointments. Add railway-related and economy basics, and a few computer-awareness items.

PET and PMT: the physical stages

Do not treat this as a formality. Many people who clear the CBT lose their seat on the track or in the measurement line. The tests are qualifying, which means you do not get extra merit marks for running faster, but you do get rejected for missing the standard.

Physical efficiency test

For Constable, men have to run 1600 metres in 5 minutes 45 seconds, clear a long jump of 14 feet and a high jump of 4 feet. Women run 800 metres in 3 minutes 40 seconds, jump 9 feet in the long jump and 3 feet in the high jump. For SI, as reported, men run 1600 metres in 6 minutes 30 seconds, with a 12 foot long jump and a 3 feet 9 inch high jump, and women run 800 metres in 4 minutes with a 9 foot long jump and a 3 foot high jump. One source says you get a single attempt at the run but up to two attempts at each jump. Confirm this in the new notice.

Physical measurement test

Category	Height (men)	Height (women)	Chest, men (unexpanded / expanded)
UR and OBC	165 cm	157 cm	80 cm / 85 cm
SC and ST	160 cm	152 cm	76.2 cm / 81.2 cm
Special categories (as reported)	163 cm	155 cm	Check the notice

The table follows the Constable figures given by the secondary sources. We could not confirm whether the SI height and chest standards differ from these in any category, and the list of which groups count as special categories is in the notice, not here.

Document verification and medical

Document verification (DV) is where careless candidates fall. Keep originals and photocopies ready. Typically you should expect to show the following, though the exact list is in your call letter:

• Class 10 certificate and marksheet for date of birth and education (and the graduation degree and marksheets for SI)
• Category certificate in the prescribed format, with the correct validity for OBC (non-creamy layer) and EWS claims
• Photo identity proof and the photographs asked for
• Ex-servicemen, sports, or other claim documents, if you made such a claim
• Scorecard and the admit card or call letter for the stage

A mismatch between the name or date of birth on different documents is the most common trouble, and fixing it after the call letter arrives is slow. Check all documents today, not after the result. A medical examination follows, and you need to meet the physical and eyesight standards given in the notice. We have not listed the vision standards here because we could not confirm them from an official source.

Cut-off trends: what scores got people shortlisted

Cut-offs here mean the normalised CBT marks (scaled to 100) that decided who was called for PET and PMT. They differ by category and by gender. Please read the sourcing note under each table.

SI, CEN RPF 01/2024

Category	Male	Female
UR	75.96054	69.18114
OBC	73.71054	70.94694
EWS	72.72547	71.11401
SC	68.99502	65.77992
ST	67.27301	62.43095
Ex-servicemen	53.88577

These values were reported from the Boards' published SI cut-off notice, but we could not open the PDF directly and read them through search summaries. Treat them as reported, not as personally verified.

Constable, CEN RPF 02/2024

Category	Male	Female
UR	76.82	73.75
OBC	74.06	70.17
EWS	71.92	68.89
SC	70.19	66.37
ST	65.67	62.27

These Constable figures came from a single secondary website, which said they were the normalised marks released by the Boards. We could not match them to an official document, so use them only as a rough guide.

What the numbers tell you

• For general category men, both posts needed roughly 76 normalised marks. That is a high bar for a Class 10 level paper. It means accuracy, not just attempts.
• Women's cut-offs were lower than men's in every category we saw, for both posts, though the gap varied.
• The gap between UR and SC or ST was about six to ten marks. Reserved-category candidates should still aim well above the qualifying 30 percent.
• Older cycles used a different format. The 2018 Constable cut-offs, for example, were published group-wise and on a different scale, so comparing them with 2024 numbers directly would be misleading. We have not used them for trend claims.

Cut-offs also move with the number of vacancies, the number of applicants, and paper difficulty. We could not find a long official series covering several cycles in a like-for-like format, so any claim of a clear rising or falling trend would be a guess. The safe reading is this: aim for a normalised score of about 80 or more, because that clears the general-category numbers above with a cushion.

Vacancy trend

The only cycle we can document is 2024, with 4,660 posts. Websites quote vague expectations for the next cycle, anywhere from around 5,000 to 22,000 posts, and the same sites say none of those numbers is official. Ignore them. Prepare for the exam, not the rumour.

Salary and allowances

The 2024 notices placed Constable at Pay Level 3 with a starting basic pay of Rs 21,700 and SI at Pay Level 6 with Rs 35,400, both on the 7th Pay Commission matrix. The basic is only the start. Dearness allowance, house rent allowance, travel allowance and other benefits are added on top, and what lands in your account depends on the city you are posted in and on current allowance rates. We have not given an in-hand figure because we could not verify one from an official source, and any number you see on a coaching website is an estimate.

• Constable: a Class 10 entry route into a central uniformed service, with a stable pay matrix and annual increments.
• SI: a much higher starting level and a supervisory role in investigation, security and administration.

Career growth after joining

RPF has a rank ladder. Roughly, it runs from Constable to Head Constable, Assistant Sub-Inspector, Sub-Inspector and Inspector, with officer ranks above that. A Constable moves up through departmental promotions, while an SI starts higher on the same ladder and can reach Inspector level earlier. We could not confirm exact promotion timelines, seniority rules, or the share of posts filled by departmental exams, so we are not giving years or percentages. Ask serving personnel, or read the RPF rules, before you plan your life around a promotion date.

Beyond rank, the job brings a posting that changes over time, duty hours that can be irregular, and responsibilities in passenger safety, crowd control, and anti-trafficking work. It is a real uniformed job. Decide if you want that, not just the pay slip.

Section-wise strategy for the CBT

Arithmetic: protect your 35 marks

• Learn tables up to 20, squares to 30, cubes to 15 and common fractions as percentages. This saves minutes per paper.
• Start with percentages, ratio, average, profit and loss, and time and work. They give the most marks per hour of study.
• Practise a topic in a block of 25 questions with a timer of about 30 seconds each for easy ones.
• Keep an error notebook. Write the question type, the mistake, and the correct shortcut. Re-read it every Sunday.

Reasoning: the quickest section to improve

• Do series, coding-decoding, direction and blood relations daily. They are rule-based, and speed grows fast.
• For non-verbal questions, learn a small set of patterns: rotation, reflection, addition and removal of parts.
• Skip any puzzle that takes you over a minute on first read. Return to it only if time is left.

General Awareness: 50 marks that reward routine

• Use one NCERT-style source per subject: history, geography, polity and general science. Do not collect ten books.
• Read current affairs for 20 minutes daily, and revise weekly in short notes. Last six to twelve months is the realistic window.
• Make a separate list for railway and RPF facts, such as the structure of the force and recent railway projects.
• Solve previous-year style questions after every topic. GA questions repeat in shape even when facts change.

Attempt strategy

With one-third negative marking, a blind guess has a poor expected value, but an informed elimination of two options is worth taking. A sensible split is GA first, in about 20 minutes, then Arithmetic and Reasoning, but test this in mocks and keep what works for you. Leave 5 minutes for review.

The 60-day plan: study and physical training side by side

This plan assumes about three hours of study and an hour of training daily, and it starts from a basic level. If you have a job or college, scale the hours but keep the order. The physical plan is meant for a healthy person. If you have any medical condition, see a doctor before hard running, and increase load slowly.

Days 1 to 15: foundation

• Study: Arithmetic basics (number system, percentages, ratio, average); Reasoning series and coding; GA history and polity from standard books; daily current affairs.
• Physical, weekly: three easy runs of 20 to 30 minutes at a talking pace; two days of squats, lunges and push-ups; one day of mobility and stretching; one rest day.

Days 16 to 30: build speed

• Study: profit and loss, interest, time and work, speed and distance; blood relations, direction, syllogism; geography and general science; one sectional test every three days.
• Physical, weekly: two steady runs; one interval day (for example 6 repeats of 200 m fast with walking breaks); long jump and high jump practice twice a week with a focus on take-off technique; one strength day; one rest day.

Days 31 to 45: test and fix

• Study: remaining topics (mensuration, algebra, data interpretation, non-verbal reasoning); economy and railway facts; one full mock every alternate day, with a long review session after each.
• Physical, weekly: one timed run over the exam distance (1600 m for men, 800 m for women) to see where you stand; one interval day; one tempo run; two jump sessions; one strength day; one rest day.

Days 46 to 60: polish and simulate

• Study: a full mock daily in exam timing, then error analysis; revise your notebooks, formula sheet and the GA short notes; no new books.
• Physical, weekly: two timed runs near the cut-off time; one light interval session; jump practice with two attempts like the exam; mobility work; two rest days in the last week so your legs are fresh.

Track your 1600 m or 800 m time every week in a notebook. If you are more than 30 seconds slower than the target at day 30, add one extra easy run per week rather than racing harder. Sleep and food matter more than another hour of study.

A word on the CBT versus PET order: the physical test comes after the CBT in this process, but the training takes longer to build. That is why this plan runs both from day one.

Common mistakes that cost seats

• Ignoring the PET until the CBT result arrives, then finding there are only a few weeks to prepare.
• Reading the cut-off as raw marks, when it is a normalised figure.
• Skipping mocks, then discovering on exam day that 90 minutes is shorter than it feels.
• Guessing everywhere despite the one-third penalty.
• Studying GA from many sources and revising none of them.
• Applying with an old or invalid category certificate, or a name spelled differently across documents.
• Trusting unofficial vacancy and date rumours, and missing the real notice window.
• Training only for stamina and forgetting the jumps, which have their own technique.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I apply for both SI and Constable? A: Graduates meet the education rule for both, and in earlier cycles candidates could apply for both posts. Check the new notice on whether separate applications and fees are needed.

Q: Is the CBT the same for SI and Constable? A: In the 2024 cycle, yes in structure: 120 questions, 120 marks, 90 minutes, with the same three sections. The papers were separate.

Q: Is there negative marking? A: Yes, one-third of a mark for each wrong answer, as reported for both posts.

Q: What is the minimum height? A: For UR and OBC, 165 cm for men and 157 cm for women. For SC and ST, 160 cm and 152 cm. Check the notice for any special-category rules.

Q: Do PET marks count in the merit? A: The reports we saw say PET and PMT are qualifying, so merit rests on CBT marks. Confirm in the new notice.

Q: What was the SI cut-off for general-category men? A: About 75.96 normalised marks in CEN RPF 01/2024, as reported from the Boards' notice. It will change in the next cycle.

Q: Will the next recruitment be run by SSC? A: Several websites say so, but we found no official notice confirming it. Watch official channels for the real announcement.

Q: How many vacancies will there be next time? A: Nobody knows yet. The last cycle had 4,660 posts. Other numbers online are unofficial guesses.

Q: What is the starting pay? A: Basic pay of Rs 21,700 for Constable (Level 3) and Rs 35,400 for SI (Level 6) in the 2024 notices, plus allowances.

Q: Can I prepare in 60 days? A: Possibly, if you already know Class 10 maths and have a fair running base. If you are starting from zero on both fronts, give yourself 90 days or more.

Closing

RPF selection rewards two things that coaching cannot give you: steady daily effort and honest self-checking. Build your CBT accuracy with timed practice, build your running and jumping with a written weekly plan, and keep your documents clean. When you are ready to test your speed and accuracy, take full-length timed mocks on Pareeksha and use the score reports to find the exact topics where you lose marks. Then fix those, one by one.