This page follows the Railway Recruitment Boards' own documents: the detailed Centralised Employment Notices (CENs) for NTPC Graduate (06/2025) and NTPC Undergraduate (07/2025), their corrigenda, and the schedule notices published on the RRB websites up to 7 October 2026. The CEN PDFs are scanned images, so we read them page by page and checked the tables by eye. Where we did not read something, we say so at the end.
Two cycles, one pattern
NTPC (Non-Technical Popular Categories) currently runs as two notices that share the same exam design:
| Graduate, CEN 06/2025 | Undergraduate, CEN 07/2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Published | 21.10.2025 | 28.10.2025 |
| Application window | 21.10.2025 to 27.11.2025 (extended from 20.11.2025) | 28.10.2025 to 04.12.2025 (extended from 27.11.2025) |
| Total vacancies (all RRBs, provisional) | 5,810 | 3,058 |
| Education | Degree from a recognised university | Class 12 with at least 50% aggregate (not insisted on for SC/ST, PwBD, ex-servicemen, or those with higher qualifications) |
| Age on 01.01.2026 | 18 to 33 | 18 to 30 |
Age relaxation is 3 years for OBC (non-creamy layer) and 5 years for SC/ST, with further relaxations in para 5.2 of each CEN. Vacancies are provisional and RRB can raise or lower them.
Posts, pay level and stages
Graduate (CEN 06/2025)
| Post | Level | Initial pay | Vacancies | After CBT-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Commercial cum Ticket Supervisor | 6 | 35,400 | 161 | Document verification (DV), medical |
| Station Master | 6 | 35,400 | 615 | CBAT, then DV, medical |
| Goods Train Manager | 5 | 29,200 | 3,416 | DV, medical |
| Junior Accounts Assistant cum Typist | 5 | 29,200 | 921 | Typing test, then DV, medical |
| Senior Clerk cum Typist | 5 | 29,200 | 638 | Typing test, then DV, medical |
| Traffic Assistant | 4 | 25,500 | 59 | CBAT, then DV, medical |
Undergraduate (CEN 07/2025)
| Post | Level | Initial pay | Vacancies | After CBT-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial cum Ticket Clerk | 3 | 21,700 | 2,424 | DV, medical |
| Accounts Clerk cum Typist | 2 | 19,900 | 394 | Typing test, then DV, medical |
| Junior Clerk cum Typist | 2 | 19,900 | 163 | Typing test, then DV, medical |
| Trains Clerk | 2 | 19,900 | 77 | DV, medical |
Every candidate takes CBT-1 and CBT-2. Both CENs say selection is strictly on merit across these stages. The medical standard differs by post (for example A2 for Station Master and Goods Train Manager, B2 for the ticket posts, C2 for the typist posts); see Annexure A of each CEN.
CBT-1 (1st stage)
| Duration | General Awareness | Mathematics | Reasoning | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 minutes | 40 | 30 | 30 | 100 |
- Objective, multiple choice, 1 mark per question.
- Negative marking: 1/3 mark for each wrong answer. Unattempted questions carry no penalty.
- 120 minutes for candidates eligible for a scribe.
- The CEN calls the section split "only indicative", with "some variations" possible in the actual paper.
- CBT-1 is "of screening nature". Its normalised score shortlists candidates for CBT-2, 15 times the community-wise vacancies for each RRB (RRBs may raise or lower this).
- Minimum percentage of marks: UR 40%, EWS 40%, OBC (non-creamy layer) 30%, SC 30%, ST 25%. A relaxation of 2 marks can apply to PwBD candidates if there is a shortage against reserved vacancies.
- Anyone shortlisted using a reservation (OBC, SC, ST, EWS, PwBD, ExSM) stays in that category for all later stages.
CBT-2 (2nd stage)
| Duration | General Awareness | Mathematics | Reasoning | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 minutes | 50 | 35 | 35 | 120 |
Same marking (1 mark each, 1/3 negative), same indicative-split wording, same scribe time and same minimum percentages. The normalised CBT-2 marks are used to shortlist for the CBAT or typing test (posts that have one) or for document verification (posts that do not).
CBAT, for Station Master and Traffic Assistant
- Candidates equal to 8 times the vacancies for each community are shortlisted from CBT-2.
- You must score a minimum T-score of 42 in every test battery. This applies to all categories and no relaxation is allowed.
- No negative marking. Questions and options are in English and Hindi only.
- Shortlisted candidates must bring an original vision certificate in the CEN's Annexure VII format, otherwise they will not be allowed in. Lasik or other refractive surgery makes a candidate ineligible for posts with medical standard A2.
- Merit for Station Master and Traffic Assistant is 70% CBT-2 marks plus 30% CBAT marks, drawn only from those who qualify in all batteries.
- The CEN refers candidates to the Psycho Technical Directorate pages on the RDSO website for the CBAT pattern.
Typing skill test (CBTST)
For Senior Clerk cum Typist, Junior Accounts Assistant cum Typist (graduate) and Accounts Clerk cum Typist, Junior Clerk cum Typist (undergraduate):
- Candidates equal to 8 times the vacancies per community are called.
- 30 words per minute in English or 25 in Hindi, on a PC without editing tools or spell check. Hindi typing uses Kruti Dev and Mangal fonts.
- It is qualifying: the marks are not added to merit. Merit is drawn among those who qualify, on CBT-2 performance.
- Some PwBD categories (blindness or low vision, cerebral palsy, locomotor disability of 40% or more) can be exempted with a certificate.
Practise typing on our NTPC typing test.
Merit, document verification and ties
- Shortlisting for DV and empanelment is by merit, subject to the minimum qualifying marks above. Candidates equal to the number of vacancies (1:1) are called for DV.
- Normalisation applies whenever a CBT runs in several shifts for the same syllabus.
- Tie-break: if marks are equal, the older candidate ranks higher; if age is also equal, alphabetical order of name decides.
- Zone or production unit is allotted on merit, medical standard, vacancy and the preference you entered. You can apply to only one RRB, and options once exercised are final.
Latest schedule from RRB notices
| Stage | Graduate (06/2025) | Undergraduate (07/2025) |
|---|---|---|
| CBT-1 | 16 to 27 March 2026; result and cut-offs 11 and 12 June 2026 | 7, 8, 9 May and 13 to 20 June 2026; result 24 August 2026 |
| CBT-2 | 10 July 2026; result 27 August 2026 | 17 September 2026 (tentative, per notice of 24.08.2026) |
| Typing test | 24 September 2026 (tentative) | not yet announced in the notices we read |
| CBAT | 30 September 2026 (tentative) | not applicable |
Strategy arithmetic (our calculation from the scheme)
This is arithmetic from the marking scheme, not RRB advice.
- With +1 for a right answer and −1/3 for a wrong one, the break-even chance of being right is 25%: at p = 0.25 the expected gain is 0.25 − 0.75 × 1/3 = 0. A blind four-option guess is neutral; after eliminating two options (p = 0.5) the expected gain is +0.33 per question.
- Time per question if you spread it evenly: 90 minutes for 100 questions is 54 seconds in CBT-1; for 120 questions it is 45 seconds in CBT-2. The CEN gives one duration per paper and does not mention sectional timers.
- A CBT-1 attempt of 70 right and 12 wrong gives 70 − 4 = 66 raw marks. Normalisation then changes the number, so treat raw marks as an estimate.
What this page does not have
- Per-RRB vacancy tables (Annexure B of each CEN) and the earlier cycle (CEN 05/2024 and 06/2024). We did not read them.
- Results of the Graduate typing test and CBAT, and of Undergraduate CBT-2. In the board listing we read on 7 October 2026 these were not yet posted.
- The CBAT test batteries and syllabus: the CENs defer to RDSO, whose pages we did not read.
- Languages of the paper: the CENs we read do not list them in the sections quoted here.
Try the format with a free 10-question mini-mock and the Daily Dangal. Full mocks, previous-year papers and topic practice are Pro.
Related: Syllabus · Cut-offs · Preparation strategy