Everything here starts from the official scheme in the Railway Recruitment Boards' notices for NTPC Graduate (CEN 06/2025) and Undergraduate (CEN 07/2025). Facts from the notices are cited; advice that is ours is labelled as ours. Details of marks and timing are on the exam pattern page and the topic list is on the syllabus page.
1. Know where the marks are
CBT-1 only screens, but you cannot reach CBT-2 without it, and CBT-2 decides merit. The two papers have the same shape:
| Subject | CBT-1 questions | Share | CBT-2 questions | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | 40 | 40% | 50 | 42% |
| Mathematics | 30 | 30% | 35 | 29% |
| Reasoning | 30 | 30% | 35 | 29% |
| Total | 100 | 120 |
General Awareness is the biggest block in both. Our note: many aspirants spend most of their time on Maths because it feels more "learnable". On the numbers, a candidate who is average in Maths and Reasoning but very strong in General Awareness has a real advantage. The CEN calls the split indicative, so keep a small buffer for variation.
2. Know the cut-off scale
The published cut-offs are normalised and out of 100. In the Graduate CBT-1 sheets we read, UR cut-offs for the main posts ranged from about 71 to 90, depending on the RRB and post, against a floor of 40% for UR. See cut-offs. Our note: aim for your mocks to sit well above the floor, and treat the cut-off figures as a distance to cover, not a target to scrape.
3. Know your time per question
| Paper | Questions | Duration | Seconds per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBT-1 | 100 | 90 minutes | 54 |
| CBT-2 | 120 | 90 minutes | 45 |
CBT-2 is the tighter paper. Our note: General Awareness items are usually fast or impossible (you know it or you do not), so the time you save there is what you spend on Maths and puzzles. Practise a first pass that takes every question you can finish in under 30 seconds.
4. Decide when to guess
Marking is +1 for a right answer and −1/3 for a wrong one in both CBTs.
- Break-even chance of being right is 25%. At that point the expected gain is 0.25 − 0.75 × 1/3 = 0.
- After eliminating two of four options (a 50% chance), the expected gain is +0.33 per question.
- After eliminating one option (about 33%), it is +0.11.
This is arithmetic from the marking scheme, not a rule from RRB. Track "guess accuracy" in your mock log (section 7) and adjust from your own data.
5. A four-phase plan
Move between phases on mock results, not on dates.
Phase 1: Foundation. Go through the syllabus subject by subject. For Maths, begin with number work and arithmetic (percentage, ratio, profit and loss, time and work, time and distance, interest), which are the most named topics. For Reasoning, build the verbal topics (series, coding, syllogism, relationships). For General Awareness, start the daily current-affairs habit and a static-GK notebook now.
Phase 2: Topic practice. Untimed sets by topic, then lightly timed ones. Accuracy first. Use Pareeksha's topic-wise practice (Pro) or any set that tags questions by topic, so you can see which topic leaks marks.
Phase 3: Timed sections. Practise one subject at a time against a clock set to the per-question seconds above. Mix in the less glamorous General Awareness items the CEN names: transport systems in India, flagship government programmes, abbreviations, public sector organisations.
Phase 4: Full mocks and analysis. Sit full 100-question and 120-question papers in the real format. Spend as long analysing each mock as you spent sitting it.
6. Subject tactics from the syllabus
- Mathematics: the notices name school-level topics (percentage, ratio, mensuration, geometry, trigonometry, elementary algebra and statistics). Keep a one-page formula sheet and revise it on a schedule.
- Reasoning: the list includes data sufficiency, statement-conclusion, statement-courses of action and maps, which many aspirants skip. Do not skip topics the CEN names.
- General Awareness: the science part is limited to Class 10 CBSE level by the CEN's own words, so school-level science is the target. Allocate the saved time to polity, geography, economy and current events.
- Station Master and Traffic Assistant (CBAT): you need a T-score of at least 42 in each battery, with no relaxation, and the final merit is 70% CBT-2 plus 30% CBAT. Our note: because CBAT qualification is binary and has no negative marking, do not leave it to the last week. Read the RDSO Psycho Technical Directorate guidelines the CEN points to.
- Typist posts: you need 30 WPM in English or 25 WPM in Hindi, without spell check or editing. The test is qualifying, so after the speed is reached extra speed does not add marks. Practise on our NTPC typing test a few times a week once CBT-2 preparation starts.
7. A weekly mock-analysis routine
After each mock, write each wrong or skipped question into a log with one tag:
- Concept gap: you did not know the idea. Study it, then do 10 questions.
- Formula or fact slip: you knew it but misremembered. Put it on the revision sheet.
- Time: you ran out of time. Practise that subject against its clock.
- Careless: misread the question or option. Slow the first read, not the whole paper.
- Bad guess: you guessed and lost marks. Guess only after elimination (section 4).
Count the tags weekly. The largest tag is next week's work. Compare your percentile, not just your marks: on Pareeksha every candidate in a cohort sits the same fixed paper, so percentile shows where you stand on identical questions. See how it works.
8. Choosing an RRB
You can apply to only one RRB and the options you enter are final, per the CEN. The cut-off sheets show that the same post can close at marks about 10 apart in different RRBs. Our note: before the next notice, read the previous sheets for the RRBs you could choose and compare them with your mock percentile.
9. Free and paid practice on Pareeksha
- Free: a 10-question mini-mock to try the format, and the Daily Dangal quiz.
- Pro: full CBT-pattern mocks, previous-year papers and topic-wise practice.
For a Hindi walk-through of the syllabus and pattern, see our NTPC syllabus and pattern guide in Hindi.
What this page does not have
- Chapter-wise weightage: the notices give none and we do not estimate it.
- CBAT battery details and past CBAT papers.
- Study material recommendations. We have not tied advice to a book list.
Related: Syllabus · Exam pattern · Cut-offs