RRB NTPC exam pattern 2021 comprises information on various sections and topics to be prepared, the medium of language, sectional time duration, type of questions, mode of exam, marking scheme, marks allotted to each question or section, and much more. Railway Recruitment Board had posted the RRB NTPC notification 2019-20 on 28th February 2019. According to the notification, the RRB NTPC exam is being held to fill nearly 35,281 vacancies for the posts of Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC), Level-1 Posts and Para Medical Staff, Material & Isolated Category in Indian Railways.
The RRB NTPC CBT Stage 1 question paper consists of 100 questions, which are supposed to be attempted in 1 hour and 30 minutes. PwBD candidates have been provided time relaxation, as per which they have to attempt all the 100 questions in Stage 1 exam within 2 hours.
To ace the Railway NTPC 2021 exam, candidates must know and follow the detailed RRB NTPC Syllabus and RRB NTPC exam pattern diligently.
Important Updates
- RRB NTPC’s first stage CBT exam began on 28th December 2020 (1st phase) and concluded on 31st July 2021 (7th phase)
- Approximately 35,281 vacancies will be filled through RRB NTPC 2019-20
- RRB NTPC exam will be conducted in 15 languages
- A total of 24,678 graduate posts and 10,603 undergraduate posts have been announced under RRB NTPC category
- The post of Goods Guard (Cat.No.3) in Level 5 is not suitable for PwBD candidates. So, the LD post notified for RRB/J&K has now become Nil
- Vacancies for Ex-Servicemen have been revised to 10% of the total vacancies as per extant provisions
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Key Highlights
Candidates who would be appearing for the upcoming RRB NTPC 2022 (CBT 2) should go through the exam pattern carefully before attempting the exam. Here are a few key points that they should keep in mind:
RRB NTPC Highlights
| Name of Examination | RRB Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) posts (UG & PG posts) |
| Recruitment Board | Railway Recruitment Board |
| Advertisement No. | CEN 01/2019 |
| RRB Recruitment Official Website | www.rrcb.gov.in |
| RRB NTPC Exam Date (Stage 2 CBT) | 14 February 2022 to 18 February 2022 (tentative) |
| Duration of RRB NTPC Exam Stage 2 CBT | 1 hour 30 minutes or 90 minutes
2 Hours for PwBD candidates |
| Examination Mode | Computer-based Test (online mode) |
| Medium of Exam | The exam will be conducted in 15 languages
English, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Assamese, Konkani, Manipuri, Urdu |
| Type of Questions | Objective/Multiple-Choice (MCQ) |
| Number of Questions | 100 (Stage 1)
120 (Stage 2) |
| Allotment of Marks | Stage 1
Stage 2
|
| Marking Scheme | +1 for Every Correct Answer
– 1/3 mark for every incorrect answer (1 mark will be deducted for every 3 incorrect answers) |
| Timing of RRB NTPC Exam | Shift 1 – 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Shift 2 – 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM Shift 3 – 4:00 PM to 05:30 PM |
| RRB NTPC Recruitment Official Notification | CLICK HERE |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Section-wise Distribution of Questions (CBT Stage 1)
RRB NTPC 1st stage CBT is held for 90 minutes (120 minutes for PwBD candidates when accompanied by a scribe). The RRB NTPC question pattern includes questions from Mathematics, General Awareness, and General Intelligence and Reasoning.
The General Awareness section contains the maximum number of questions followed by an equal number of questions distributed between Mathematics and General Intelligence and Reasoning.
1st stage CBT question paper of RRB NTPC will have 100 objective-type or multiple-choice questions. The level of questions asked in the RRB NTPC Stage 1 exam will be of Class 10, 12 and Graduation.
To get a better idea of the sectional distribution of questions and marks, candidates can refer to the table below.
RRB NTPC CBT Stage 1 – Distribution of Marks
| Subjects | Maximum Questions | Maximum Marks |
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 30 | 30 |
| Mathematics | 30 | 30 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Section-wise Distribution of Questions (CBT Stage 2)
RRB NTPC 2nd stage CBT is held for 90 minutes for all candidates (120 minutes for PwBD candidates when accompanied by a scribe). Candidates qualifying for Stage 1 can sit for this exam. Similar to the NTPC Stage 1 exam, the question pattern for this test also includes questions from Mathematics, General Awareness, and General Intelligence and Reasoning.
However, unlike the 1st stage test, CBT Stage 2 test carries 120 questions. Candidates can have a look at the section-wise distribution of questions of the RRB NTPC stage 2 exam in the table below.
RRB NTPC CBT Stage 2 – Distribution of Marks
| Subjects | Maximum Questions | Maximum Marks |
| General Awareness | 50 | 50 |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 35 | 35 |
| Mathematics | 35 | 35 |
| Total | 120 | 120 |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Typing Skill Test
The typing skill test in the RRB NTPC exam is held for the posts of:
- Junior Time Keeper
- Accounts Clerk cum Typist
- Junior Clerk cum Typist
- Senior Clerk cum Typist
- Senior Time Keeper
- Junior Account Assistant cum Typist
Candidates must be able to type 25 words per minute in Kruti Dev or Mangal font (Hindi) or 30 words per minute in the English language on a standard computer. However, they cannot use any editing tool and spell check facility during this test.
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Computer Based Aptitude Test (CBAT)
- Candidates who have opted for the post of Traffic Assistant and Station Master are eligible to sit for this test.
- Candidates can give this test in – English or Hindi.
- Candidates appearing for this test will be relieved to know that there is no negative marking in CBAT.
- Candidates will be given different test batteries, which will comprise of 5 or 6 tests as per the posts.
- Candidates need to secure a minimum T-Score of 42 marks in each of the test batteries to qualify for this exam.
- Irrespective of community or category, no relaxation in qualifying marks will be provided to candidates.
Please note: ONLY the candidates qualifying CBAT will be included in the final merit list
Weightage of Score for Final RRB NTPC Merit List
| 70% weightage from marks obtained in Stage 2 CBT + 30% weightage from marks obtained in CBAT |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern and Syllabus
Even though there is no fixed syllabus for RRB NTPC 2021, questions asked in the test are majorly asked from 3 subjects – general knowledge, current affairs and mathematics. All the questions asked by the Railway Recruitment Board is a method to evaluate candidates’ awareness in a different field and test their calculative skills.
Candidates will find below the list of topics for all the 3 sections/subjects related to RRB NTPC syllabus.
RRB NTPC Exam Topics
| General Awareness | General Intelligence and Reasoning | Mathematics |
| Indian Art & Culture | Venn Diagrams | Data Interpretation |
| Physical, Economical & Geographical features of India and World | Coding-Decoding | Simplification |
| Important days & dates | Direction Test | Elementary Statistics |
| Banking History | Statement and Conclusion | Elementary Algebra |
| Famous Personalities (India & International) | Syllogism | Simple and Compound Interest |
| Indian Polity and Governance | Inequalities | Speed, Time and Distance |
| Common Abbreviations | Puzzle | Ratio and Proportion |
| Books and Authors | Alphanumeric Series | LCM and HCF |
| Games and Sports | Decision Making | Decimal |
| Basics of Computer | Blood Relation | Upstream and Downstream |
| General and Life Science | Data Sufficiency | Quadratic Equations |
| Banking Terms and Organizations | Analogies | Geometry and Trigonometry |
| History of India | Seating Arrangement | Profit and Loss |
| Inventions | Logical Arrangement of Words | Time and Work |
| Important Government Organizations | Number series | Mensuration |
| Indian Literature | Percentage | |
| Awards | Fractions | |
| National and International Current Affairs | Number System |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Section-wise Topic Weightage
As already mentioned above, the RRB NTPC syllabus 2021 is divided into 3 sections. Candidates can find below the weightage given to each of the topics in the RRB NTPC exam.
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Topic-wise Weightage of Questions in General Intelligence and Reasoning Section
| Topics | Weightage |
| Coding-Decoding | 3 |
| Puzzle | 3 |
| Venn Diagrams | 3 |
| Syllogism | 3 |
| Logical Arrangement of Words | 3 |
| Direction Test | 2 |
| Statement and Conclusion | 2 |
| Inequalities | 2 |
| Alphanumeric Series | 2 |
| Analogies | 2 |
| Decision Making | 1 |
| Blood Relation | 1 |
| Data Sufficiency | 1 |
| Seating Arrangement | 1 |
| Number series | 1 |
| Total | 30 |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Topic-wise Weightage of Questions in General Awareness Section
| Topics | Weightage |
| History of India | 7 |
| Geography (Physical, Economical & Geographical features of India and World) | 6 |
| Current affairs | 4 |
| Indian Polity and Governance | 4 |
| Biology (General and Life Science) | 4 |
| Static General Knowledge | 4 |
| Physics | 3 |
| Basics of computer | 2 |
| Sports | 1 |
| Inventions and discoveries | 1 |
| Space and Defence | 1 |
| Books and Authors | 1 |
| Important Government Organizations | 1 |
| Economics and banking | 1 |
| Total | 40 |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Topic-wise Weightage of Questions in Mathematics Section
| Topics | Weightage |
| Profit and Loss | 3 |
| Speed, Time and Distance | 3 |
| Percentage | 3 |
| Geometry and Trigonometry | 2 |
| Number System | 2 |
| Simple and Compound Interest | 2 |
| LCM and HCF | 2 |
| Ratio and Proportion | 2 |
| Time and Work | 2 |
| Elementary Algebra | 2 |
| Simplification | 1 |
| Elementary Statistics | 1 |
| Decimal | 1 |
| Upstream and Downstream | 1 |
| Quadratic Equations | 1 |
| Mensuration | 1 |
| Fractions | 1 |
| Total | 30 |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Marking Scheme
Candidates will get 4 options for every question. For every correct answer, they will be awarded 1 mark. However, 1/3 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer (which is 1 mark for every 3 wrong answers). The normalisation of marks will be done to adjust the difficulty of question papers (in various shifts) and shortlist the candidates for the 2nd Stage of CBT as per their merit.
Marking Scheme
| Type of Answers | Marks Allotted |
| Correct Answer | +1 |
| Wrong Answer | 1/3 mark deducted for every wrong answer |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Qualifying Marks
The RRB NTPC qualifying marks are the minimum required marks that the candidates need to secure in the entrance examination to be considered qualified to participate in the further admission process. Candidates will find below the minimum qualifying marks related to both RRB NTPC Stage 1 and 2 CBT exams.
| Category | Cut off Marks |
| General and EWS (Economically Weaker Section) | 40% |
| SC and OBC | 30% |
| ST | 25% |
In case of PwBD candidates, another 2% marks are relaxed from the total NTPC qualifying marks.
Relaxation of Qualifying Marks for PwBD Candidates
| Category | Cut off Marks |
| General and EWS (Economically Weaker Section) | 38% |
| SC and OBC | 28% |
| ST | 23% |
RRB NTPC Cutoff Marks
Numerous factors decide the qualifying and cutoff marks for RRB NTPC exam. Cutoffs for NTPC exam are usually based on:
- Highest scores by the RRB NTPC applicants in the previous years
- The difficulty level of the RRB NTPC exam
- Zone wise number of vacancies released in the official notification
- Total number of candidates writing the exam
Based on the previous year’s cut off marks for RRB NTPC exam Stage 1 (CBT), here is the expected cut off marks of RRB NTPC 2022 Stage 1 exam.
RRB NTPC Cutoff Marks
| Category | Cut off Marks |
| General | 80 – 84 |
| ST | 66 – 68 |
| SC | 70 – 72 |
| OBC | 77 – 79 |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – Question Papers
Buddy4Study has compiled RRB NTPC previous years’ question papers in the below table. Candidates can download these to understand the RRB NTPC exam pattern thoroughly and prepare for the upcoming examination accordingly.
RRB NTPC Question Paper 2016
RRB NTPC Exam Schedule 2021
According to the RRB NTPC notification 2019, RRB NTPC exam will take place in three shifts. Candidates can check the shift-wise timing in the table below, which will be followed on the final RRB NTPC exam date.
Shift-wise Timing of RRB NTPC
| Activity | Shift 1 (09.00 am to 10.30 am) | Shift 2 (12.30 pm to 2.00 pm) | Shift 3 (4.00 pm to 5.30 pm) |
| Reporting Time | 7:30 AM | 11:00 AM | 2:30 PM |
| Gate Closing Time | 8:15 AM | 11:45 AM | 3:15 PM |
| Exam Start Time | 9:00 AM | 12:30 PM | 4:00 PM |
Selection Procedure through RRB NTPC
The recruitment through RRB NTPC exam 2019-20 is an elaborate process. The recruitment process involves the following stages of examination:
- Computer Based Test for Stage 1
- Computer Based Test for Stage 2
- Computer-Based Aptitude Test or Typing Skill Test (as applicable)
- Document Verification
- Medical Examination
To make things simple for candidates and help them get a clear overview, Buddy4Study has compiled and summarised the elaborate RRB NTPC recruitment process.
| SI No. | Level
in 7th CPC |
Name of the post | 1st stage
CBT |
2nd stage
CBT |
Skill Test
requirement |
| 1 | 6 | Station Master | Common
for all posts |
Common
For all Level 6 posts |
Computer
Based Aptitude Test |
| 2 | 6 | Commercial Apprentice | – | ||
| 3 | 5 | Senior Time Keeper | Common
For all Level 5 posts |
Typing Skill Test | |
| 4 | 5 | Junior Account Assistant cum Typist | Typing Skill Test | ||
| 5 | 5 | Goods Guard | – | ||
| 6 | 5 | Senior Clerk cum Typist | Typing Skill Test | ||
| 7 | 5 | Senior Commercial
cum Ticket Clerk |
– | ||
| 8 | 4 | Traffic Assistant | Separate for
Level 4 post |
Computer
Based Aptitude Test |
|
| 9 | 3 | Commercial cum Ticket Clerk | Separate for
Level 3 post |
– | |
| 10 | 2 | Trains Clerk | Common
For all Level 2 Posts |
– | |
| 11 | 2 | Junior Time Keeper | Typing Skill Test | ||
| 12 | 2 | Accounts Clerk cum Typist | Typing Skill Test | ||
| 13 | 2 | Junior Clerk cum Typist | Typing Skill Test |
RRB NTPC Exam Pattern – FAQs
What is the total number of vacancies released for the RRB NTPC 2021 recruitment?
Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) had released the RRB NTPC notification for the recruitment of around 35,208 vacancies for various NTPC posts.
What is the selection procedure of the RRB NTPC Stage 1 recruitment exam?
The recruitment process of RRB NTPC involves the following stages:
- Stage 1 Computer Based Test (CBT)
- Stage 2 Computer Based Test (CBT)
- Computer-Based Aptitude Test or Typing Skill Test (as applicable)
- Document Verification
- Medical Examination
How many questions will be asked in the RRB NTPC Stage 1 and Stage 2?
A total of 100 questions will be asked in Stage 1 and 120 questions in Stage 2.
How much weightage has been given to the Mathematics section of the RRB NTPC exam?
A total of 30 marks have been allotted to the RRB NTPC Mathematics section for Stage 1 and 35 marks for Stage 2 exam.
Will there be normalization of marks for RRB NTPC Stage 1 and Stage 2 CBT exam?
Yes. There will be normalization of marks for RRB NTPC Stage 1 and Stage 2 CBT exam.
