The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) of India, the RRB NTPC exam is held yearly to fill in existing vacancies. RRB NTCP (Railway Recruitment Board Non-Technical Popular Categories) is an online exam that recruits candidates from all over India. On average, more than 10 lac students apply for the exam. However, each year vacancies arise is 25-35k only.
Students with undergraduate and graduate degrees from recognized universities and boards are eligible to apply for the exam. The exam opens doors for candidates for various roles and positions at RRB. Therefore, candidates get selected for the roles like:
Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) conducts RRB NTCP every year. RRB is a recruitment agency of the Indian government established in the year 1998. The agency recruits candidates for group C and group D vacancies. In other words, it recruits civil and engineering staff on behalf of the government. It is essential to know that the agency is a part of the Indian Government and operates under the Ministry Of Railways India. Some quick facts about the board are:
| Abbreviation | RRB |
| Type | Government Recruitment Body |
| Purpose | Recruitment of Railway Staff |
| Location | 21 Boards Across India |
| Headquarters | Rail Bhavan, Raisina Marg, New Delhi — 110001 |
| Chairman | Suneet Sharma |
| Director | Kumar Rajesh Chandra |
Now That you have a fair amount of Ideas of the exam conducting authority, let us know the exam in detail.
The RRB NTPC exam is conducted every year in December. The application for the exam starts in February/March. After the successful completion of the application, one gets a chance to correct the application as well. Soon after the application the admit card is released which contains information related to the candidate and also acts as the first official document for the exam.
The RRB NTCP exam is of the National level and hires eligible Indian citizens. Selection depends on factors such as educational qualification, age, etc. The complete eligibility criteria for different posts and vacancies are available here.
Now diving deeper into the details of the exam one must keep in mind the syllabus of the exam is based on learnings of class 10, 12, and graduation levels. Here’s the 2023 (Tentative) dates to prepare for the next year exam beforehand.
| Events | Dates |
| Release of RRB NTPC 2023 Notification | Last week of February 2023 |
| Starting date of the Application Process | 1st week of March 2023 |
| Last date to submit the Application | Last week of March 2023 |
| Last date of Application Fees Submission | 1st week of April 2023 |
| Last date for the final submission of the application | March 2022 |
| Release of Admit Card | May 2023 |
| RRB NTPC 2023 CBT-1 | June – September 2023 |
Latest Notifications of RRB NTCP
The 2022 registration for RRB Exam started in February; the exam saw an enormous number of registrations. The total was above 1.cr registration. Thus, the board decided to conduct the exam in 7 phases. All of the phases of the exam are now complete except for the last phase. The Last and final phase of the exam will take place in the month of November 2022 (tentative). Moreover, the exam is divided into two parts CBT 1 and CBT 2. The application process of the exam is completely online. A tentative exam date table is given above so that candidates can forecast exam dates for 2023 until officially available.
| RRB NTPC Exam | Important Dates |
| CBT 2 (Pay Level-6) | 09.05.2022 & 10.05.2022 |
| CBT 2 (Pay Level-2) | 13th and 16th June 2022 |
| CBT 2 (Pay Level-3) | 14th June 2022 and 17th June 2022 |
| CBT 2 (Pay Level-4) | 9th & 10th May 2022 |
| CBT 2 (Pay Level-5) | 12th and 15th June 2022 |
| CBAT (Pay Level-6 and 4) | 30th July 2022 |
| RRB NTPC (Pay Level – 7) | To be notified |
Know More – RRB NTPC Important Date & Notifications
The Application fee for RRB NTPC can be broken into two parts. Part one is the basic application fee and part two is the examination fee. You must be wondering why there is a separate examination fee. Well, the answer is there are quite a few posts available for RRB NTCP and for some posts, the examination process is different which means the costs of conducting such exams are also different, therefore separate exam fees for separate posts.
The Application Process is simple. Simply head on to the respective RRB website of your state and fill the form by filling the necessary detail. Then go through the application and pay the fee once you feel the form is correctly filled. Below is the asked application fee.
| Category Of Candidates | Fee Amount In Rupees |
| Unreserved or General Category | INR 500 |
| Female/ Schedule Cast/ Schedule Tribe/ PWD/ Transgender | INR 250 |
Now that you know the exam fee, it is also important to know that candidates can get a refund of the fee from RRB. In order to get the refund click here.
The Eligibility Criteria mainly consists of four-parameter which a candidate needs to meet in order to secure a job with RRB. The four parameters are citizenship (nationality), age limit, Physical and medical fitness, and educational Qualification. These four parameters are further discussed below as applicable to different posts or job roles.
The first Eligibility parameter is the nationality of the candidate. Candidates who are citizens of India are eligible to apply for the post provided they meet the other three requirements. Candidates from Nepal or Bhutan, Tibetan refugee before 1962, a person of Indian origin who has migrated from other countries and is permanently settled in India can also apply for this exam.
The Two tables are given below the first table shows the upper age limit and lower age limit of according to the category of the candidate.
| Category | Max Year Of Birth | Minimum Year Of Birth | Maximum Age Limit | Minimum age Limit |
| General | 02 July 1990 | 01.07.2022 | 32 | 20 |
| OBC | July 02 1987 | 01.07.2022 | 35 | 20 |
| SC/ST | 2 July 1985 | 01.07.2022 | 37 | 20 |
The second table shows the age relaxation for candidates that go beyond the SC/ST and General Categories.
| Special Categories | Maximum Age Limit UG level Post | Maximum Age Limit Graduate level Post |
| Non Creamy OBC Candidates | 38 | 36 |
| SC and ST | 5 more Years Relaxation | 38 |
| Ex-Servicemen Of Defence General Category | 30 Years + Number of Years Served+ 3 years grace | 33 Years + Number of Years Served+ 3 years grace |
| Ex-Servicemen Of Defence OBC Category | 33 Years + Number of Years Served+ 3 years grace | 36 Years + Number of Years Served+ 3 years grace |
| Ex-Servicemen Of Defence SC/ST Category | 35Years + Number of Years Served+ 3 years grace | 38 + Number of Years Served+ 3 years grace |
| PWBD (General) | 40 | 43 |
| PWBD (OBC) | 43 | 46 |
| PWBD (SC/ST) | 45 | 48 |
| J & K domiciled Candidates ( 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989) General | 35 | 38 |
| J & K domiciled Candidates ( 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989) OBC | 38 | 41 |
| J & K domiciled Candidates ( 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989) SC/ST | 40 | 43 |
| Railway Quasi Administrative staffs General, OBC, and SC, ST respectively | Age – 40, 43, and 45 | 33, 36, and 38 respectively + additional 5 years or number of years served whichever is lower |
| Group C or Group D Railway Staff with 3 years’ time served General, OBC, and SC/ST respectively | 40, 43, and 45 Respectively | 40, 43, 45 respectively |
| Widows and Divorcees (not married) General, OBC, and SC/ST respectively | 35,38, and 40 respectively | Same as UG level Posts |
The medical standard and fitness of each candidate are absolutely necessary to qualify for the post. The below table gives an easily understandable medical standard for different posts.
| Medical Standards | Posts Falling in the Medical standards |
| A2 | Station Master, Goods Guard, Traffic Assistant |
| A3 | Trains Clerk |
| B2 | Commercial Apprentice, Commercial + Ticket Clerk, Senior Commercial Cum Ticket Clerk, |
| C2 | Junior Time Keeper, Junior Clerk Cum Typist, Accounts Clerk Cum Typist, Senior Time Keeper, Senior Clerk-Cum-typist, Junior Accounts Assistant Cum Typist, |
Apart From Medical Test candidates should meet the physical fitness parameters. Under the physical fitness parameter candidate of each medical standard category from A2 to C2 need to be physically strong and fit. Apart from that candidate should also meet the required vision test.
Each Post in RRB NTPC requires a different educational qualification; however, few courses have the same qualification standards. The posts at RRB NTCP fall to a maximum in the 7th pay commission. The qualifications for the post are shown in the below table.
| Post | Qualification |
| –Clerk-Trains – Clerk Cum Typist- Junior – Time Keeper- Junior – Clerk- Accounts cum Typist – Clerk- Commercial cum Ticket | 10+2 with 50% (50% not applicable for SC/ST and special categories), Computer typing Hindi and English. |
| – Traffic Assistant – Senior Commercial Cum Ticket Clerk – Goods Guard – Station Master – Commercial Apprentice | Under Graduate Degree From a Recognized University |
| – Time Keeper – Senior – Senior Clerk Cum Typist – Junior Accounts Assistant Cum Typist | Under Graduate Degree From a Recognized University and typing proficiency in Hindi and English |
RRB released the revised vacancies on January 12, 2022. The Vacancies play an important role in deciding the cut-off marks for the subjects. Presently the board has announced 35208 vacancies. For these vacancies more than 1.2cr candidates have applied to write the exam. Below are two tables that explicitly show the category-wise vacancies and job posts wise vacancies.
| Category | Total Number of available Vacancies |
| General | 15176 ( Fifteen thousand one hundred seventy-six) |
| Other Backward Classes | 8840 (eight thousand eight hundred forty) |
| Schedule Cast | 5143 (five thousand one hundred forty-three) |
| Scheduled Tribe | 2780 ( two thousand seven hundred eighty) |
| EWS | 3525 ( three thousand five hundred twenty-five) |
| Post | Number Of vacancies Under Graduate | Number Of vacancies Graduate |
| Clerk Cum Typist – Junior and Senior Respectively | 4300 | 2854 |
| Accounts cum Typist – Junior and Senior Respectively | 760 | 3147 |
| Time Keeper- Junior and Senior Respectively | 11 | 06 |
| Trains Clerk and traffic assistant Respectively | 592 | 88 |
| Commercial cum ticket clerk- Junior and Senior Respectively | 4940 | 5638 |
| Commercial Apprentice | – | 259 |
| Station Master | – | 6865 |
| Goods guard | – | 5748 |
| Total | 10603 | 24605 |
The Salary for different roles of RRB NTPC is stated below. The salaries both for UG level and Graduate level posts are mentioned here. The Graduate-level posts start from Traffic Assistant.
|
Level |
Post Name |
7th Pay commission Level |
Starting salary |
|
Undergraduate Level |
Junior Clerk Cum Typist |
2 |
₹ 19900 |
|
Junior Time Keeper |
2 |
₹ 19900 |
|
|
Trains Clerk |
2 |
₹ 19900 |
|
|
Accounts Clerk Cum Typist |
2 |
₹ 19900 |
|
|
Commercial Ticket Clerk |
3 |
₹ 21700 |
|
|
Graduate Level |
Traffic Assistant |
4 |
₹ 25500 |
|
Senior Commercial cum Ticket clerk |
5 |
₹ 29200 |
|
|
Goods Guard |
5 |
₹ 29200 |
|
|
Senior Clerk Cum Typist |
5 |
₹ 29200 |
|
|
Junior Account Assistant Cum Typist |
5 |
₹ 29200 |
|
|
Senior timekeeper |
5 |
₹ 29200 |
|
|
Commercial Apprentice |
6 |
₹ 35400 |
|
|
Station Master |
6 |
₹ 35400 |
The syllabus of the RRB NTPC exam consists of three subjects – Mathematics, General Intelligence and Reasoning, and General Awareness. Major chapters of these subjects are mentioned below.
The RRB NTPC exam consists of five stages in total. They are CBT 1, CBT 2, Aptitude test, Document Verification, and Medical Test. The fourth stage is an essential for a candidate to verify the documents in order to finally secure a job. Each of the stages exam patterns is shown below there is negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer.
| Section | Number of Questions | Total Marks |
| Mathematics | 30 | 30 |
| Reasoning | 30 | 30 |
| General Awareness (GK) | 40 | 40 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
| Section | Number of Questions | Total Marks |
| Mathematics | 35 | 35 |
| Reasoning | 35 | 35 |
| General Awareness (GK) | 50 | 50 |
| Total | 120 | 120 |
The CBAT exam is only for qualifying candidates for the posts of Traffic Assistant and station Master. The CBAT question will be available in Hindi and English only. The questions will be divided into six sections and the candidate will have to qualify in all six of them. A candidate has to score a minimum of 30% in CBAT and 70% in CBT-2 in order to proceed to document verification.
Candidates that pass in the CBT -2 exams qualify for the typing skill test. It is the last stage for selection except for document verification and medical test. In this test, candidates need to type at least 30 words in English and at least 25 words in Hindi in order to qualify further.
After the candidate clears all the tests of NTPC then the documents of the candidates are verified. Apart from this a medical check-up of the candidate is also done to check the physical fitness of the candidate.
Know More – RRB NTPC Exam Pattern and Syllabus
The admit card for the 7th phase was released on 19th July. The admit card is an official document. Every candidate should keep it safe at least until the entire selection and on boarding process is over..
The following instructions will let you download your RRB NTPC 2022 admit card:
It is advised to bring two printed copies of your RRB NTPC 2022 admit card and one form of photo identification with you to the exam.
Know More – RRB NTPC Admit Card and Interview call letter
The CBAT Level 6 test RRB NTPC scorecard 2022 is now available. The test participants must go the RRB website and download their scorecard. The 2022 RRB NTPC DV round notice is available.
For the CBT 2 Exam held for Pay Levels 2, 3, and 5, the RRB NTPC CBT 2 Answer Key has been made available at all regional websites of Indian Railways, but the link is the same for all zones. The article below has been updated with a direct link to the RRB NTPC CBT 2 Answer Key 2022, and candidates can now use it to review their answers. Candidates have until June 27, 2022, to file objections regarding the RRB NTPC CBT 2 Answer Key (11:55 pm).
RRB NTPC exam results are pending, for some of the states. Likely the board will release the result of all the remaining by September. The answer key for the exam will also be available till September end. The students have written the RRB exam for different states, in which consist of 15different languages. However, students can expect the results to be available by September end. Once the result is announced or any notification for the same or for answer key is released you can check this page for links or the latest updates.
Know More – RRB NTPC Result & Cut off Marks
The application process for the RRB exam is completely online. Simply follow the steps given below to apply for the vacancies.
Check Out Other Exams:
RPF Constable Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
RRB JE Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
RPF SI Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
RRB ALP Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification
Ans. RRB NTPC is the exam for Railway Recruitment Board for Non-Technical Popular Categories. RRB conducts the exam every year and recruits candidates from national over India. The exam higher candidates for non-core technical posts and the payment for the same starts from level 2 till level 6 as per the 7th pay commission. Recently there were 1 crore candidates who registered themselves for this exam whereas the vacancy for the same was only 30k+.
Ans. The syllabus of the exam is not vast and a student or candidate with proper discipline can cover the syllabus easily. However, the tough part lies with the fact that seats are very low when compared to the number of candidates appearing for the exam. The answer for the question can vary from candidate to candidate therefore complete the syllabus take mocks and determine where you stand by analyzing your mocks before the exam and practice accordingly.
Ans. The starting salary of RRB NTPC is INR 19900 and goes up to INR 35400. The salary starts at level 2 of the seventh CPC and goes up to the 6th level. The salary comprises of components like basic pay, grade pay, DA, TA, and HRA. The entire starting salary for each and every post is given in this article. Please check it for better understanding.
Ans. A 12th pass can write the RRB NTPC exam and secure a job. Moreover, the 12th-pass candidates can apply for the following posts.