RRB NTPC | 2025
RRB NTPC CBT 1 2025: topic weightage and difficulty analysis
100 questions across 3 sections. Overall difficulty: easy.
RRB NTPC CBT 1 runs over many days and many shifts, with a different paper in each and a normalisation process applied across them. The section structure, marks and duration below are from the official notification and are the same in every shift. The topic counts are our compilation from candidate reports across shifts, not official data, and no question text is reproduced here. Because papers vary by shift, treat these as the reliable shape of the paper rather than a record of one sitting.
Where the questions came from
Sorted by weightage, so the topics worth the most preparation time are at the top of each section.
General Awareness
General Awareness
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 28 to 32 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| General science Physics, chemistry and biology at roughly class ten level. Chemistry tends to be the most direct and the most rewarding to revise. | 30%12 Easy | |
| Current affairs Sports, awards, appointments, schemes and railway news from the previous six to twelve months. | 20%8 Moderate | |
| Indian history and freedom struggle | 13%5 Moderate | |
| Indian polity and constitution Fundamental rights, constitutional bodies, articles and amendments. | 13%5 Moderate | |
| Geography of India and the world | 13%5 Easy | |
| Indian economy and miscellaneous Includes railway-specific static questions such as zones, headquarters and important firsts, which are worth memorising because they recur. | 13%5 Moderate |
Mathematics
Mathematics
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 22 to 26 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Arithmetic: percentage, profit and loss, ratio and average The most predictable block in the paper and the one to secure first. | 30%9 Easy | |
| Time, speed, distance and time and work Trains-based speed and distance questions appear more often here than in banking papers, for obvious reasons. | 17%5 Moderate | |
| Number system, LCM and HCF | 13%4 Easy | |
| Algebra, geometry and trigonometry Class ten level. Basic trigonometric identities and simple coordinate geometry recur. | 13%4 Moderate | |
| Simple and compound interest | 10%3 Easy | |
| Mensuration | 10%3 Moderate | |
| Data interpretation and statistics Usually a single small pie chart or bar graph, much lighter than in banking exams. | 7%2 Easy |
General Intelligence and Reasoning
General Intelligence & Reasoning
A realistic target for a strong candidate: 24 to 28 attempts. This is our own guidance, not an official figure.
| Topic | Questions | Share of the section |
|---|---|---|
| Analogies and classification | 20%6 Easy | |
| Series: number, alphabet and figure | 17%5 Easy | |
| Mathematical operations and syllogism | 17%5 Easy | |
| Puzzles, seating arrangement and blood relations Considerably simpler than the equivalent banking questions. Two or three variables at most. | 17%5 Moderate | |
| Venn diagrams, direction sense and statement based conclusions | 17%5 Moderate | |
| Coding and decoding | 13%4 Easy |
What this means for your preparation
General awareness is forty of the hundred questions, the largest section, and it is the one that decides railway results. Reasoning and mathematics are scoring for almost everyone, so the differentiation happens here.
General science alone is about twelve marks and is drawn from class ten syllabus. For most candidates this is the highest return on study time in the entire paper.
The penalty is one third of a mark for a wrong answer, gentler than the banking quarter. With two options eliminated, a guess is worth taking.
There is no sectional timing and no sectional cutoff in CBT 1. The full ninety minutes can be spent wherever it earns the most, which is a real advantage over the banking format.
Marks are normalised across shifts, so your raw score is not your final score. A harder shift is adjusted for, which means there is no benefit in trying to guess which shift is easier.
CBT 1 is only a screening stage. Its marks do not count towards the final merit list, which is decided by CBT 2, the typing or aptitude test where applicable, and document verification.
The paper is available in Hindi, English and several regional languages. Choose the medium you read fastest in, not the one you think looks better.
See the real paper, officially
- RRB centralised application portal
Your question paper, recorded responses and the provisional answer key are published here after each stage, along with the objection window. Objections usually carry a small per-question fee that is refunded if the objection is upheld.
- RRB Ajmer notice board
Each regional Railway Recruitment Board also publishes the notice, the answer key link and the normalised results for its own region. Use the board you applied to.
- Indian Railways official website
Links to every regional RRB, useful for finding your board's site.
Common questions
- Can I download the RRB NTPC Computer Based Test 1 2025 question paper?
- Not from this site. In India an exam question paper is a copyright work owned by the conducting body, and reproducing it commercially is infringement. What you can do is view your own paper and responses through the official portal during the objection window after the exam, and the links to do that are on this page.
- Are these topic counts exact?
- No, and we would rather say so. The exam runs across multiple shifts with a different paper in each, and the conducting body does not publish a topic-wise breakdown. The section structure, marks and timing are official. The topic counts are our compilation from candidate reports and describe the typical shape of the paper.
- How should I use a weightage analysis?
- To decide what to study next and what to skip. If one block is a third of a section, practising it has several times the payoff of a topic that carries two questions. It also tells you which questions to leave in the exam itself, which matters more than most candidates think.