In this guide
- Where reasoning sits in the paper
- The topics, grouped by solving time
- A five-week order, and why
- The toolkit to learn in week 1
- A daily 60-minute routine
- Four worked examples: reading the type fast
- How to take the section in the exam
- Common mistakes
- Targets from your mocks
- Diagnostic set: one question per type
- What to do next
General Intelligence and Reasoning carries as many questions as Mathematics in RRB NTPC, and it asks for no memorised facts. That makes it the section where daily practice pays back fastest. A candidate who is slow and unsure today can become quick and accurate in five or six weeks, because the question types repeat and each type has a method.
The catch is that reasoning mistakes are rarely about intelligence. They come from misreading "left" for "right", assuming a gender the question never gave, or trusting a pattern after checking only two terms. This plan is built to fix those habits as much as to cover topics.
Where reasoning sits in the paper
| Stage | Reasoning questions | Total questions | Time for the whole paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBT 1 | 30 | 100 | 90 minutes |
| CBT 2 | 35 | 120 | 90 minutes |
Each wrong answer costs one-third of a mark. Three wrong answers wipe out one right one, so a careless guess is expensive.
A useful target: finish the reasoning section in about 20–25 minutes in CBT 1, leaving time for mathematics and general awareness. In CBT 2, with 20 more questions in the same 90 minutes, the pressure is higher, so speed built now pays off later.
The topics, grouped by solving time
| Type | Topics | Aim per question |
|---|---|---|
| Quick | Analogy, odd one out, number and letter series, coding–decoding, mathematical operations | Under 40 seconds |
| Medium | Blood relations, directions, order and ranking, Venn diagrams, syllogism, calendars and clocks | 40–60 seconds |
| Long | Seating arrangement, puzzles, data sufficiency, statements and conclusions, decision making | 60–120 seconds |
Quick types usually make up a large share of the section, so they are the first place to build speed. Long types are where time disappears, so they need a fixed method and a willingness to skip.
A five-week order, and why
| Week | Topics | Why here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Analogy, odd one out, number series, letter series | Builds the number and letter sense every later topic uses |
| 2 | Coding–decoding, mathematical operations, jumbling of words | Uses letter positions from week 1 |
| 3 | Blood relations, directions, order and ranking, calendars and clocks | Diagram topics: learn to draw before you think |
| 4 | Venn diagrams, syllogism, statements and conclusions | Logic topics that need careful reading |
| 5 | Seating arrangement, puzzles, data sufficiency, decision making, non-verbal | Long types that combine all the earlier skills |
After week 5, do one mixed set of 30 questions every day under a timer. Mixing matters because the exam does not tell you which topic comes next.
The toolkit to learn in week 1
Most quick questions depend on knowing letter positions without counting on your fingers.
| Letter | E | J | O | T | Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
- EJOTY gives you anchors every five letters. To find R, go to O (15) and count three: 18.
- Opposite letters add up to 27: A–Z, B–Y, C–X, H–S, M–N.
- Backward position = 27 − forward position. So F is 6th from the start and 21st from the end.
- Squares to 20 and cubes to 10. Series and analogies lean on them constantly.
- Primes up to 50: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47.
A daily 60-minute routine
- 10 minutes: 15 quick questions (series, analogy, coding) against a timer.
- 30 minutes: learn or revise one topic, then solve 20 questions on it.
- 15 minutes: 3–5 long questions (a puzzle or a seating arrangement).
- 5 minutes: mark answers and write every mistake in an error log, with its cause.
The error log is the part most candidates skip. It is also the part that stops you repeating the same mistake in the exam.
Four worked examples: reading the type fast
Q1. Series. 2, 5, 11, 23, 47, ?
Differences are 3, 6, 12, 24, each doubling, so the next difference is 48. Answer: 95. The same result comes from "× 2 + 1" on each term, which is a good cross-check.
Q2. Coding. If TRAIN is coded USBJO, how is COACH coded?
T → U, R → S, A → B, I → J, N → O: every letter moves one place forward. COACH → DPBDI.
Q3. Blood relation. A is the son of B. B is the sister of C, and C is male. How is C related to A?
B is a sister, so B is female, and B is A's mother. C is B's brother. So C is A's maternal uncle.
Q4. Ranking. In a row of 30 people, R is 12th from the left. What is R's position from the right?
30 − 12 + 1 = 19th. The +1 is there because R is counted from both ends.
How to take the section in the exam
- First pass: answer every quick question you can solve in under 40 seconds.
- Second pass: medium questions, with a diagram for each.
- Third pass: long questions, one at a time. If a puzzle has not settled after two minutes, mark it for review and move on.
- Never guess blind. Eliminate at least two options before guessing. With one-third negative marking, a blind guess among four options gains nothing on average.
Common mistakes
- Solving diagram topics in your head. Blood relations, directions and seating need a sketch, every time.
- Checking a pattern on two terms. A rule must fit every term or letter.
- Assuming a gender. A name tells you nothing; only a relation word like "brother" or "mother" does.
- Reading "right" as "left" in a circle. For people facing the centre, right is anticlockwise.
- Spending five minutes on one puzzle while three quick questions wait.
Targets from your mocks
| Mock | Attempted | Correct | Accuracy | Time on reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 |
Aim for accuracy above 90% first. Once accuracy holds, work on bringing the time down.
Diagnostic set: one question per type
- Find the next number: 5, 10, 20, 40, ?
- Which letter is 8th to the right of the 11th letter from the left in the English alphabet?
- What is the opposite letter of H (taking A ↔ Z)?
- Find the odd one out: 121, 169, 196, 250
- Author : Book :: Composer : ? (a) Song (b) Painting (c) Statue (d) Film
- If each letter moves two places back, how is CODE written?
- A student is 14th from the left and 9th from the right in a row. How many students are in the row?
- A person walks 4 km east, turns left and walks 3 km. How far are they from the start, and in which direction?
Answers:
- 80. Each term doubles.
- S. The 11th letter is K; 11 + 8 = 19, which is S.
- S. H is 8th; 27 − 8 = 19, which is S.
- 250. The others are perfect squares (11², 13², 14²); 250 is not.
- (a) Song. An author creates a book; a composer creates music.
- AMBC. C → A, O → M, D → B, E → C.
- 22. 14 + 9 − 1.
- 5 km, north-east. Facing east, a left turn means north; √(16 + 9) = 5.
What to do next
- Learn EJOTY and the opposite-letter pairs until you can answer any letter in two seconds.
- Start week 1 with the analogy guide, then move to series.
- In week 2, work through coding–decoding with the letter table beside you.
- In week 5, practise seating arrangement with a timer and a strict two-minute skip rule.
- Keep an error log from day one and read it before every mock.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Railway Recruitment Boards website .
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