RRB NTPC posts: graduate and undergraduate levels

"RRB NTPC" is not one job. It is a bundle of posts at two levels, with different pay, different daily work, different skill tests and different eyesight rules. Two candidates can clear the same CBT 2 with similar marks and end up in completely different lives: one in a cabin controlling trains at 3 a.m., the other in an accounts office with fixed hours.

Knowing the posts early does two things for you. It helps you fill your preferences sensibly when the form opens, and it gives your preparation a concrete target, which keeps you going through a long year.

Graduate-level posts

These need a degree. The table shows the posts that have appeared in recent graduate notifications, with starting basic pay under the 7th Pay Commission.

Undergraduate (10+2) posts

These need Class 12. Graduates can apply for them too, through the separate undergraduate notification.

Older cycles had a longer list. The 2019 cycle (CEN 01/2019), for example, also included posts such as Commercial Apprentice, Senior Time Keeper, Senior Commercial cum Ticket Clerk and Junior Time Keeper. Do not assume a post exists in your cycle until you see it in the vacancy table.

What the pay levels mean

Every central government job sits on a pay level in the 7th Pay Commission pay matrix. The level fixes your starting basic pay. Dearness allowance, house rent allowance and transport allowance are then calculated on top, mostly as a percentage of basic, so a higher level lifts everything else too.

Worked example. How far apart are Level 6 and Level 2 at the start?

1. Monthly basic difference: ₹35,400 − ₹19,900 = ₹15,500.
2. Over a year: ₹15,500 × 12 = ₹1,86,000 in basic pay alone.
3. If dearness allowance is, say, 50% of basic (a round figure for illustration), the gap in basic plus DA becomes ₹15,500 × 1.5 = ₹23,250 a month.

That is why a graduate should usually aim for the graduate posts first, and treat the 10+2 posts as a second net rather than the main target. For full pay working, see the salary and allowances guide.

Three families of work

It helps to group the posts by the kind of day they involve.

Operating posts keep the trains moving and carry the heaviest safety responsibility. Commercial posts earn the revenue and face the public. Office and accounts posts keep the organisation paid, supplied and on record. None is "better"; they suit different people.

If the operating side interests you, start with our guide to life as a Station Master; there are separate guides on the other posts too.

Skill tests and medical standards

Two things beyond the CBTs can decide whether you actually get a post.

• Typing Skill Test for the typist posts: 30 words per minute in English or 25 in Hindi on a computer, as reported. It is qualifying, but failing it costs you that post.
• CBAT (Computer-Based Aptitude Test) for Station Master and Traffic Assistant: a minimum T-score of 42 in each test, with no category relaxation, as reported. It also counts for 30% of merit for these posts.
• Medical category: operating posts need A-2 or A-3, which test distant, near and colour vision strictly. A-2 has been reported as requiring good vision without glasses. Commercial posts are reported at B-2 and office posts at C-2, where glasses are allowed.

Common mistakes when choosing posts

• Chasing the level alone. A candidate who dislikes night work lists Station Master first because it is Level 6, and then struggles for years.
• Listing typist posts without typing. Typing speed takes weeks to build. If you cannot type yet, either start now or leave those posts out.
• Ignoring Trains Clerk's medical standard. It is a Level 2 post, but it sits on the operating side and has been reported at A-3, which is stricter than the office posts.
• Skipping the 10+2 notification as a graduate. If you would accept a Level 3 ticket clerk post, applying there too gives you a second chance in the same year.

How to decide what to aim for

Answer these honestly, on paper:

1. Do I have a degree, or will I have one by the date the notice fixes?
2. Do I prefer shifts and field work, or regular office hours?
3. Can I type 30 words per minute in English, or 25 in Hindi, today?
4. Does my eyesight meet A-2 without glasses? If not, A-3? If not, B-2?
5. Would I accept a small station far from home for a higher level?

Worked example. Suppose a graduate aspirant wears glasses of −3.0 power, types 20 wpm and prefers desk work. A-2 and A-3 posts are out: A-2 needs vision without glasses, and A-3 has been reported as allowing lenses only up to 2 dioptres. That removes Station Master, Goods Train Manager, Traffic Assistant and Trains Clerk. Desk work points to Junior Account Assistant and Senior Clerk, so typing practice becomes urgent. Chief Commercial cum Ticket Supervisor (B-2, no typing) stays on the list if the eye specialist confirms B-2. In ten minutes, the aspirant has a realistic shortlist and a clear to-do item.

Quick self-check

1. Which two posts need the CBAT?
2. What is the starting basic pay at Level 5?
3. Which undergraduate post has no typing test but a strict medical category?
4. Can a graduate apply for Commercial cum Ticket Clerk?

Answers: 1. Station Master and Traffic Assistant. 2. ₹29,200. 3. Trains Clerk (reported A-3). 4. Yes, through the undergraduate notification, if the CEN allows separate applications to both levels, as recent ones have.

What to do next

• Write every post from your cycle's CEN on one page.
• Get a full eye test, including colour vision, and note your glasses power.
• Cross out posts whose medical category or skill test rules you out.
• Rank the rest by honest preference and keep the page for application day.
• Check the full rules in our eligibility guide.