The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) had issued a notification last year to fill 11,558 Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) posts. The application process was completed between September and October 2024. Despite the limited number of vacancies, the recruitment drive has become one of the largest in the country, with an unprecedented 1.21 crore applicants from across India, clearly reflecting the growing unemployment issue. RRB has recently released the application statistics and announced a tentative schedule for the first stage of the selection process.

According to the latest update, the Computer-Based Test (CBT-1) is scheduled to be conducted in June 2025. Candidates will be able to download their city intimation slips 10 days prior to the exam, and the official admit cards will be made available 4 days before the scheduled test date. The exam will be held online nationwide and conducted in three shifts each day to accommodate the large number of candidates. Shift 1 will be held from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM with reporting at 7:30 AM, Shift 2 from 12:45 PM to 2:15 PM with reporting at 11:15 AM, and Shift 3 from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM with reporting at 3:00 PM.

The CBT-1 will consist of 100 multiple-choice questions to be answered within 90 minutes. The paper will include 40 questions from General Awareness, 30 from Mathematics, and 30 from General Intelligence and Reasoning. Negative marking will be applicable, with one-third of a mark deducted for each incorrect answer. Out of the total vacancies, 8,113 are for graduate-level posts, while 3,445 are for undergraduates.

Candidates who qualify in CBT-1 will proceed to CBT-2, followed by a Skill Test or Typing Test (depending on the post), and then Document Verification. The final merit list will be prepared based on performance in these stages. Applicants can log in to the official RRB website using their registration number and password to download their admit cards when available.