English Typing Test for Government Exams in India

Which typing test does your exam use?

The English typing tests attached to Indian recruitment exams share a family resemblance: a passage of running English, a fixed time, a minimum speed, and an error rule. The numbers differ, and it is the numbers that decide whether you pass. Below is the widely published format of each; every exam page on this site repeats its own rule with the same caution to check the notification issued for your year, because the exam bodies do revise them.

• SSC CGL: the Data Entry Speed Test (DEST), a data-entry exercise of 2,000 key depressions in 15 minutes, qualifying in nature. Roughly 8,000 key depressions per hour, or about 27 WPM.
• SSC CHSL: a typing skill test at 35 WPM in English or 30 WPM in Hindi, over 10 minutes.
• RRB NTPC: a typing skill test at 30 WPM in English or 25 WPM in Hindi, over 10 minutes.
• CPCT (Madhya Pradesh): separate English and Hindi typing sections of 15 minutes each, each with a minimum net speed.
• Bank and other clerical recruitment: usually a data-entry or typing test in a similar 5- to 15-minute format with a speed and error rule set by the notification.

KDPH and WPM: the same speed in two units

Indian exam notifications quote speed in one of two units. Key depressions per hour, KDPH, counts every keystroke and scales it to sixty minutes. Words per minute, WPM, counts five-character words per minute. Because a standard word is five characters, the two convert directly: KDPH is roughly WPM multiplied by five and then by sixty, which is WPM times 300. In the other direction, divide KDPH by 300 to get WPM.

So 8,000 KDPH is about 27 WPM, 9,000 KDPH is 30 WPM, and 10,500 KDPH is 35 WPM. The 2,000 key depressions in 15 minutes of the SSC CGL DEST scale to 8,000 an hour. The result of every test on this site shows both figures, so you can read your score in whichever unit your notification uses.

The error rules decide more results than speed does

Most candidates who fail a typing skill test fail on errors, not on pace. The notifications typically define a set of mistakes, such as a wrong character, an omitted or added word, a wrong capital or a missing space, deduct for each, and compute a net speed from what remains. A candidate who types quickly but leaves errors uncorrected can end up below a slower, cleaner candidate.

The practical rule is simple: correct every error the moment you make it, and slow down until your accuracy is stable above 97 percent before you push for speed. The test here reports net speed by crediting only words typed correctly, so a word with an error still in it when you press space earns nothing, which is a stricter penalty than most exam bodies apply, so a passing net score here is a comfortable margin on the day.

How to prepare in the weeks before the test

Rehearse at the real length. If your exam is ten minutes, take the ten-minute test, not the one-minute one; sustained speed is lower than burst speed and the difference is exactly the margin many candidates miss by. Take it several times a week, in the posture and on the kind of keyboard you expect on the day.

Use the finger-level result. Every keystroke in the test is mapped to the finger that should have pressed it, so the report shows the keys where you hesitate and the finger that is slowest. Spend your practice time on those keys with the lessons rather than on more testing. Finally, practise on passages in the register the exams use, which is plain administrative and general-knowledge English with full punctuation and capitalisation; the exam-passages practice page is built for that.

What this site does and does not offer

The tests here are English typing tests on Latin-script keyboards, in the layouts common in India: US and UK ANSI and ISO, on Mac and Windows machines and laptops. They report words per minute, accuracy, key depressions per hour and the per-finger breakdown, and the presets include the 5- and 10-minute lengths used by the exams; the longest preset is 10 minutes, so a 15-minute paper is rehearsed on the 10-minute test. There is no Hindi or other Indic-script typing on this site, and it is not affiliated with SSC, RRB, MPESB or any other exam body. For the Hindi paper you will need a Remington GAIL, Inscript or Kruti Dev practice tool as specified in your notification.

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