RRB NTPC · Typing skill test
RRB NTPC Typing Test Practice
The Railway Recruitment Board's typing skill test is a ten-minute English passage at a minimum speed, taken by candidates for clerical posts after the computer-based tests. This page sets out the widely published rule, converts it into the units you can measure, and gives you a free 10-minute English test that reports both WPM and key depressions per hour.
Widely published rule: RRB NTPC typing skill test at 30 WPM in English or 25 WPM in Hindi over 10 minutes; the English speed corresponds to about 9,000 key depressions per hour. Source: Railway Recruitment Board NTPC (Non-Technical Popular Categories) notification. Rules change; verify against the current notification. CosmicKeys is not affiliated with the RRBs and offers English typing tests only.
What the RRB NTPC typing test asks for
The Non-Technical Popular Categories recruitment includes posts, such as junior clerk cum typist, accounts clerk cum typist and senior clerk cum typist, that require a typing skill test after the computer-based stages. The widely published format is a ten-minute passage typed on a computer without editing tools or spell-check, at a minimum of 30 words per minute in English or 25 in Hindi. The test is qualifying: it has to be passed, and it does not add to the merit score.
Thirty words per minute is a modest speed in a one-minute test and a real one over ten minutes. It is 150 characters a minute, 1,500 key depressions over the test, or 9,000 key depressions per hour, held without the errors that the marking deducts for. Candidates whose one-minute score is 35 WPM are often below 30 over ten minutes, which is why the rehearsal has to happen at the full length.
The English test in numbers
The requirement is quoted in words per minute; some coaching material and other notifications use key depressions per hour. These are the equivalents at five characters per word.
- 30 WPM ≈ 150 characters per minute ≈ 1,500 key depressions in the 10-minute test ≈ 9,000 KDPH.
- A safe rehearsal target: 38 to 40 net WPM over ten minutes ≈ 11,400 to 12,000 KDPH, with accuracy above 97 percent.
- Conversion: KDPH ≈ WPM × 5 × 60, so WPM ≈ KDPH ÷ 300.
No editing tools: why accuracy is everything
A distinctive feature of the widely published RRB format is that the test is taken without editing tools or spell-check. Backspace remains, but there is no automatic correction to rescue a misspelt word, and the published schemes deduct for errors such as wrong or omitted words, wrong characters, missing spaces and wrong capitals before computing the net speed. A fast candidate with uncorrected errors can fall below 30 net; a slower, accurate candidate passes.
Rehearse in the same spirit. Correct each error as you make it, keep your accuracy above 97 percent, and treat speed as the thing you add last. The test here removes a word with an error still in it when you press space from net WPM entirely, which is a stricter penalty than the exam applies, so a net score clearing 35 over ten minutes here is a comfortable margin.
A rehearsal plan
Take the 10-minute test three or four times a week in the fortnight before the skill test, on a full-size keyboard and in the posture you expect at the centre. Record the net WPM and the key depressions per hour. Between tests, use the finger-level result to find the keys you hesitate on and the finger that is slowest, and practise those with the lessons; drilling two or three weak keys does more for a ten-minute score than more testing.
Passages in the exam are plain English with ordinary punctuation and capitalisation, so practise on that register; the exam-passages practice page is written for it. On the day, start at the pace you can hold, keep your eyes a few words ahead of the cursor, and expect your attention to dip after the sixth minute. An even rhythm carries you through it; a sprint does not.
Scope of this page
This is an independent English typing test and practice site, not affiliated with any Railway Recruitment Board. The rule above summarises the widely published format and is not the official text; the exact posts, speeds, medium options, error scheme and exemptions are in the current NTPC notification and can change. The tests here are English only, on Latin-script keyboard layouts; the Hindi medium requires a practice tool for the layout named in the notification.
FAQ
What is the RRB NTPC typing test speed?
The widely published rule is 30 words per minute in English or 25 in Hindi over a ten-minute test. Confirm the figure in the current NTPC notification.
How many key depressions per hour is 30 WPM?
About 9,000. Multiply WPM by five characters and sixty minutes; divide KDPH by 300 to return to WPM.
Is the typing skill test qualifying?
Under the widely published format, yes: it must be passed for the typist posts but does not add marks. Verify in the current notification.
Can I use spell-check in the RRB typing test?
The widely published format is without editing tools or spell-check. Practise without them and correct errors with backspace as you go.
Does this site offer a Hindi typing test for RRB?
No. CosmicKeys offers English typing tests only, on Latin-script keyboards, and is not affiliated with the RRBs.