RRB NTPC · General Intelligence & Reasoning

The paper that counts is the second one

CBT-1's marks don't carry forward. They only decide who sits CBT-2 — and reasoning gets bigger there, not smaller.

Thirty reasoning questions in CBT-1, thirty-five in CBT-2. General Awareness is unbounded — current affairs, polity, sports, economy, science. Reasoning is not: the railway publishes the list of question types in full, and every one of them is trainable.

For candidates preparing for NTPC posts at undergraduate and graduate level — CEN 07/2025 and CEN 06/2025.

The railway calls the 1st Stage CBT "of screening nature". Its normalised score only shortlists you for CBT-2, at fifteen times the vacancies. The merit list is built on CBT-2. Source: RRB CEN 07/2025 and CEN 06/2025, paras 13.1 and 13.2.

Reasoning across both papers

30
reasoning questions in CBT-1
35
reasoning questions in CBT-2
65
reasoning questions in total, across the two papers
1/3
mark deducted for a wrong answer, in both
A tree growing inside a mind Why start now

One section has an end. The others don't.

General Awareness has no bottom. Current events, art and culture, polity, geography, economy, science — you can prepare for two years and still meet a question you have never seen. Mathematics is finite but slow. Reasoning is neither: it is a defined list of question types, each of which becomes automatic once you have solved enough of them.

That is what makes it the most controllable block of marks in this exam. Not the biggest — the most controllable. And with a third of a mark gone for every wrong answer, marks you are certain of are worth more than marks you guess at.

Sixty-five questions across the two papers, from a list you can actually finish. Start finishing the section that can be finished.

Start today!
What · the exam

Two computer-based tests, the same three subjects — and only one of them stays the same size.

Both notifications set out an identical two-CBT structure: the undergraduate CEN 07/2025 and the graduate CEN 06/2025 publish the same tables, the same syllabus and the same marking. This is what they say.

CBT-1 · the filter

Screening only — its marks never reach the merit list

100 questions · 90 minutes · 1 mark each
  • General Awareness 40
  • Mathematics 30
  • General Intelligence and Reasoning 30
  • A third of a mark is deducted for each wrong answer, and the railway calls the section split "only indicative"
The normalised score shortlists fifteen candidates per vacancy. That is all it does.
CBT-2 · the one that counts

More questions, less time each, and marks that stay

120 questions · 90 minutes · 45 seconds a question
  • General Awareness 50
  • Mathematics 35
  • General Intelligence and Reasoning 35
  • The normalised CBT-2 marks are what shortlist you for document verification, and for the typing or aptitude test where a post has one
Same skill, more of it — and this time the marks are the merit list.
How · train the skill

General Intelligence and Reasoning, trained the way a skill is trained.

The railway prints the whole list. Both CENs name the section's contents outright — "Analogies, Completion of Number and Alphabetical Series, Coding and Decoding, Mathematical Operations, Similarities and Differences, Relationships, Analytical Reasoning, Syllogism, Jumbling, Venn Diagrams, Puzzle, Data Sufficiency, Statement-Conclusion, Statement- Courses of Action, Decision Making, Maps, Interpretation of Graphs." That is a finite list of thinking skills, not a body of knowledge, and thinking skills are built by solving the right questions, the right amount, over time. That is exactly what Master Mental Ability does.

◎

Adapts to you

Harder as you improve, easier when you slip. No time wasted on what you've already got.

↻

Back before you forget

Spaced repetition returns a question right as it's about to fade — so it's still there on the day.

✎

Solve first, then see

You reason it out before the answer shows. That effort is where recognition gets built.

☁

Calm before the clock

A moment to settle before each session. The same calm a timed hall takes away.

What this doesn't cover: NTPC is three subjects at both stages, and we train one — General Intelligence and Reasoning. General Awareness and Mathematics need their own preparation, and nothing here prepares the typing skill test, or the aptitude test that Station Master and Traffic Assistant candidates sit after CBT-2. Inside reasoning, what the app builds is the foundation the rest of the railway's own list sits on — analogies, number and alphabet series, coding and decoding, mathematical operations, similarities and differences, relationships, syllogisms and Venn diagrams.
No download needed

An app you don't download.

Open it in the phone's browser and start at once. One tap adds it to the home screen — it sits there like any app. Works on an older phone, a shared phone, any phone. No app store, nothing to chase, no space taken up.

Opens instantlyAdd to home screenWorks on any phoneNothing to install
See it in seconds

No account, no card, no install. Solve one full session, then decide.

Start free

Built by

In 2007, in his second year at IIT Delhi, Vineesh wrote a book — Master Mental Ability in 30 Days. It has sold year after year ever since, without the publisher ever marketing it.

In the years since, he built other learning products and spent a decade working with children of every background in a holistic learning centre.

This app goes far beyond that book — everything he's learned about how people actually learn, built into something you practise, not just read.

No risk to you

Don't trust us. See it work.

1

Try free

Solve a full session, no registration. Decide nothing yet.

2

Register

Like it? Sign up for 2 more days free. No payment, no auto-debit.

3

Practise daily

A little each day. The app decides what to practise and when to bring it back.

4

Share to keep learning free

Invite a friend preparing for RRB NTPC — you both earn more free days.

Your questions

Common questions

Is it really free? Will money get taken from my account?

It's free to try — no signup to start, no card, no auto-debit, nothing taken silently. Later, one payment unlocks all the content for a full year — it's a one-time payment, not a subscription, and never an auto-debit. Exact pricing is coming soon. And you'll always be able to try free first — and share the app to keep learning free.

Is this app enough to clear NTPC?

No, and we'd rather say so. NTPC is General Awareness, Mathematics and General Intelligence and Reasoning, at both stages. We train the third one. The other two need their own preparation, and so does the typing or aptitude test if your post has one. What we do, we do properly.

Does CBT-1 count towards my final selection?

No. The railway's own words are that the 1st Stage CBT is "of screening nature" — its normalised score is used to shortlist candidates for CBT-2, at fifteen times the vacancies notified against that RRB, and then its job is finished. Merit comes from CBT-2. Which is exactly why clearing CBT-1 cleanly, rather than narrowly, is worth something: it costs you nothing on the merit list, so the only thing to optimise there is certainty.

I've written CBT-1 and I'm waiting for the result. Is there any point starting now?

This is the best moment there is. If you're shortlisted, CBT-2 is the paper the merit list is built from, and reasoning goes up in it — 35 questions instead of 30, in a paper of 120 in the same 90 minutes. That's 45 seconds a question. Recognition speed is the whole game at that pace, and it's built in the weeks when nothing is happening, not in the fortnight after a result.

Is the app in Hindi?

The full app is coming in Hindi — questions and solutions both. For now it's in English. The exam itself is generous here: the CENs set the CBTs in English, Hindi and 13 regional Indian languages — Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu — and questions are displayed in the language you opted for alongside English.

When is the exam, and where do I apply?

Applications are only ever on rrbapply.gov.in, and notifications are published as CENs on the RRB websites — never through an agent, and never through us. For the current cycle: CBT-1 for the undergraduate CEN 07/2025 was held from 7 to 9 May and 13 to 20 June 2026, with the answer-key objection window closed on 5 July 2026; for the graduate CEN 06/2025, CBT-1 results are out and CBT-2 was held on 10 July 2026. Confirm everything on your own RRB's website.

Still have a question about RRB NTPC or the app? Message us on WhatsApp →

Start now

Sixty-five reasoning questions across two papers.

Start training them today — free.

Start today!

Free to try.

www.mastermentalability.in/rrb-ntpc