RRB Technician Exam Pattern 2026: Marks, Sections, Timing and Negative Marking

The RRB Technician exam pattern for the CEN 02/2026 cycle is simple on paper: one Computer Based Test (CBT) of 100 questions in 90 minutes. What changes between Technician Grade I Signal and Technician Grade III is how those 100 questions are split across subjects.

This page lays out the structure, marking scheme, how score normalisation works, and what the numbers mean for your time and strategy. Figures come from the CEN 02/2026 details published by the RRBs; confirm them on the official site before your exam.

Table of Contents

Pattern at a glance

Grade III section-wise pattern

Grade I Signal section-wise pattern

Older pages may still show earlier-cycle patterns, so follow the official notification for your post.

Marking scheme and negative marking

• Correct answer: plus 1 mark.

• Wrong answer: minus one-third (1/3) mark.

• Unattempted question: no mark and no penalty.

Your raw score is the number of correct answers minus one-third of the number of wrong answers. For example, with 70 correct and 15 wrong answers, the score is 70 minus 5, which is 65 marks.

What the pattern means for you

• A wrong guess costs a third of a mark: Three wrong answers wipe out one correct answer. Guess only when you can remove at least two options.

• Under a minute per question: At 90 seconds for 100 questions you have 54 seconds on average. Quick sections like awareness and basic science should be done faster to give time to maths.

• Science carries the paper: General Science (Grade III) and Basic Science and Engineering (Grade I Signal) are the largest sections, so they decide most rankings.

• Single stage, so consistency matters: There is no second paper to recover in. Accuracy across all sections is the safer route than relying on one strong subject.

Later stages

After the CBT, shortlisted candidates go through document verification and a medical examination. No interview or psychological test has been reported for this cycle. The CBT score decides your merit; the later stages are qualifying in nature.

Qualifying marks and merit

These are minimum qualifying levels, not the cut-off for selection. Because the test runs in several shifts, normalised scores are used for merit so that difficulty differences between shifts are balanced.

Time management strategy

1. Spend the first 3 minutes scanning the paper's sections and the on-screen question palette.

2. Attempt your strongest section first, then the next, and leave long calculations for the end.

3. Keep roughly 8 to 10 minutes at the end to revisit marked questions.

4. Stop at the first sign of a time sink; mark and move.

For the official pattern and notices, visit the unified RRB website.