RRB Technician Grade III Syllabus 2026 — All CBT Topics

Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) Updated: 06 Sep 2026

Syllabus

Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) has published the syllabus for this recruitment. The minimum qualification required is 10th. Download it only from the official website rrbthiruvananthapuram.gov.in.

Download Official Syllabus PDF

The PDF opens on the official site. Every topic in it is explained in plain language below — you do not have to open the PDF to read the syllabus.

Compiled from the official syllabus · check it against the official link

Technician Grade III CBT — the pattern exactly as CEN 02/2026 sets it ↑

Technician Grade III sits at Pay Level 2 of this notification, and everything on this page is taken from the Pay Level 2 half of the official CEN — not from the Technician Grade I Signal half, which is a different exam with a different syllabus.

One CBT of 100 questions decides who moves forward. The figures below are the ones the notification prints; where it is silent we have said so rather than filled the gap.

As the notification states it	What it means for you
Total Duration: 90 minutes	Ninety minutes for the whole paper. Against 100 questions that is 54 seconds per question on average, so timed mock papers do more for your score at this stage than another round of theory.
Total Questions: 100	One hundred questions in a single Computer Based Test. Each question carries one mark, so the paper is out of 100.
Objective type with multiple choice answers	Every question gives you options to pick from. There is no descriptive paper, no interview and no typing or trade test at this stage of the Pay Level 2 process.
Negative marking @1/3rd marks for each wrong answer	One-third of a mark is cut for every wrong answer. Three wrong answers cancel one right one, so a wild guess is a losing bet — but an educated guess between two options still pays.
Normalization of marks will be done for CBT held in multiple shifts	If the exam runs across more than one shift, scores are normalised across those shifts. A harder shift is not meant to cost you — you are not being judged only against the people who sat with you.
Medium of Examination	The CBT is offered in English, Hindi and thirteen regional languages — Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. You choose one in the online form, and the screen shows that language alongside English.
The marks scored in CBT shall be used for shortlisting	Your CBT marks are what carry you to the next stages. For Pay Level 2 the notice sets out one written test, not two.
There will be a separate CBT for each pay level	Technician Grade III sits at Pay Level 2 and Technician Grade I Signal at Pay Level 5, and the two write different papers on different syllabi. The syllabus on this page is the Pay Level 2 one.

The four subjects and their weight — 100 questions, 100 marks ↑

General Science alone carries 40 of the 100 marks. That single line decides how a sensible study plan for this exam is shaped: Class 10 science is not the topic you finish last, it is the one you start with.

The notification labels this break-up tentative and warns that an actual paper may not match it. Treat the table as a strong indication of where the marks sit, not as a promise.

Subject — as the break-up table names it	Questions and marks
Mathematics	25 questions, 25 marks.
General Intelligence & Reasoning	25 questions, 25 marks.
General Science	40 questions, 40 marks — the single largest block, worth more than Maths and Reasoning taken separately.
General Awareness	10 questions, 10 marks.
Total	100 questions, 100 marks.

Minimum qualifying percentage, community by community ↑

This is the bar you must clear to stay in the process. Clearing it does not select you — selection runs on merit against the vacancies — but falling below it ends your candidature whatever your rank would have been.

Community	Minimum percentage
UR	40% of the CBT marks.
EWS	40% — the same bar as UR.
OBC (Non-Creamy Layer)	30%.
SC	30%.
ST	25% — the lowest of the five.
Ex. Servicemen category candidates	The same percentage that applies to their own community, not a separate figure.
PwBD candidates	These percentages may be relaxed by 2 marks where there is a shortage of PwBD candidates against the vacancies reserved for them. It is a conditional relaxation, not an automatic one.

Eligibility

Age	18 to 30 years as on 01.07.2026 (usual SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/Ex-servicemen relaxations apply).
Education	Matriculation/SSLC + ITI (NCVT/SCVT) in the relevant trade, or Course Completed Act Apprenticeship — exact qualification varies by trade/post, check Annexure A of the CEN for your specific Technician Grade III trade (Fitter, Electrician, Welder, etc.).

Mathematics — all 20 topics named in the notification (25 questions, 25 marks) ↑

The notification names twenty topics under Mathematics and then adds that the list is an illustration of the ground covered, not a closed boundary. Every one of those twenty is below, in the order the document prints them, with our own explanation of what each actually asks of you.

Topic — as printed in the notification	What it means
Number system	How numbers are classified and how place value works — natural, whole, integers, rational and irrational. Every other topic in this paper stands on it.
BODMAS	The fixed order in which a long expression must be solved — brackets, of, division, multiplication, addition, subtraction. One step taken out of turn changes the whole answer.
Decimals	Calculating with numbers that carry a decimal point, and moving between decimals and fractions without slowing down.
Fractions	Parts of a whole — comparing them, simplifying them, calculating with them. Your speed here decides your speed in percentages and ratio later.
LCM	Lowest common multiple — the smallest number that each of the given numbers divides into exactly. It is the tool behind bells-ringing-together and repeating-cycle questions.
HCF	Highest common factor — the largest number that divides all the given numbers exactly. Used whenever something has to be cut into equal pieces of the largest possible size.
Ratio and Proportion	Comparing two quantities, and holding that comparison steady as the numbers grow. Mixture, partnership and scaling questions are all built on it.
Percentages	Expressing a part as a share of a hundred. Profit and loss, interest and data interpretation all run on it, so an hour spent here pays back in three other topics.
Mensuration	Area, perimeter and volume of plane figures and solids — square, circle, cylinder, cone, sphere. Half the marks here are lost to units, not to formulae.
Time and Work	How long a job takes when people work alone, work together, or walk away halfway. Think in one-day work rather than in hours and most of these solve in two lines.
Time and Distance	Speed, distance and time — including trains crossing a pole, a platform or each other, which is the shape this question most often takes in a Railway paper.
Simple and Compound Interest	Interest worked out on the original sum, and interest worked out on a sum that keeps growing. The gap between the two over two or three years is itself a standard question.
Profit and Loss	Cost price, selling price, marked price and discount. Nearly every mistake here comes from taking the percentage on the wrong base — decide the base before you calculate.
Algebra	Working with letters in place of numbers — simplifying expressions, solving linear equations and using the standard identities.
Geometry and Trigonometry	Lines, angles, triangles and circles, and the ratios of a right-angled triangle. The CEN sets this paper at school level, so the questions stay within what Class 10 covers.
Elementary Statistics	Mean, median, mode and simple handling of data — reading a table or a graph and pulling one number out of it.
Square Root	Finding the number that multiplies by itself to give the number in front of you. Knowing the squares up to 30 by heart is what makes this instant instead of slow.
Age Calculations	Present, past and future ages of two or more people, given as a relation between them. One variable and one equation clears nearly all of them.
Calendar & Clock	Working out the day on a given date, and the angle between clock hands or the moment they meet. A small topic with fixed rules — once learnt, these are marks you do not lose.
Pipes & Cistern	Tanks filling and emptying through pipes working at different rates. It is the Time and Work method again, with the outlet pipe doing negative work.

General Intelligence and Reasoning — all 15 topics named (25 questions, 25 marks) ↑

Fifteen topics are named here, and this is the one paper where practice beats reading outright — none of these can be memorised, all of them get faster with repetition.

The reasoning list for Technician Grade I Signal in the same document is word for word the same fifteen. If you are preparing for both Pay Levels, this is the section that carries across.

Topic — as printed in the notification	What it means
Analogies	Two things stand in some relation; you find the pair that stands in the same one. Name the relation in words before you look at the options and the answer usually picks itself.
Alphabetical and Number Series	A row of letters or numbers follows a hidden rule and one term is missing. Look at the gaps between consecutive terms first; the rule is usually sitting in the gaps.
Coding and Decoding	A word is rewritten in a made-up code; you work out the rule and apply it to a new word. Letter positions and shifts are what most codes turn on.
Mathematical operations	The signs are swapped around — plus may mean divide — and you solve the line with the swapped meanings, still in BODMAS order.
Relationships	Blood-relation puzzles built from a chain of statements. Draw a small family tree on your rough sheet — holding it in your head is where these go wrong.
Syllogism	Two or more statements are to be taken as true, and you decide which conclusion must follow from them. Venn diagrams settle these; general knowledge does not.
Jumbling	Scrambled letters, words or sentences that have to be put back into a sensible order.
Venn Diagram	Overlapping circles showing how one group sits inside or across another; you pick the diagram that fits the items given.
Data Interpretation and Sufficiency	Reading a table, bar chart or pie chart to answer a question — and, in the sufficiency form, judging whether the data given is even enough to answer it at all.
Conclusions and decision making	A situation is described along with the rules that govern it, and you decide what follows or what should be done. Answer from the rules on the page, never from what feels fair.
Similarities and differences	Spotting what a set of items share and which one breaks the pattern — the classic odd-one-out.
Analytical reasoning	The longer puzzles — seating arrangements, orders, schedules. Fix what is certain first, leave the floating pieces for the end, and never assume an order the question did not give.
Classification	Grouping items by a property they share, and picking out the one that does not belong to the group.
Directions	Tracking someone's turns and distances to find where they end up and how far that is from where they started. Draw it on paper; picturing it is how people lose these.
Statement – Arguments and Assumptions	A statement is given with arguments for and against it, or with assumptions it might rest on; you judge which argument is strong or which assumption is actually implied.

General Science — 40 marks, and exactly what the notification says about them ↑

This is the biggest section of the paper and the shortest entry in the syllabus. The notification gives it one line: Physics, Chemistry and Life Sciences of 10th standard level. That is the whole of it — no chapters, no units, no weights within the three.

We are not going to print a chapter list and let you believe the Board issued it. What the line does tell you is useful on its own, and it is set out below: it names the three heads and it fixes a ceiling. Prepare the Class 10 science of your own school board, and do not spend time on anything above that level for this paper.

As printed in the notification	What it means
Physics	One of the three heads the notice names under General Science. It sets the level and stops there — it lists no chapters, so the ground is the physics in your own board's Class 10 science course.
Chemistry	The second of the three named heads. Again the notice fixes the level and names no topics under it.
Life Sciences	The third named head — biology. The notice uses this exact wording rather than 'Biology', and gives no breakdown beneath it.
of 10th standard level	This is the level marker for all three heads above, and it is a ceiling as much as a scope: nothing beyond the Class 10 school course is expected of you here. It also means the ground you cover is set by your school board's Class 10 syllabus, not by this notification.

General Awareness — the six areas named, and one open clause (10 questions, 10 marks) ↑

Ten marks, and the notification frames the whole head around current affairs rather than static general knowledge. Six areas are named and then the door is left open with a clause covering any other subject of importance.

Note the difference from Technician Grade I Signal, which in the same document gets a much wider General Awareness head running to Indian geography, history, the freedom struggle, polity and the Constitution. Grade III's is the shorter, current-affairs-shaped one. Do not prepare the Grade I list for this paper.

As printed in the notification	What it means
current affairs in science & technology	New missions, launches, discoveries and technology in the news. In this paper current affairs is named first, so what happened recently matters more than static science trivia.
sports	Tournaments, winners and records in the news — who won what, and where the next edition is being held.
culture	Festivals, dance and music forms, heritage sites and cultural events — the kind that reach the news, since the head is a current-affairs one.
personalities	People in the news — appointments, awards, and those who have recently taken or left an important office.
economics	Budget headlines, major schemes, banking and price news — enough to recognise a term when it appears, not textbook economics.
politics	Elections, appointments, new laws and government decisions that were in the news.
any other subject of importance	An open clause. It is the notice's own way of saying the list above is not a boundary, so read a newspaper daily rather than trying to finish a fixed list.

Which ITI trade opens which Technician Grade III post ↑

The syllabus is the same for all of them, but the eligibility is not — and this is where candidates apply for the wrong category. The notification's post-parameters annexure lists 24 Technician Grade III categories at Pay Level 2, each with its own trade list, its own medical standard and its own vacancy count. All 24 are below.

The pattern is the same everywhere: Matriculation or SSLC, plus an ITI from an NCVT- or SCVT-recognised institution in one of the named trades, or a Course Completed Act Apprenticeship in the same trade. Two things worth knowing before you read the table: an Engineering diploma or degree is not accepted in place of an ITI or Act Apprenticeship for these Pay Level 2 posts unless that post’s own entry says otherwise, and a Graduate Act Apprenticeship is not accepted in place of a Course Completed one.

The vacancy figures are the all-RRB totals printed in the notification, which itself describes them as provisional and open to increase or decrease.

Post — as named in the annexure	What it takes to be eligible
TECHNICIAN GRADE III TRACK MACHINE	Class 10 (Matriculation/SSLC) plus an NCVT/SCVT ITI — or a Course Completed Act Apprenticeship — in Fitter, Electrician, Electronics Mechanic, Instrument Mechanic, Mechanic Mechatronics, Mechanic Diesel, Mechanic Motor Vehicle, Welder or Machinist. Engineering department. Medical standard A3, the strictest in this notice: full colour, binocular, night and mesopic vision, and anyone who has had LASIK or similar refractive surgery is not eligible for an A3 post. 172 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III BLACKSMITH	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Forger and Heat Treater, Foundryman, Pattern Maker or Moulder (Refractory) — a narrow, foundry-side trade list. Engineering department, P Way. Medical standard B1. 306 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III BRIDGE	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Fitter, Fitter (Structural) or Welder. Engineering department, Bridge. Medical standard B1. The smallest cadre in the Pay Level 2 list at 34 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III CARRIAGE and WAGON	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Fitter, Carpenter, Welder, Plumber or Pipe Fitter. Mechanical department, C&W — coach and wagon maintenance. Medical standard B1. 501 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III DIESEL ELECTRICAL	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Electrician, Mechanic Auto electrical and Electronics, Wireman, Electronics Mechanic or Mechanic Power Electronics. Mechanical department, Diesel Shed. Medical standard B1. 206 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III DIESEL MECHANICAL	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Fitter, Mechanic Diesel, Mechanic (Repair and Maintenance of Heavy Vehicles), Mechanic Automobile (Advanced Diesel Engine), Mechanic Motor Vehicle, Tractor Mechanic, Welder or Painter (General) — the widest trade list on the diesel side. Mechanical department, Diesel Shed. Medical standard B1. 346 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III ELECTRICAL / TRS	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Electrician, Wireman, Electronics Mechanic, Mechanic Power Electronics, Mechanic (HT, LT Equipments and Cable Jointing), Fitter, Welder, Painter (General), Machinist or Carpenter. Electrical department, TRS — train sets and rolling stock. Medical standard B1. 268 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III ELECTRICAL (GS)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Electrician, Wireman, Mechanic (HT, LT Equipments and Cable Jointing) or Electronics Mechanic. Electrical department, General Services. Medical standard B1. 329 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III ELECTRICAL (TRD)	The same four trades as Electrical (GS) — Electrician, Wireman, Mechanic (HT, LT Equipments and Cable Jointing) or Electronics Mechanic — with Class 10 and an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship. Electrical department, TRD, the overhead traction lines. Medical standard B1. 152 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III EMU	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Electrician, Wireman, Electronics Mechanic, Mechanic Power Electronics, Mechanic (HT, LT Equipments and Cable Jointing), Fitter, Welder, Painter (General), Machinist, Carpenter or Operator Advanced Machine Tool. Electrical department, EMU. Medical standard B1. 147 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III FITTER (OL)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Fitter, and in nothing else — a single-trade post. Electrical department, General Services. Medical standard B1, and this is one of only two Pay Level 2 posts where the notice marks blindness and low vision as suitable disabilities. 469 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III REFRIGERATION and AIR CONDITIONING	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic, Electrician, Wireman or Electronics Mechanic. Electrical department, General Services. Medical standard B1. 162 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III (S & T)	The one exception in this list. Either Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Electrician, Electronics Mechanic or Wireman — or 10+2 with Physics and Maths, with no ITI at all. If you finished school with science but never did an ITI, this is the Technician Grade III post open to you. Signal & Telecom department. Medical standard B1. 320 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III WELDER (OL)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Welder, Welder (Gas and Electric), Welder (Structural), Welder (Pipe), Welder (TIG/MIG) or Welder (Fabrication and Fitting). Engineering department, P Way. Medical standard B1. 150 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III CRANE DRIVER	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Mechanic (Motor Vehicle), Material Handling Equipment cum Operator, Crane operator or Operator Locomotive and Rail Cranes. Mechanical department, Workshop. The only post carrying medical standard B2. 13 posts — the rarest category in this notice.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III CARPENTER (WORKSHOP)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Carpenter or Furniture and Cabinet Maker. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1, the most relaxed vision standard in this notice. 229 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III ELECTRICAL (PU & WS)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Electrician, Wireman, Electronics Mechanic, Mechanic Power Electronics or Mechanic Mechatronics. Electrical department, Production Unit. Medical standard C1. 128 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III FITTER (PU & WS)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Fitter alone. Electrical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. At 1,109 posts this is the largest single category in the whole notice — if you hold a Fitter ITI, this is where the vacancies are.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III MACHINIST (WORKSHOP)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Machinist, Turner, Machinist (Grinder) or Operator Advanced Machine Tool. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. 123 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III MECHANICAL (WORKSHOP)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Fitter, Welder, Machinist, Machinist (Grinder), Mechanic Mechatronics, Turner, Operator Advanced Machine Tools or CNC Programmer cum Operator. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. 193 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III MILLWRIGHT	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Millwright Maintenance Mechanic, Mechanic Machine Tool Maintenance or Mechanic Advanced Machine Tool Maintenance — three maintenance trades and no others. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. 170 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III PAINTER (WORKSHOP)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Painter General, Domestic Painter or Industrial Painter. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. 77 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III TRIMMER (WORKSHOP)	Class 10 plus an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship in Tailor (General), Upholsterer, Cutting and Sewing, Sewing Technology, Dress Making or Designer and Master Cutter — the tailoring trades, which surprises most candidates who do not know this post exists. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. 46 posts.
TECHNICIAN GRADE III WELDER (PU & WS)	The same six welding trades as Welder (OL) — Welder, Welder (Gas and Electric), Welder (Structural), Welder (Pipe), Welder (TIG/MIG) and Welder (Fabrication and Fitting) — with Class 10 and an ITI or completed Act Apprenticeship. Mechanical department, Workshop. Medical standard C1. 584 posts, the second largest category.

What happens after the CBT ↑

The notification lists three stages in the recruitment process, and only the first of them is a written test. No second CBT is named for this Pay Level, and no interview appears anywhere in the process it lists.

Stage / rule	What it means
Computer Based Test (CBT)	The written stage — the one this syllabus is for. A separate CBT is held for each Pay Level.
Document Verification (DV)	Your originals are checked. No extra time is given: a candidate who cannot produce the originals on the day is liable to lose their candidature.
Medical Examination (ME)	The medical fitness test set by the Railway administration against the standard your post carries — A3, B1, B2 or C1.
Shortlisting for Document Verification	Candidates are called for DV on CBT merit, and the number called equals the number of vacancies. There is no wide DV list here.
Tie in marks	If two candidates score the same, the older one is placed higher. If their ages are also the same, the alphabetical order of the given name — not the surname — breaks the tie.
Medical standards within Pay Level 2	Different Technician Grade III posts carry different standards. If you are found unfit for a higher preference but fit for a lower one, you are allotted the post you are fit for, subject to merit and vacancy — and no further medical appeal is allowed after that.

What this notification does not state — and we will not invent ↑

A candidate arriving on a syllabus page expects each of the things below, and this official document contains none of them. Plenty of websites fill them in anyway. We will not: a study plan built on a guessed exam pattern costs a candidate a year, and that price is not ours to make you pay.

Take each of these from the official RRB websites when they are published, and from nowhere else.

Not stated	Status
CBT exam date	Not in this document. It states that the dates for the CBT, Document Verification and Medical Examination will be announced later on the RRB websites. Any date you see elsewhere today is somebody's guess.
Sectional cut-off	The notice fixes one overall minimum percentage per community for the whole paper. It names no separate minimum for Mathematics, Reasoning, Science or Awareness.
Chapter list under General Science	Forty of the hundred marks sit here, and the notice describes the whole head in one line — Physics, Chemistry and Life Sciences at 10th standard level. It names no chapters. We have not invented any, and a chapter list you find elsewhere is that website's reading, not the Board's.
Number of questions per topic	Only the subject-wise split is given, and the notice itself calls that split indicative and warns that the question papers may vary. Nothing is fixed at topic level.
Difficulty level of the paper	No difficulty grade is stated anywhere. The only level marker in the whole syllabus is the '10th standard' phrase under General Science.
Previous year cut-off marks	This is a fresh notification and carries no past cut-offs. Cut-offs reported on other sites belong to earlier notifications with different vacancy counts, and do not transfer to this one.
Exam city and shift timing	Not part of this notification. It says the examination schedule and venue will reach eligible candidates later through the RRB websites, SMS and email.

A working order for this syllabus ↑

This last part is our own advice, not the notification's — read it as advice.

Start with General Science, because 40 of the 100 marks are there and it is the section with no topic list to hide behind. Work straight through your own board's Class 10 science book, one chapter at a time, and stop at the Class 10 ceiling the notification sets.

Run Mathematics and Reasoning together, because they are worth 25 each and both improve only by doing questions. Take the twenty maths topics and the fifteen reasoning topics above, mark each one good, shaky or untouched, and give your week to the shaky ones — the good ones only need a weekly revision, and the untouched ones need a first reading, not a marathon.

Give General Awareness fifteen minutes a day, not a weekend. It is worth 10 marks and the notification points it at current affairs, so a daily habit beats a fat book read once.

Practise with the negative marking switched on. One-third off for a wrong answer changes which questions are worth attempting, and you want to learn that in practice rather than in the hall.

Last, read the eligibility table above once more against your own ITI trade before you settle on a post preference. The syllabus does not change between the 24 categories, but the trade, the medical standard and the number of vacancies do — and those three decide your real chance far more than the paper does.

Important Links

Open official website Download Syllabus / Notification (PDF)