| Conducting body | Railway Recruitment Boards (RRB). Official website ↗ |
|---|---|
| Posts | Nursing Superintendent (Level 7), Dialysis Technician (Level 6), Health and Malaria Inspector Grade II (Level 6), Audiologist and Speech Therapist (Level 6), Pharmacist, Entry Grade (Level 5), Radiographer X-Ray Technician (Level 5), ECG Technician (Level 4), Optometrist (Level 4), Lab Assistant Grade II (Level 3) |
| Qualification | Each post needs a specific professional qualification listed in Annexure A. Examples: 3-year General Nursing and Midwifery recognised by the Indian Nursing Council, or B.Sc. Nursing, for Nursing Superintendent; B.Pharm or Pharm.D with registration under the Pharmacy Act for Pharmacist; Class 12 science plus DMLT for Lab Assistant Grade II; Class 12 or a science degree plus a certificate, diploma or degree in ECG or cardiology technology for ECG Technician; B.Sc. with Chemistry plus a one-year Health/Sanitary Inspector diploma for Health and Malaria Inspector. |
| Age limit | 18–40 years on 1 January 2027 (general category) |
| Domicile | Not required |
| Selection stages | Single stage CBT → Document verification → Medical examination |
| Latest notification | CEN 05/2026: Paramedical categories · 590 vacancies |
Last checked . Sources
About RRB Paramedical
RRB Paramedical recruitment hires nurses, pharmacists, lab and imaging technicians and other health staff for Indian Railways. Every post needs its own professional course, and age limits change from post to post. Selection is a single CBT in which 70 of the 100 questions test your professional subject, followed by document verification and a medical.
Eligibility
Age limit
General category: 18–40 years, counted on 1 January 2027.
Age relaxation
- OBC: 3 years
- SC: 5 years
- ST: 5 years
- PwBD: 10 years
- Age limits by post: Nursing Superintendent 20 to 40; Pharmacist 20 to 35; Dialysis Technician 20 to 33; Radiographer 19 to 33; Audiologist and Speech Therapist 21 to 30; Health and Malaria Inspector, ECG Technician, Optometrist and Lab Assistant 18 to 33.
- SC and ST candidates get 5 extra years and OBC (non-creamy layer) candidates get 3. SC, ST and OBC candidates applying against unreserved vacancies get no age relaxation.
- PwBD candidates get 10 years (UR and EWS), 13 years (OBC-NCL) or 15 years (SC and ST), only for posts marked suitable for their disability.
- Ex-servicemen with at least six months of service after attestation get 3 years (UR and EWS), 6 years (OBC-NCL) or 8 years (SC and ST), counted after deducting their length of service from their age.
- Serving railway Group C and erstwhile Group D staff, and substitutes, with at least 3 years of service can apply up to 40 (UR and EWS), 43 (OBC-NCL) or 45 (SC and ST).
- If you qualify for relaxation on more than one ground, you get the largest one only; they do not add up.
Qualification
Each post needs a specific professional qualification listed in Annexure A. Examples: 3-year General Nursing and Midwifery recognised by the Indian Nursing Council, or B.Sc. Nursing, for Nursing Superintendent; B.Pharm or Pharm.D with registration under the Pharmacy Act for Pharmacist; Class 12 science plus DMLT for Lab Assistant Grade II; Class 12 or a science degree plus a certificate, diploma or degree in ECG or cardiology technology for ECG Technician; B.Sc. with Chemistry plus a one-year Health/Sanitary Inspector diploma for Health and Malaria Inspector.
Other conditions
- Open to Indian citizens, and to citizens of Nepal, subjects of Bhutan and a few other groups named in the notice, who need a Government of India eligibility certificate.
- Some posts need registration with the relevant council, for example the Rehabilitation Council of India for Audiologist and Speech Therapist.
- You can apply to only one RRB. A second application, to the same or another RRB, gets all your applications rejected.
Selection process
- Single stage CBT
- Document verification
- Medical examination
Exam pattern
CBT
Mode: Online, objective multiple choice with four options · Duration: 90 minutes (120 minutes for PwBD candidates eligible for a scribe) · Negative marking: 1/3 mark cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| Professional ability | 70 | 70 |
| General Awareness | 10 | 10 |
| General Arithmetic, General Intelligence and Reasoning | 10 | 10 |
| General Science | 10 | 10 |
RRB Paramedical syllabus
Professional ability
- Post-wise syllabus given in Annexure C of the notice, based on the qualification for each post
Other sections (30 questions)
- General awareness
- General arithmetic
- General intelligence and reasoning
- General science
What they ask
The paper is mostly about your own discipline: 70 of the 100 questions test professional ability from the post-wise syllabus in Annexure C. The remaining 30 are split evenly between general awareness, arithmetic with reasoning, and general science. There is only one CBT, and candidates equal to the number of vacancies are called straight to document verification, so the CBT decides selection. Minimum marks are 40% for UR and EWS, 30% for OBC-NCL and SC and 25% for ST.
How to prepare
- Start with Annexure C of the notice and build your study plan from the syllabus for your own post. It decides 70 marks.
- Revise the core textbooks from your nursing, pharmacy, lab or imaging course rather than general exam books.
- Keep 30 marks in view: short daily practice on GA, arithmetic, reasoning and science is enough to hold those sections.
- Check your post's age band and registration requirement before paying the fee, since these differ from post to post.
RRB Paramedical is one of the exams in the Improvam app. Open it to start a practice quiz.
Open in the Improvam appRRB Paramedical FAQs
No. Selection under CEN 05/2026 is by a single CBT, then document verification and a medical examination.
Sources
- RRB CEN 05/2026 detailed notification: Paramedical categories ↗ (official, checked )
- RRB notices page for CEN 05/2026 ↗ (official, checked )
Checked against official sources on . Rules change with each notification, so read the latest one before you apply.