RRB Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA) CBT 1 2026 Free Guess Paper

Railway Recruitment Boards added 35 CMA posts through a corrigendum, not the main notice. This is unusual. It also means B.Sc Physics and Chemistry graduates now compete for a Level 6 railway post without a diploma or engineering degree, and CBT 1 for these posts runs in October 2026.

TL;DR

• RRB added 35 CMA vacancies through Corrigendum-1, dated 18 August 2026, under CEN No. 04/2026.
• CBT 1 runs on 27, 28, and 30 October 2026, with 100 questions in 90 minutes.
• Past papers that share this pattern show good attempts between 70 and 90 questions.
• Minimum qualifying marks stand at 40% for UR, 30% for OBC-NCL and SC, and 25% for ST. Actual cutoffs run far above these floors.
• CBT 2 shortlists roughly 15 times the vacancy count from CBT 1, then decides the final merit list on its own 150 marks.
• Starting pay sits at Level 6, with a basic pay of Rs 35,400 a month.

What Changed in RRB CMA CBT 1 2026

RRB released CEN No. 04/2026 on 13 August 2026 for Junior Engineer (JE) and Depot Material Superintendent (DMS) posts. That notice held 3,993 vacancies and did not name the CMA post at all.

Corrigendum-1, dated 18 August 2026, added 35 CMA vacancies. It also added the CMA eligibility rule, the CMA syllabus, and Medical Standard B-2. Total vacancies across JE, DMS, and CMA now stand at 4,029.

The 35 CMA posts sit across six zones.

Category-wise, the split runs UR 14, SC 8, OBC-NCL 6, EWS 4, ST 3. A candidate must hold a B.Sc degree with Physics and Chemistry, at a minimum of 45% marks, in one of three approved subject combinations. Age must fall between 18 and 33 years as of 1 January 2027, with standard SC/ST/OBC-NCL/PwBD relaxation.

RRB CMA CBT 1 2026 Exam Pattern

CMA candidates sit the same CBT 1 paper as JE and DMS candidates. RRB treats CBT 1 as a screening stage. It does not count toward the final merit list. It only decides who moves to CBT 2.

The paper runs for 90 minutes. Each wrong answer costs 1/3 mark. This penalty shapes strategy more than the syllabus does, because a candidate who guesses freely loses ground fast against a candidate who skips uncertain questions.

RRB CMA CBT 1 PYQ Analysis: Topic Weightage

Past CBT 1 papers under this same pattern, run for JE and DMS recruitment, show a stable topic split. Mathematics leans on arithmetic and data interpretation. Simplification, profit and loss, time and work, ratio and proportion, and percentage together supply most of the marks. Trigonometry, algebra, and geometry appear in smaller, steady counts each year.

Reasoning favors syllogism, blood relation, coding-decoding, and number or letter series. Seating arrangement and statement-conclusion questions show up in every recent paper, usually four to five each.

General Science splits close to evenly across physics, chemistry, and biology, with a smaller block on environmental topics. General Awareness draws mainly from current affairs and Indian Railways operations, so this section changes shape every cycle and rewards recent reading over rote memorization.

Good Attempts and Cutoff Trends from Past Papers

Coaching platforms tracked good attempts across the December 2024 CBT 1 shifts for this same paper. Scores clustered as follows.

A candidate who reaches the upper half of this range, with high accuracy, stands a strong chance of a top rank. Because only 35 CMA posts exist nationwide, and the CBT 1 pool draws every applicant across six zones, the safe attempt number for CMA aspirants likely sits at the top of this band, not the middle.

Minimum qualifying marks stay fixed by rule: 40% for UR and EWS, 30% for OBC-NCL and SC, 25% for ST. Real cutoffs run much higher. RRB Ajmer’s 2024 JE cutoffs for one department reached 81.5% for UR and crossed 91% in another department, once normalization across shifts finished. A candidate who prepares only to the minimum qualifying mark will miss selection by a wide margin.

RRB CMA CBT 2 and the Technical Syllabus That Decides Merit

CBT 1 only screens candidates. CBT 2 decides the final rank. RRB shortlists roughly 15 times the vacancy count for CBT 2, based on the normalized CBT 1 score. For 35 CMA posts, this points to a CBT 2 pool in the low hundreds, not thousands, which raises the value of each mark in the technical section.

CBT 2 runs for 150 questions over 120 minutes. Technical Abilities carry the largest share of the marks, and this section covers CMA-specific Physics and Chemistry rather than a general science mix. Core topics include measurements and errors, light and optics, heat and temperature, sound, electricity and magnetism, and modern physics on the physics side. On the chemistry side, the syllabus covers atomic structure, periodic classification, chemical bonding, carbon compounds, environmental chemistry, and metallurgy, including ore extraction, refining, corrosion, and alloys.

Because CBT 1 does not carry forward into the final score, a candidate who clears CBT 1 with room to spare, then shifts study time fully to Technical Abilities, gains more than a candidate who keeps splitting effort across both stages after clearing screening.

RRB CMA Salary and Career Growth

CMA sits at Pay Level 6 of the 7th CPC matrix, the same level as JE and DMS. Starting basic pay is Rs 35,400 a month, before dearness allowance, house rent allowance, and travel allowance. This places CMA salary on par with JE roles that usually need a diploma or an engineering degree, which raises the return on a B.Sc degree for candidates from a science background.

Career growth in this line moves from Chemical and Metallurgical Assistant to Chemical and Metallurgical Superintendent at Level 7, through promotion over time. This growth path matters for a candidate who compares CMA against private-sector lab or quality-control roles, since railway promotion timelines and pension benefits differ sharply from private employment.

RRB CMA Exam Fee and Application Cost

The application fee runs Rs 500 for General, OBC-NCL, and EWS candidates, of which Rs 400 returns after the candidate appears in CBT 1. SC, ST, Ex-servicemen, PwBD, female, transgender, minority, and EBC candidates pay Rs 250, refunded in full on appearance. A candidate who books a slot and skips the exam loses this refund, so the fee structure itself pushes serious applicants to show up even on a weak preparation day.

Selection Strategy for RRB CMA CBT 1 2026

A candidate preparing for this exam should treat CBT 1 as a speed and accuracy test, not a depth test. Mathematics and General Science carry the highest combined weight, at 60 of 100 marks, so a candidate should master arithmetic shortcuts and core physics-chemistry-biology facts before touching lower-yield topics.

General Awareness moves fastest between cycles. A candidate should track current railway and national news in the final six to eight weeks before the exam, rather than relying on older static-GK material.

Given the 1/3 negative mark, a candidate should set a personal attempt ceiling based on practiced accuracy, not on the good-attempt range alone. A candidate who scores 90% accuracy at 75 attempts outperforms a candidate who scores 60% accuracy at 90 attempts.

Common Questions

What is the RRB CMA CBT 1 2026 exam date? RRB set CBT 1 for 27, 28, and 30 October 2026, across three days, on a tentative basis.

How many vacancies exist for RRB CMA in 2026? RRB notified 35 CMA vacancies through Corrigendum-1 of CEN No. 04/2026.

What is the RRB CMA salary after selection? Selected candidates draw Level 6 pay, with a starting basic pay of Rs 35,400 a month, plus allowances.

Is CBT 1 marks counted in the final RRB CMA merit list? No. CBT 1 only screens candidates for CBT 2. The final merit list runs on CBT 2 marks alone.

What is the RRB CMA exam fee? General, OBC-NCL, and EWS candidates pay Rs 500, with Rs 400 refunded after appearing. SC, ST, and other exempt categories pay Rs 250, refunded in full.

Closing Analysis

RRB opened a Level 6 post to B.Sc Physics and Chemistry graduates through a corrigendum, not through the main notice, and this signals a wider trend of railway recruitment reaching beyond diploma and engineering pools. For 2026 aspirants, this means the CMA route now competes directly with JE and DMS on pay and stage structure, while drawing from a separate, smaller applicant pool. A candidate who tracks the topic weightage from past CBT 1 papers, targets accuracy over raw attempt count, and shifts focus fully to the Technical Abilities syllabus after CBT 1 stands in the strongest position for one of these 35 posts.