Syllabus
Railway Psycho Test Syllabus: Every Battery, Every Question Type
8 min read
Aspirants search for a railway psycho test syllabus and find nothing official, because the Computer Based Aptitude Test does not test knowledge. What it does have is a fixed structure: five RDSO batteries containing seventeen distinct question types. Knowing the list is the closest thing to a syllabus, and it is enough to plan your practice around.
Battery 1 — Memory (5 question types)
- Track memory: study a railway track map with station names, then answer where each station sits.
- Word or name recall: memorise a list, then identify which items appeared.
- Signal and symbol memory: recall the order or position of signals and symbols.
- Number and code memory: reproduce codes seen on the study screen.
- Picture detail memory: recall specific details from a scene rather than the whole scene.
Battery 2 — Following Directions (3 question types)
- Multi-step instruction chains where each step depends on the previous one.
- Conditional rules where one clause changes which option is correct.
- Grid or route instructions applied to a diagram.
Battery 3 — Depth Perception (2 question types)
- Hidden block counting inside a stacked three-dimensional pile.
- Distance and size comparison between figures drawn in perspective.
Battery 4 — Power of Observation (4 question types)
- Odd-one-out among near-identical figures.
- Target symbol search within a dense field.
- Letter or digit grid scanning for a defined pattern.
- Paired-item matching under a strict time budget.
This battery carries 75 of the 235 questions, so it deserves the largest share of your practice time.
Battery 5 — Perceptual Speed (3 question types)
- Symbol string comparison for exact matches.
- Clock dial reading and comparison at speed.
- Rapid figure or shape matching.
How to turn this list into a study plan
Attempt a full-length mock first so all seventeen types appear once. Read the battery-wise T-scores, pick the battery below 42 or closest to it, and drill that battery's types for a week before the next full mock. Repeat. That loop beats revising a list you cannot memorise your way through.