UPSC often conducts Special Class Railway Apprentices (SCRA) Examination for the recruitment of apprentices to the mechanical department of Indian railways. Suitable candidates are selected through the process of written test and interview. Written test comprise questions from topics of English Language, General Knowledge, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Question paper will be of intermediate (HSC level) standard.

Pattern for UPSC SCRA Exam

Selection process is carried out through written test and personality test. Written test is asked for 600 marks and personality test carries 200 marks. There are three papers for written test, covering questions from topics of General Ability, Physical Sciences, and Mathematics. Time duration given for completing each of these papers is 2 hours.

Syllabus for UPSC SCRA Exam

The section of General Ability comprise of the following sections

• English Language
• General Knowledge
• Psychological Test

English Language session is designed in such a way as to measure the communication skills of the candidate. Questions on verbal ability, comprehension, sentence correction, etc can be expected from this section.

General Knowledge

Man and his environment

• Knowledge of the human body
• Solar system and the earth
• Forests and their uses
• Environmental pollution and its control
• Breeding of animals and plants
• Conservation of natural resources

History, Politics and Society in India

• Gupta ages
• Transition from feudalism to capitalism
• Establishment of British rule in India
• Rise of nationalism
• Constitution of India
• Democracy
• Secularism
• Socialism
• Indian political parties
• Indian social system
• Minority social institution
• Social control
• Social disorganization in India
• Money

Physical Sciences

Physics

• Length measurements
• Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Mass and Weight
• Harmonic motion
• Pressure in a fluid
• Pascal’s Law
• Principle of Archimedes
• Temperature and its measurement
• Wave motion
• Reflection and refraction of light
• Prisms, deviation and dispersion
• Magnetic effect of current
• Chemical effects of current
• Electromagnetic induction
• Radioactivity
• Nuclear energy

Chemistry

Physical Chemistry

• Atomic structure
• Chemical Bonding
• Laws of Thermodynamics
• Energy changes in a chemical reaction
• Chemical Equilibrium and rates of reactions
• Electro-Chemistry
• Oxidation — Reduction
• Natural and Artificial Radioactivity

Inorganic Chemistry

• Hydrogen
• Group I –VII Elements
• Group O Elements
• Metallurgical Processes

Organic Chemistry

• Tetrahedral nature of carbon
• Halogen derivatives
• Hydroxy Compounds
• Ethers
• Aldehydes and ketones
• Nitro compounds amines
• Carboxylic acid
• Polymers

Mathematics

• Algebra
• Matrices and Determinants
• Trigonometry
• Analytic Geometry
• Differential Calculus
• Integral Calculus
• Differential equations
• Vectors and its applications
• Statistics
• Probability

Final section of selection process is personality test. Questions based on the educational qualification of the candidate, his or her career, and general matters are asked in this session. Leadership quality, intellectual curiosity, social qualities, etc of the candidate are mainly accessed.