The Allahabad High Court’s RO/ARO exam has an unusual structure. The big paper is a 200-mark General Studies test, but the part that can end your application is a 20-minute typing test worth 50 marks. Fail to reach 25 of those 50 and, according to the exam pattern published by coaching sites, your General Studies paper isn’t even checked.
That makes it worth understanding in detail, because the rules are stricter than most typing tests candidates have practiced for.
A quick clarification: this is the Allahabad High Court recruitment, not the UPPSC Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer exam. The two share a post name and are easy to confuse, but they are separate recruitments run by different bodies with different typing rules.
How the exam is structured
Both parts are taken on the same day, with a short break between them.
Part I is an objective General Studies paper: 200 multiple-choice questions, 200 marks, three hours, no negative marking, bilingual in Hindi and English.
Part II is the Computer Knowledge Test, which is where the typing happens. It carries 50 marks, runs for 20 minutes, and requires a minimum of 25 marks to qualify.
The detail that matters most: candidates who miss the Part II cutoff are disqualified, and their Part I paper is reportedly not evaluated. A strong General Studies score does nothing for you if the typing stage goes badly.
What the typing test actually asks for
You receive an English passage of roughly 500 words and reproduce it on a computer in the same format, within 20 minutes. The speed benchmark is 25 words per minute in English, and the High Court’s own notification lists that figure as a minimum typing speed for the Review Officer post.
There is no Hindi typing component in the sources I found, which separates this exam from several other state recruitments that test both languages.
Twenty-five WPM is a modest number. At that pace, 500 words takes exactly 20 minutes, which leaves almost no slack. Anyone who types at 25 WPM in casual conditions will finish short once they’re copying unfamiliar text and checking it against the source. The practical target is comfortably above 25, so that the clock isn’t the thing you’re fighting.
The error penalty is the real risk
This is where candidates get caught. According to published exam-pattern summaries, 0.1 marks are deducted for every mistake, and mistakes include spelling errors, omitted words, and extra characters.
Over a 500-word passage, that adds up quickly: 30 errors costs 3 marks, and 100 errors costs 10. Part II is out of 50 with a 25-mark cutoff, so a sloppy run eats directly into your margin. How the base marks are awarded before deductions isn’t spelled out in every summary, so treat the per-error figure as the number to plan around and confirm the full marking scheme in the official advertisement.
How WPM is calculated explains the gross-versus-net distinction behind this. Typing fast and fixing nothing is a worse strategy than typing a little slower and cleanly, because every uncorrected slip is subtracted from your result.
One thing to confirm yourself
Sources agree on 25 WPM, 500 words, 20 minutes, 50 marks and a 25-mark qualifying cutoff. Where they differ is whether Part II marks are added into final merit or only used as a pass/fail gate. Some summaries describe a combined 250-mark total, others treat Part II as purely qualifying. Check the detailed advertisement on the official Allahabad High Court website before you plan around either reading, and do the same for any figure that matters to your application, since notices are revised between recruitment cycles.
Preparing for this specific test
Practice transcribing, not just typing. Copying a passage you can see is a different skill from typing freely, and “reproduce in the same format” means line breaks, punctuation, and capitalization all count.
Do full 20-minute sessions with a 500-word passage. Short sprints don’t tell you whether your accuracy holds across the whole block.
Build a margin. If you can finish 500 words in about 15 minutes with clean output, a nervous exam day won’t push you under the line.
Proofread in the last minutes, not during the run. Fixing as you go costs speed, but a quick final pass catches omitted words, which are one of the listed penalty categories.
Other state recruitments pair a main paper with a gated typing stage in the same way. The UP Police Computer Operator typing test works on a similar principle with different numbers, and typing tests for government exams is a good place to practice if you’re preparing for more than one. For timing yourself against a full-length passage, a free online timed typing test does the job.
Common questions
What typing speed does the Allahabad High Court require? 25 words per minute in English, tested by transcribing about 500 words on a computer in 20 minutes.
Is there a Hindi typing test? Not in the sources I found. The test is described as English only.
What happens if I miss the Part II cutoff? You’re disqualified, and your General Studies paper is reportedly not evaluated.
How are errors penalized? Reported at 0.1 marks per mistake, covering spelling errors, omitted words, and extra characters.
Is 25 WPM enough? It’s the minimum, not a safe target. Aim to finish the passage with time to spare and an accuracy rate you can rely on under pressure.
Ratatype.net offers free typing lessons and timed practice tests with no registration required, so you can work up to a clean, comfortable pace on 500-word passages well before exam day.