WPM ↔ KDPH Converter
Convert words per minute to key depressions per hour — and back — with exam cutoffs for SSC CHSL, RRB NTPC, India Post, SSC Stenographer, and DSSSB built in. Bidirectional. No sign-up. Works on every device.
- Conversion
- 1 WPM = 300 KDPH
- Used by
- RRB · India Post
- Privacy
- 100% browser-only
- Cost
- Free
1 WPM = 300 KDPH. Multiply WPM by 300 to get KDPH; divide KDPH by 300 to get WPM.
KDPH = WPM × 300 WPM = KDPH ÷ 300
The conversion uses the 5-keystrokes-per-word convention every Indian government exam follows.
The converter
Type a number in either box. The other updates instantly. Pick an exam preset below to load the official cutoff.
Standard SSC CHSL English cutoff. Anywhere from 5 to 200 WPM works.
Approximately matches India Post PA/SA cutoff target.
Typing-speed cutoffs by exam
Every official Indian government typing exam, with the WPM cutoff and the KDPH equivalent. Pulled from current notifications as of 2026.
| Exam | Language | WPM | KDPH | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSC CHSL Tier 2 | English | 35 | 10,500 | Net WPM. Backspace allowed since 2022. |
| SSC CHSL Tier 2 | Hindi | 30 | 9,000 | Mangal Unicode or Kruti Dev. Backspace allowed. |
| SSC CGL DEST | English | 26.67 | 8,000 | Tier 2 for Assistant Section Officer cadre. 15 minutes. |
| SSC Stenographer Grade C | English / Hindi | 65 | 19,500 | Plus 100 WPM shorthand. No backspace. |
| SSC Stenographer Grade D | English / Hindi | 50 | 15,000 | Plus 80 WPM shorthand. No backspace. |
| RRB NTPC Stage III | English | 30 | 9,000 | Junior/Senior Clerk-cum-Typist only. 10 minutes. |
| RRB NTPC Stage III | Hindi | 25 | 7,500 | Krutidev layout in most testing centres. |
| India Post PA / SA (legacy) | English | 26.67 | 8,000 | Now recruited via SSC CHSL; legacy cutoff still cited. |
| India Post PA / SA (legacy) | Hindi | 21.67 | 6,500 | Hindi typing on Remington Krutidev layout. |
| DSSSB Junior Assistant | English | 35 | 10,500 | Tier 2. Net WPM with error penalty. |
| DSSSB Junior Assistant | Hindi | 30 | 9,000 | Mangal Unicode. 10 min test. |
| CPCT (MP) | English | 30 | 9,000 | Score valid 2 years across MP recruitments. |
| CPCT (MP) | Hindi | 20 | 6,000 | Remington Gail or Inscript on Unicode. |
| KVS Junior Secretariat Asst | English | 35 | 10,500 | Same as SSC CHSL standard. |
| IBPS Clerk LPT | Local language | ~30 | 9,000 | Language Proficiency Test, not formal WPM cutoff. |
Each row is for the qualifying threshold — clearing it lets the candidate stay in the selection pool. For competitive merit, aim 5–10 WPM above the cutoff to absorb exam-day jitters.
Worked examples
Realistic scenarios aspirants run into when reading their practice-test results.
RRB NTPC English candidate
You hit 9,200 KDPH in a 10-minute mock. The notification asks for 9,000 KDPH. What's your WPM and are you clearing the cutoff?
Cutoff = 30 WPM (= 9,000 KDPH)
India Post PA/SA Hindi candidate
You typed at 22 WPM on a Krutidev mock. Old India Post notification quoted 6,500 KDPH. Are you clear?
Cutoff = 6,500 KDPH (= 21.67 WPM)
SSC CHSL English candidate
Practice site reports 33 WPM Gross with 4 errors per minute. Are you cleared for the 35 WPM Net cutoff?
Cutoff = 35 WPM (Net)
SSC Stenographer Grade D
You're at 45 WPM on a Hindi Krutidev mock. The Grade D cutoff is 50 WPM. Convert and identify the gap in KDPH.
Target = 50 × 300 = 15,000 KDPH
Gap = 1,500 KDPH (= 5 WPM)
How the conversion works
The formula is simple but the logic behind it is worth understanding because it affects how you interpret your own typing scores.
The 5-keystroke convention
Every Indian government typing exam — SSC, RRB, India Post, banking, state PSCs — defines "1 word" as 5 keystrokes. This is a 19th-century convention from the era when typists were paid by the word and recruiters needed a consistent way to count.
It does not match real English, where the average word is about 4.5 characters. It does not match Hindi, where most words run 5–6 letters plus matras. But for exam scoring, the rule is fixed. If you typed 1,750 characters in 10 minutes, you typed 1,750 ÷ 5 = 350 words → 35 WPM, regardless of whether those characters made up 240 actual English words or 290 actual Hindi words.
From WPM to KDPH
WPM measures speed per minute. KDPH measures keystrokes per hour. Bridging the two requires two multiplications:
- WPM × 5 converts words into characters (the 5-keystroke convention).
- × 60 scales from per-minute to per-hour.
Combined: KDPH = WPM × 300. The factor 300 is non-negotiable across every official notification — every typing test in India uses the same multiplier.
Why two units exist at all
WPM became popular through office typewriter manuals in the 1920s and migrated to computer typing tutors. KDPH stayed alive in railway and postal recruitment because raw keystroke count is harder to game than WPM. Short words inflate WPM (a passage of three-letter words gives a much higher WPM than the same time spent typing six-letter words). KDPH treats every keystroke identically, removing the passage bias.
When the SSC modernised its scoring in the 2010s, it standardised on WPM with the 5-keystroke convention — eliminating the passage bias while keeping the familiar WPM unit. RRB and India Post kept the older KDPH convention for backwards compatibility with their decades of notification history.
Net vs Gross WPM
The converter above shows Gross WPM (raw speed). Most exams report Net WPM, which subtracts an error penalty:
- Net WPM = Gross WPM − (full-mistake errors ÷ minutes)
- SSC counts every wrong or omitted character as a "full mistake".
- If you typed 35 Gross WPM with 4 errors per minute, your Net is 31 — below the SSC CHSL cutoff.
The converter on this page is unit conversion only. For Net WPM scoring with error penalty, use the typing practice on the exam-specific pages below.
When to use which unit
- SSC, banking, state PSCs, CPCT, DSSSB, KVS: use WPM. That's how their notifications quote cutoffs.
- RRB NTPC, RRB clerical, India Post PA/SA: use KDPH. Older notifications cite it; recent ones cite both.
- SSC Stenographer: use WPM for typing, and "WPM" again for shorthand (different scale — shorthand is words-per-minute of dictation).
- Personal practice tracking: use whichever your practice site reports. The conversion above lets you compare against either standard.
Now take an exam-realistic typing test
The conversion above tells you the target. The practice tests on TypeForExam use the official scoring formula (Net WPM with per-exam error penalty) so your numbers match what the actual exam will report.
Start SSC CHSL English Test →Frequently asked questions
If anything below doesn't match what you've been told elsewhere, email contact@typeforexam.com and we'll verify with the latest notification.
What is the difference between WPM and KDPH?
WPM means words per minute. KDPH means key depressions per hour. The two units measure the same thing — typing speed — but on different scales. Most exams (SSC, banking) report results in WPM. Railway exams (RRB NTPC) and India Post recruitment use KDPH. The conversion is fixed: 1 word equals 5 keystrokes by convention, and 1 hour equals 60 minutes, so 1 WPM equals 300 KDPH.
How do I convert WPM to KDPH?
Multiply WPM by 300. So 30 WPM = 9,000 KDPH; 35 WPM = 10,500 KDPH; 50 WPM = 15,000 KDPH. The conversion assumes the standard 5-keystroke-per-word counting used by every Indian government typing test. The converter above does this automatically — type WPM in the left box and KDPH appears on the right.
How do I convert KDPH to WPM?
Divide KDPH by 300. So 8,000 KDPH ≈ 26.67 WPM; 9,000 KDPH = 30 WPM; 10,500 KDPH = 35 WPM. The most common KDPH targets you will encounter are 8,000 (India Post PA/SA English), 6,500 (India Post Hindi), and 9,000 (RRB NTPC English).
Why do RRB and India Post use KDPH instead of WPM?
KDPH counts every key depression including space, punctuation, and shift presses. It removes the ambiguity of what counts as a word — short words and long words produce different WPM scores depending on the passage. KDPH is purely mechanical. The Railway Recruitment Board and India Post inherited this convention from older typewriter-era recruitment, where examiners physically counted keystrokes on carbon paper.
Is the 5-keystrokes-per-word rule always accurate?
For Indian government typing tests, yes — every official notification (SSC, RRB, India Post, banking) uses 1 word = 5 keystrokes for scoring. Real English averages closer to 4.5 keystrokes per word, and Hindi (with longer words and complex matras) can run 5.5–6 keystrokes per word. But for exam scoring, the convention is fixed at 5. The converter above uses this convention.
What is the typing speed cutoff for the RRB NTPC exam?
RRB NTPC Stage III Typing Test requires 30 WPM in English (= 9,000 KDPH) or 25 WPM in Hindi (= 7,500 KDPH). The test is 10 minutes long. Only Junior Clerk-cum-Typist and Senior Clerk-cum-Typist posts need this test. The skill test is qualifying only — final merit is decided on Stage I and Stage II marks.
What is the typing cutoff for India Post Postal Assistant?
India Post Postal Assistant and Sorting Assistant typing test requires 8,000 KDPH in English (≈ 26.67 WPM) or 6,500 KDPH in Hindi (≈ 21.67 WPM) on a 10-minute test. India Post hires through the SSC CHSL recruitment cycle now, so the SSC CHSL Tier 2 typing test (35/30 WPM Net) replaces the standalone India Post test for most recent cycles.
Why is my typing test result different from what this calculator shows?
Three reasons. First, this calculator converts speed only — most real typing tests deduct an error penalty to compute Net WPM. Second, some practice sites count words by actual word boundaries rather than 5-keystroke chunks, which gives inflated WPM for short-word passages. Third, government exam software measures keystrokes including corrections (every backspace costs Gross WPM even if you fix the error). Always check the specific exam's official scoring formula on its notification.
Related practice & tools
Once you know your target WPM/KDPH, practise on the exam-realistic test that uses that scoring.