RRC NCR Act Apprentice Recruitment 2026: 1853 Trade Slots, Eligibility and Apply Online

Quick Highlights

• Organisation: Railway Recruitment Cell, North Central Railway (RRC/NCR)
• Notification No.: RRC/NCR/Act. Apprentice 01/2026 dated 07.07.2026
• Total Slots: 1853 across 21 trades
• Age Limit: 15 to 24 years as on 07.07.2026
• Application Fee: Rs 100 (waived for SC/ST/PwBD/Female applicants)
• Mode of Application: Online only, at www.rrcpryj.org
• Selection: Merit-based on Matriculation and ITI marks; no written test or interview

Important Dates

Applicants are advised to submit their online applications well before the closing date to avoid any last-minute failure due to heavy load on the website.

Eligibility Criteria

Age Limit (as on 07.07.2026)

Applicants should have completed 15 years of age and should not have completed 24 years of age as on 07 July 2026.

• SC/ST: Upper age limit relaxed by 5 years
• OBC: Upper age limit relaxed by 3 years
• Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD): Upper age limit relaxed by 10 years
• Ex-servicemen: Upper age limit relaxed up to an additional 10 years, to the extent of service rendered in the Defence Forces plus 3 years, provided a minimum of 6 months of service at a stretch has been completed. This relaxation does not apply to ex-servicemen who have already joined government service on the civil side after availing ex-servicemen status.

Ex-servicemen selected under this reservation will be placed in their appropriate category, that is, UR, SC, ST or OBC, as applicable. The Ex-servicemen quota also covers children of deceased or disabled ex-servicemen (including those killed or disabled during peace time), children of ex-servicemen, children of serving personnel, children of serving officers, and ex-servicemen themselves.

Eligible Date of Birth Range

Essential Qualifications

Applicants must have already passed the prescribed qualification on the date of issue of this notification, that is, 07.07.2026.

Educational Qualification: Passed SSC, Matriculation or 10th class examination, or its equivalent (under the 10+2 system), with a minimum of 50 percent marks in aggregate from a recognised Board.

Technical Qualification: Must have passed an ITI course in the relevant trade, with an ITI certificate or National Trade Certificate issued by NCVT or SCVT and recognised by the Government of India, in one of the designated trades listed below.

Important Notes on Eligibility

• Applicants whose SSC/Matriculation/10th class or ITI results are still awaited as on the date of notification (07.07.2026) are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants who have failed in ITI should not apply; if any such applicant is engaged inadvertently, they will be terminated summarily from the apprenticeship without further notice, and the stipend paid will be recovered with interest.
• Engineering graduates and diploma holders are not eligible to apply under this notification, as they are governed by a separate apprenticeship scheme.

Designated Trades

Applicants must hold an ITI certificate in one of the following 21 designated trades to be eligible.

Trade-Wise and Division-Wise Slots

The 1853 total slots are distributed across six units of North Central Railway, along with a category-wise break-up covering UR, OBC, SC, ST and EWS applicants, as notified in Annexure A of the notification.

Within each division, slots are further broken down trade-wise, along with horizontal reservation for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities and Ex-servicemen, as detailed in Annexure A of the official notification. Candidates should refer to this annexure on the official website to check the exact number of slots available in their preferred trade at each Division or Workshop before applying.

The number of training slots shown in the notification is provisional and may increase or decrease depending on the actual needs of the administration at the time of finalising selection. There is a horizontal reservation of 4 percent for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities and 3 percent for Ex-servicemen, included within the overall notified slots rather than over and above them. If SC slots cannot be filled by SC applicants, they will be filled by ST applicants, and vice versa; any slots still remaining will go to unreserved applicants. Similarly, unfilled OBC slots will be filled from the unreserved category.

Reservation Certificates Required

• SC/ST applicants must upload a caste certificate in the Central Government format issued by the appropriate authority.
• OBC applicants must upload an OBC caste certificate with a Non-Creamy Layer certificate valid for the current year 2026-2027, issued on or after 01/04/2026, along with a self-declaration form regarding current Non-Creamy Layer status.
• EWS applicants whose family has a gross annual income below Rs 8 lakh, and who are not covered under the SC/ST/OBC-NCL reservation scheme, can claim the EWS benefit by producing an Income and Asset Certificate issued by a competent authority such as a District Magistrate, Deputy Commissioner, Tehsildar or Sub-Divisional Officer, valid as on the closing date of the online application.
• Ex-servicemen and children of Armed Forces personnel must upload a Discharge Certificate or Armed Forces Serving Certificate of themselves or their parents, as applicable.
• PwBD applicants must produce a disability certificate issued by a competent Medical Board, as per the prescribed format in the notification.

Application Fee

Fee payment is made online through the payment gateway integrated with the application process, using Debit Card, Credit Card or Internet Banking. No change or edit is allowed to the application once the fee payment step is reached. Any transaction charges for online payment are to be borne by the applicant.

Medical Fitness and Physical Standards

Candidates called for document verification must submit a Medical Certificate in the prescribed proforma, signed by a Government-authorised Doctor (Gazetted) not below the rank of Assistant Surgeon of a Central or State Hospital. For Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, the maximum permissible disability is specified trade-wise for Locomotor Disability, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment, and Multiple Disabilities in the notification. PwBD applicants with disabilities other than those specified for their chosen trade are not eligible for PwBD concessions and facilities.

Selection Process

Selection under the Apprentices Act, 1961 is based purely on merit, with no written test or interview.

1. Merit list preparation: A merit list is prepared by taking the average of the percentage of marks obtained by the applicant in Matriculation (minimum 50 percent aggregate) and in the ITI examination, with equal weightage given to both.
2. Shortlisting for document verification: Shortlisted candidates are called for document and certificate verification, to the extent of 1.5 times the notified vacancies.
3. Tie-breaking: If two applicants have the same marks, the older applicant is preferred. If their dates of birth are also the same, the applicant who passed the matriculation exam earlier is considered first.
4. Final merit list: Prepared unit-wise, trade-wise and community-wise, equal to the number of slots, in descending order of the average weightage marks obtained.

For calculating percentage of Matriculation marks, the total marks of all subjects mentioned in the marksheet are considered, not merely the best of five subjects, and CGPA is converted into actual marks. For ITI marks, the average marks mentioned in the consolidated statement of marks for all semesters of the applied trade are used. Any discrepancy found between the marks or CGPA entered online and the original marksheet at the time of document verification will lead to summary rejection of candidature.

Documents to be Uploaded

Applicants must upload legible, self-attested scanned copies of the following documents as PDF files, each between 50 KB and 200 KB in size.

• SSC (Standard 10th) or its equivalent marksheet
• Certificate for proof of date of birth
• Consolidated ITI marksheet of all semesters of the trade applied for, or Provisional National Trade Certificate indicating marks
• National Trade Certificate issued by NCVT, or Provisional National Trade Certificate issued by NCVT/SCVT
• Caste certificate for SC/ST/OBC applicants, or EWS certificate, wherever applicable
• Disability certificate for PwBD applicants, wherever applicable
• Discharge certificate or Serving certificate for applicants applying against the Ex-servicemen quota

Applicants must also upload a recent colour photograph (3.5 cm x 3.5 cm, JPG/JPEG format, 100 DPI, file size 20 KB to 70 KB) with a clear front view, without cap or sunglasses, and a scanned signature in running letters, not block or capital letters (3.5 cm x 3.5 cm, JPG/JPEG format, 100 DPI, file size 20 KB to 30 KB). Original certificates are not to be sent to RRC/NCR by post, but must be produced along with two self-attested photocopies at the time of document verification.

Training Period and Stipend

Selected applicants are required to undergo apprenticeship training for a period of one year. A stipend is paid during the training at the rate prescribed by the concerned State Government and instructions issued by the Railway Board; the exact stipend amount is not specified in the notification and applicants should refer to the applicable State Government rate. No hostel accommodation is provided, and selected applicants must make their own arrangements during training as per the Apprentices Act, 1961. No daily allowance, conveyance allowance or travelling allowance is paid to applicants called for document verification.

Agreement of Training

The entire training programme is governed by the Apprenticeship Contract between the employer and the apprentice under the Apprentices Act, 1961, which must be registered with the Apprenticeship Adviser within three months of being signed.

• If the employer fails to honour the terms of the contract, the apprentice is paid compensation equivalent to three months' last-drawn stipend.
• If the apprentice fails to honour the contract and it is terminated prematurely, the apprentice or their surety must pay the Apprenticeship Adviser an amount equivalent to three months' last-drawn stipend towards the cost of training.
• The Railway is not obligated to offer employment to any Act Apprentice on completion of training, and the apprentice has no claim to seek Railway employment on the basis of this training, nor is the apprentice obligated to accept any employment offered.
• If the selected applicant is a minor, their guardian must enter into the Contract of Apprenticeship on their behalf.

On successful completion of training and after passing a proficiency test, every Trade Apprentice is granted a certificate of proficiency by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT).

How to Apply

1. Go to www.rrcpryj.org, the official website of RRC North Central Railway, and read the detailed instructions for filling up online applications.
2. If you do not already have a valid personal e-mail ID, create one before starting the application, and keep it active till the end of the entire engagement process.
3. Carefully fill in your Aadhaar number, PAN number, marks, CGPA, and preferences for Division, Workshop and Trade, since the computerised merit list is prepared purely on the basis of the information you enter.
4. Upload a recent colour photograph without cap and sunglasses, sized 3.5 cm by 3.5 cm in JPG or JPEG format between 20 KB and 70 KB, and a scanned signature in running letters between 20 KB and 30 KB.
5. Upload legible self-attested scanned copies of your SSC or Matriculation marksheet, proof of date of birth, ITI marksheet and trade certificate, and any caste, EWS, disability or ex-servicemen certificate applicable to you, each as a PDF between 50 KB and 200 KB.
6. After checking all details for correctness, pay the Rs 100 application fee through the integrated payment gateway using debit card, credit card or internet banking, where applicable. No fee is required from SC, ST, Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, or female applicants.
7. Once payment is confirmed, you will be redirected to complete the application process and download your application form. Keep a printout for your records.

Important Notes

• Applicants can apply for only one application per trade; multiple applications for the same trade with varied details will be summarily rejected.
• Applicants possessing ITI qualification in more than one trade can apply separately for different relevant trades.
• Applicants should ensure their name, father's name and date of birth exactly match their Matriculation or equivalent certificate; any deviation found during document verification will lead to cancellation of candidature.
• Once a Division/Workshop preference is exercised, it is final and binding; requests to change trade or Division/Workshop after selection will not be entertained.
• Applications without a scanned signature and photograph, without valid community or age-proof certificates, or with an incorrect or missing application fee, will be rejected.
• Any legal matter arising out of this notification falls within the jurisdiction of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Allahabad.
• Candidates are advised to beware of touts and fake websites, and to rely only on the official website www.rrcpryj.org for all updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How many vacancies are there in RRC NCR Act Apprentice 2026?
A total of 1853 training slots are notified across 21 designated trades, spread over the Prayagraj, Agra and Jhansi divisions, Jhansi workshop, and the headquarters and track machine line units of North Central Railway.

Q2. What is the age limit for RRC NCR Act Apprentice 2026?
Applicants must have completed 15 years and not completed 24 years of age as on 07 July 2026. Age relaxation is available: 5 years for SC/ST, 3 years for OBC, 10 years for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, and up to an additional 10 years for eligible ex-servicemen.

Q3. What is the educational qualification for RRC NCR Act Apprentice 2026?
Applicants must have passed SSC, Matriculation or 10th class or its equivalent with a minimum of 50 percent aggregate marks from a recognised board, and must also have passed an ITI course in the relevant trade from an institute recognised by NCVT or SCVT.

Q4. What is the application fee for RRC NCR Act Apprentice 2026?
The application fee is Rs 100, which is non-refundable. No fee is required from SC, ST, Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, and female applicants.

Q5. Is there a written test or interview for selection?
No. Selection is based purely on a merit list prepared from the average percentage of marks obtained in Matriculation and in the ITI examination, giving equal weightage to both. There is no written test or viva voce.

Q6. What is the last date to apply for RRC NCR Act Apprentice 2026?
The online application window closes on 07 August 2026 at 23:59 hours. Applications opened on 08 July 2026 at 00:00 hours on www.rrcpryj.org.

Q7. Are engineering graduates and diploma holders eligible to apply?
No. Engineering graduates and diploma holders are not eligible to apply for this Act Apprentice engagement, as they are governed by a separate scheme of apprenticeship.

Q8. What is the duration of training and will apprentices get a job after it?
The apprenticeship training runs for one year, with a stipend paid at rates prescribed by the concerned State Government and Railway Board instructions. Under the Apprentices Act, the Railway is not obligated to offer employment after training, and completing the training does not create any claim to a Railway job.

Official Links

• Official Website

Source

This article is based on the official Zonal Notification No. RRC/NCR/Act. Apprentice 01/2026 dated 07.07.2026, issued by Railway Recruitment Cell, North Central Railway, Prayagraj, and published on www.rrcpryj.org. Candidates are advised to refer to the official notification and its annexures on the website for the complete and legally valid details, including trade-wise slot break-ups.

Disclaimer: The information in this article has been compiled from the official RRC/NCR Act Apprentice recruitment notification for reader convenience. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, candidates should verify all details, especially dates, eligibility and trade-wise slot figures, on the official website before applying. This website is not responsible for any error or omission.