The Railway Recruitment Boards have opened 1,688 undergraduate-level NTPC vacancies under Centralised Employment Notice CEN 07/2026. Applications are live now and close on 13 November 2026 at 11:59 PM.
The only qualification you need is Class 12. No degree, no diploma, no technical trade. For a 12th-pass candidate, a permanent railway job on Level 2 or Level 3 pay with a pension-era service record is about the strongest opening available this year — and this notification is running at the same time as the graduate-level CEN 06/2026, which means the graduate crowd is busy elsewhere.
The four posts
One form, four posts, and your preferences are set inside that single application.
| Post | Vacancies | Pay Level | Initial Pay | Medical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial cum Ticket Clerk | 700 | Level 3 | Rs. 21,700 | B-2 |
| Junior Clerk cum Typist | 600 | Level 2 | Rs. 19,900 | C-2 |
| Accounts Clerk cum Typist | 200 | Level 2 | Rs. 19,900 | C-2 |
| Trains Clerk | 188 | Level 2 | Rs. 19,900 | A-3 |
Commercial cum Ticket Clerk is the best post here, and it also has the most seats. It sits on Level 3 — Rs. 21,700 basic instead of Rs. 19,900 — and it is the standard entry point into the commercial department, which carries the clearest promotion ladder of the four. Make it your first preference unless your eyesight rules it out.
Trains Clerk has the strictest medical at A-3, because the role involves working around moving stock in yards and goods sheds. Vision and colour-perception requirements are tighter than for the clerical posts. It also has the fewest vacancies. Unless you specifically want operations work, there is little reason to rank it first.
Junior Clerk cum Typist and Accounts Clerk cum Typist are pure office jobs at the mildest medical standard, C-2 — the right choice if you wear spectacles.
And the big relief this cycle: the Computer Based Typing Skill Test has been dispensed with for both typist posts under CEN 07/2026. Normally you would have to type at 30 words per minute in English or 25 in Hindi to hold on to those 800 posts. That stage is gone, so your typing speed cannot cost you the job.
Dates
| Notification | 26 September 2026 (indicative), detailed notice 14 October 2026 |
| Application opens | 15 October 2026 |
| Application closes | 13 November 2026, 11:59 PM |
| Last date for fee payment | 15 November 2026 |
| Modification window | 16 – 25 November 2026 |
| CBT 1 exam date | To be notified separately |
Two dates, two different jobs. You must submit the form by 13 November at 11:59 PM; you then have until 15 November to finish paying. That gap exists to rescue failed transactions, not to extend the deadline. Miss 13 November and the payment window is worthless to you.
The modification window from 16 to 25 November lets you correct a submitted application — but it costs Rs. 250 per modification, and that charge is not refundable. So it is a safety net, not a scratchpad. Get your category, date of birth and RRB zone right the first time.
Are you eligible?
Qualification — and the 50% rule that trips people up. You need Class 12 or equivalent with 50% aggregate marks, held on or before 13 November 2026.
That 50% condition is waived entirely for:
- Scheduled Caste candidates
- Scheduled Tribe candidates
- Persons with Benchmark Disabilities
- Ex-servicemen
- Anyone holding a qualification higher than Class 12
Read that last point twice, because it rescues a lot of candidates. If you scored 45% in 12th but you later finished a degree or a diploma, the 50% requirement no longer applies to you. Graduates are not barred from this notification — they are explicitly exempted from the marks condition. Many candidates with weak 12th marks assume they are out and never apply.
Age — 18 to 30 years as on 1 January 2027. Note the "as on" date: it is not the application date, and the later reckoning works in your favour.
| Category | Date of birth between | Relaxation |
|---|---|---|
| UR / EWS | 2 January 1997 – 1 January 2009 | — |
| OBC-NCL | 2 January 1994 – 1 January 2009 | 3 years |
| SC / ST | 2 January 1992 – 1 January 2009 | 5 years |
| PwBD — UR / EWS | — | 10 years |
| PwBD — OBC-NCL | — | 13 years |
| PwBD — SC / ST | — | 15 years |
Ex-servicemen deduct their length of service and get further relaxation on top. Your OBC-NCL certificate must be in the central-government format and must still be valid at document verification — not merely on the day you applied.
Compare this with the graduate notification, where the upper limit is 33. The UG cycle stops at 30, so if you are 31 or 32 and a graduate, CEN 06/2026 is your notification, not this one.
Fee — and the refund you should not give away
| Category | Fee | Refunded after CBT 1 |
|---|---|---|
| General / UR / EWS / OBC | Rs. 500 | Rs. 400, less bank charges |
| SC, ST, Ex-Servicemen, PwBD, all women, Transgender, Minorities, EBC | Rs. 250 | Rs. 250, less bank charges |
The refund has one condition: you must actually appear in CBT 1. Candidates who apply and then skip the exam forfeit the whole amount. So the true cost of applying is roughly Rs. 100 for a general candidate and nothing at all for everyone else, as long as you sit the paper. There is no sensible reason to pay the fee and not turn up.
Payment is by net banking, debit card, credit card or UPI. The refund lands in the bank account you type into the application form, so a wrong IFSC means a refund that quietly never arrives.
Important: apply to one RRB only
You may apply to exactly one Railway Recruitment Board under this CEN. Submitting more than one application gets all of them rejected, and the candidate is debarred from future RRB recruitments.
This is the single most expensive mistake in railway recruitment, and it is usually made in good faith — someone's first payment appears to fail, so they start a fresh application to be safe. Do not. Wait for the transaction to settle instead.
Your choice of RRB decides both your exam region and your posting region, and it normally cannot be changed afterwards. Pick the zone you are willing to live in.
Selection process
- CBT 1 — common screening test for all four posts.
- CBT 2 — decides your merit.
- Document Verification
- Medical Examination — A-3 for Trains Clerk, B-2 for Commercial cum Ticket Clerk, C-2 for the two typist posts.
CBT 1 marks do not count towards your final rank. The stage exists only to shortlist candidates for CBT 2. Clear it and your score resets to zero. This matters for how you prepare: CBT 1 rewards speed on easy questions, CBT 2 rewards depth. Do not spend six months chasing a CBT 1 score that will be discarded.
CBT 1 — 100 questions, 100 marks, 90 minutes
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 |
| Mathematics | 30 | 30 |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 30 | 30 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
CBT 2 — 120 questions, 120 marks, 90 minutes
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | 50 | 50 |
| Mathematics | 35 | 35 |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 35 | 35 |
| Total | 120 | 120 |
Negative marking of one-third of a mark applies to every wrong answer at both stages. Three wrong answers cancel one right one. Scribe-eligible candidates get 120 minutes instead of 90.
Minimum qualifying marks: UR and EWS 40%, OBC-NCL 30%, SC 30%, ST 25%. These are floors you must clear to stay in the race — the actual cut-off is driven by competition and lands well above them.
The syllabus is Class 12 level. Mathematics covers number system, percentage, ratio, profit and loss, time and work, time and distance, simple and compound interest, mensuration, basic trigonometry and elementary statistics. Reasoning covers analogies, series, coding-decoding, syllogism, Venn diagrams, blood relations and data interpretation. General Awareness covers current affairs, Indian polity and constitution, history, geography, general science, economics and Railways-specific static facts.
How to apply
- Open rrbapply.gov.in — one portal for every RRB.
- Create an account, or log in if you already have an RRB account. Use a mobile number and email you will keep for the next couple of years.
- Link your Aadhaar if you can. It is not compulsory, but Aadhaar-verified candidates get a faster identity check and far less trouble at document verification.
- Fill in your personal details, category and Class 12 marks exactly as printed on your certificate.
- Choose one RRB zone. One application, one board — no exceptions.
- Set your post preferences, with the medical standards above in mind.
- Allow camera access for the live photograph captured by the portal. Plain white background, light on your face not behind you, head and shoulders filling most of the frame, no cap.
- Upload your signature as a JPG or JPEG, 30 to 49 KB, at least 140 × 60 pixels, in black ink and normal handwriting. Block capitals are rejected.
- Enter your bank account number and IFSC correctly for the fee refund.
- Pay by net banking, card or UPI, and wait for the confirmation screen before closing the tab.
- Download the submitted application and save your registration number.
Problems candidates hit — and what to do
"I got 42% in 12th. Am I out?"
Not necessarily. The 50% requirement is waived for SC, ST, PwBD and ex-servicemen candidates, and for anyone holding a qualification above Class 12. If you have since completed a diploma or a degree, you are eligible regardless of your 12th percentage. If you are a general candidate with 42% and nothing after 12th, then yes, this notification is closed to you.
"My payment failed and I started a new application."
Stop and do not submit the second one. Multiple applications under the same CEN get every one of them rejected and the candidate debarred from future RRB recruitment. Failed transactions normally auto-reverse within 24 hours and the portal updates your status. You have until 15 November for the fee, so there is time to wait.
"I am a graduate. Should I apply here or to CEN 06/2026?"
Both, if you are under 30 — they are separate CENs with separate fees and separate exams, and applying to one does not bar you from the other. CEN 06/2026 pays better (Level 5 and 6 against Level 2 and 3) and has more posts, so it should be your main target. This one is a genuine second shot where you compete largely against 12th-pass candidates.
"I wear glasses. Which post should I pick?"
Junior Clerk cum Typist or Accounts Clerk cum Typist, both C-2, the mildest standard here. Avoid Trains Clerk at A-3. Commercial cum Ticket Clerk at B-2 is usually fine with corrected vision, but confirm the exact parameters in the notification PDF above before you stake your first preference on it.
"I chose the wrong RRB zone."
The modification window from 16 to 25 November covers most fields, at Rs. 250 per change, but the RRB zone generally cannot be altered. If it is wrong, your practical choice is to sit the exam in that zone and accept a posting there. Treat the zone as permanent on the day you fill the form.
"Can I take the typing test later if I am weak at typing?"
There is no typing test in CEN 07/2026 — it has been dispensed with for both typist posts. You will still need to use a computer on the job, so it is worth learning, but it will not stand between you and selection.
"1,688 posts for 12th pass — is it even realistic?"
More realistic than the headline suggests. This CEN runs alongside the graduate CEN, which pulls degree-holders away; the A-3 and B-2 medical standards remove a further slice of applicants; and 1,300 of the 1,688 posts sit in just two jobs, Commercial cum Ticket Clerk and Junior Clerk cum Typist. With about three weeks left and no exam date announced, the preparation runway is longer than the deadline makes it feel.
What to do next
Apply first, then prepare. The form takes under an hour; the exam is months away.
Once you have submitted, start with General Awareness. It is 40 of 100 marks in CBT 1 and 50 of 120 in CBT 2 — the biggest section at both stages, and the only one that cannot be built in a final-month sprint. One newspaper a day plus a single notebook for static GK will do more for your rank than any other habit.
For Mathematics and Reasoning, practise against the clock rather than by topic. CBT 1 gives you 90 minutes for 100 questions — 54 seconds each, including reading the question. With one-third negative marking, knowing when to leave a question is as valuable as knowing how to solve it.
Bookmark this page. We will update it with the exam-city intimation, the admit card and the answer key as each is released, and the notification PDF above sits on our own server, so it will still open even if the official link moves.