RRC NR Apprentice Recruitment 2026: 4,651 Act Apprentice Posts, Apply Online from 11 November

The Railway Recruitment Cell, Northern Railway (RRC NR) has released Notification No. RRC/NR/03/2026/Act Apprentice for the engagement of Act Apprentices under the Apprentices Act 1961. Through this notification, 4,651 Act Apprentice training slots will be filled at divisions, units and workshops across Northern Railway for the 2026-27 training year. The notification was published on 6 November 2026, online applications open on 11 November 2026, and the last date to apply is 11 December 2026 (11:59 PM). There is no written exam and no interview — selection is purely on a merit list made from your Class 10 and ITI marks. Every detail below is taken from the official notification. If you are comparing railway apprentice options this season, also read our RITES Apprentice Recruitment 2026 guide.

Quick Answer: RRC Northern Railway is engaging 4,651 Act Apprentices across six clusters for 2026-27. Candidates with Class 10 (50% marks) and an ITI certificate in a relevant trade, aged 15 to 24, can apply online at rrcnr.org from 11 November to 11 December 2026. There is no exam; selection is purely on merit.

RRC NR Apprentice Recruitment 2026 – Overview

RRC NR Apprentice Recruitment 2026 – Important Dates

Do not wait for the last week. RRC clearly says it will not take responsibility if you cannot submit the form on the final day because the website is overloaded — and with 4,651 slots open to every ITI trade, the last-day rush is predictable.

RRC NR Apprentice Vacancy 2026 – Cluster-Wise and Category-Wise Details

The Lucknow cluster alone accounts for 1,525 slots — almost a third of the total — followed by Delhi with 1,312. Firozpur is worth a second look: it has 740 slots but a very different category mix (only 12 ST slots, and 169 SC slots). The full break-up below is from Annexure A of the official notification. The slot count is provisional and may increase or decrease when the selection is finalised, and it includes the PwBD and Ex-Servicemen slots.

Choose your cluster with care. The notification asks you to check the trade-wise slots in Annexure A against your own ITI trade before applying. If you apply to a cluster or unit where no slot exists for your trade, the application becomes meaningless, is summarily rejected — and the fee is not refunded. This one mistake is entirely avoidable if you spend ten minutes with Annexure A first.

RRC NR Apprentice Eligibility Criteria 2026

Educational qualification. You must have passed SSC / Matriculation / Class 10 (under the 10+2 examination system) with a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate from a recognised Board, and you must have passed ITI in the relevant trade issued by NCVT/SCVT recognised by the Government of India. Both qualifications are checked as on the date the notification was issued — 6 November 2026.

Result-awaited candidates cannot apply. If your Class 10 or ITI result was still awaited on 6 November 2026, you are not eligible for this cycle, even if the result comes out before the last date.

Age limit. As on the closing date, 11 December 2026, you should have completed 15 years of age and should not have completed 24 years. Relaxation in the upper age limit: SC/ST candidates get 5 years, OBC candidates 3 years, and PwBD candidates 10 years. Ex-Servicemen get up to an additional 10 years — the extent of service rendered in the Defence Forces plus 3 years — provided they have put in a minimum of 6 months of service at a stretch.

Medical fitness. You must meet the physical fitness standards prescribed under the Apprentices Act 1961 and the Apprenticeship Rules 1992 for the trade you apply to. At Document Verification you will need a medical fitness certificate signed by a Government authorised doctor, not below the rank of Assistant Surgeon of a Central or State hospital. PwBD candidates should apply only against slots notified for their type of disability in their trade.

RRC NR Apprentice Application Fee 2026

How the fee is paid. The Rs. 100 fee is paid online only, as part of the application process. RRC will not accept cash, cheque, money order, IPO, demand draft or central recruitment fee stamps. If an online payment stays incomplete or pending for any reason, the notification tells you to make a fresh payment transaction — an unpaid form is an invalid form.

How to Apply for RRC NR Apprentice Recruitment 2026

1. Go to the official website www.rrcnr.org and click on the link “Engagement of Act Apprentice” ONLINE Application.
2. Register first — fill in your Name, Father’s Name, Community, Category, Mobile Number, Email ID and Date of Birth.
3. On successful registration, your login password is sent to your registered email ID and by SMS to your mobile number.
4. Log in — your Candidate Dashboard opens with the Application Form, fee payment and document upload sections.
5. Fill the application form carefully, choose your cluster and unit only where your ITI trade has notified slots (check Annexure A of the notification), and enter your Class 10 and ITI marks exactly as they appear on your mark sheets.
6. Pay the online fee of Rs. 100 unless you belong to an exempted category (SC/ST/PwBD/Women).
7. Upload your photograph, signature and thumb impression — each must be 10 to 50 KB in JPG format — along with your certificates.
8. Submit the form finally, then take a print of the application and the fee payment slip for your own record. The last date is 11 December 2026, 11:59 PM.

One application only. This is the strictest rule in the notification: one candidate can submit only one application. If RRC receives multiple applications from you, all of them are summarily rejected and no fee is refunded. And remember — no change of any kind is allowed after final submission, so check every entry before you hit submit.

RRC NR Apprentice Selection Process 2026

There is no exam hall and no interview panel in this recruitment. The process has three stages: screening and scrutiny of applications, a merit list, and then Document Verification with the medical fitness certificate.

How the merit is calculated. The merit list takes the average of the percentage marks you scored in Matriculation/Class 10 and the percentage marks in your ITI examination, giving equal weightage to both. Put simply: (Class 10 % + ITI %) divided by 2. A candidate with 78% in Class 10 and 84% in ITI gets a merit score of 81. If your board gives grades or CGPA, convert them to actual marks and enter the real figures — for grading-system boards, RRC takes the midpoint of the grade range, and for ITI it uses the average marks shown in the consolidated mark sheet of all semesters.

Tie-breaking rule. If two candidates land on the same merit score, the older candidate is preferred. If the date of birth is also identical, the one who passed matriculation earlier is placed first.

Cluster-wise lists. The final merit list is prepared cluster-wise, trade-wise and community-wise, equal to the number of slots — so you compete only against candidates in your own cluster, trade and category. One warning that matters: if the marks you enter online do not match your original mark sheet at Document Verification, your candidature is rejected outright. Type your marks slowly, and cross-check them once against the mark sheet before submitting.

RRC NR Apprentice Training and Stipend

The notification states only that the period of training and the stipend will be as per the extant rules applicable — it does not promise any fixed monthly amount, so be careful of any website quoting you an exact stipend figure for this notification. Before training starts, the selected candidate has to sign a Contract of Apprenticeship Training; for a minor candidate, the guardian signs it. Two things every applicant should know upfront: apprenticeship training gives you no right to a permanent railway job afterwards, and Northern Railway provides no hostel accommodation — you arrange your own stay during training.

Documents Required for RRC NR Apprentice Application

Keep scanned copies ready before the portal opens on 11 November — an application without the required enclosures is summarily rejected, and no extra documents are accepted later at Document Verification.

• Proof of date of birth — Class 10 certificate or a DOB certificate
• Class 10 pass mark sheet and certificate
• Consolidated ITI mark sheet of all semesters, or the provisional National Trade Certificate showing marks
• National Trade Certificate issued by NCVT/SCVT, with mark sheet
• SC/ST/OBC/PwBD/Ex-Servicemen certificate in the prescribed format, where applicable (annexures are available on www.rrcnr.org)
• Disability certificate, for PwBD applicants
• Discharge certificate or serving certificate, for applicants against the Ex-Servicemen quota

At Document Verification, bring everything you uploaded in original, along with self-attested photocopies, at the place and time printed on the E-Admit Card you download from the RRC website. Certificates in a language other than English or Hindi must carry an attested translation.

RRC NR Apprentice Recruitment 2026 – Important Links

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the last date to apply for RRC NR Apprentice Recruitment 2026?

The last date is 11 December 2026, and the online portal closes at 11:59 PM. Applications open on 11 November 2026 at www.rrcnr.org, and the Rs. 100 fee (where applicable) must also be paid within the same window.

How many vacancies are there in RRC NR Act Apprentice Recruitment 2026?

There are 4,651 Act Apprentice training slots in total: Lucknow cluster 1,525, Delhi 1,312, Ambala 979, Firozpur 740, Moradabad 63 and Jammu 32. The number is provisional and may increase or decrease when the selection is finalised.

What is the qualification for RRC NR Act Apprentice?

You need Class 10 (Matriculation) with at least 50% marks in aggregate from a recognised Board, plus an ITI certificate in the relevant trade issued by NCVT/SCVT. Both qualifications must have been passed by 6 November 2026 — candidates awaiting results are not eligible.

What is the age limit for Northern Railway Apprentice 2026?

As on 11 December 2026, you should have completed 15 years of age and not completed 24 years. The upper age limit is relaxable by 5 years for SC/ST, 3 years for OBC and 10 years for PwBD candidates, with additional relaxation for Ex-Servicemen as per the notification.

What is the application fee for RRC NR Apprentice 2026?

The fee is Rs. 100 for general and other non-exempt candidates, payable online only, and it is non-refundable. SC, ST, PwBD and Women candidates pay no fee at all.

Is there any exam for RRC NR Apprentice selection?

No. The notification clearly states there will be no written test and no viva. Selection is made only through screening of applications and a merit list, followed by Document Verification and a medical fitness certificate.

How is the RRC NR Apprentice merit list prepared?

The merit score is the simple average of your percentage marks in Class 10 and in ITI, with equal weightage to both. The final merit list is prepared cluster-wise, trade-wise and community-wise, equal to the number of slots in that cluster and trade.

When will the RRC NR Apprentice merit list 2026 be released?

The notification gives February 2027 as the expected month for the display of the merit list. Document Verification details will be given on the E-Admit Card published on the RRC website, www.rrcnr.org.

What stipend do Northern Railway Act Apprentices get?

The notification does not state a fixed stipend amount. It says the period of training and the stipend will be as per the extant rules applicable, so any exact monthly figure quoted elsewhere for this notification is not from the official document.

Can I submit more than one application for RRC NR Apprentice 2026?

No. One candidate can submit only one application. If multiple applications are received from the same candidate, all of them are summarily rejected and the fee is not refunded. No change is allowed in the application after final submission either.

Always cross-check the details on the official notification at rrcnr.org before applying — if anything in this article and the notification ever differs, the notification is final.

Written by Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh is the Editor (Government Jobs) at New Sarkari Results, an independent information portal for Sarkari Result, Sarkari Naukri, admit card, answer key, syllabus and admission updates. He has 10+ years of experience covering Government Jobs, Railway Jobs, SSC, Banking, Teaching, Police, Defence and state recruitment boards. Every update on this site is verified directly from the official notification PDF issued by the commission or board — never from third-party aggregators.