Eligibility
RRB Group D Eligibility 2026
Railway Recruitment Board: Group D (Level 1 posts)
Eligibility at a glance
The verified CEN 09/2025 extraction gives a base age band of 18 to 33 years as on 1 January 2026. Educational qualification is post-specific under Annexure A and must have been held by 2 March 2026, the qualification cut-off stated in paragraph 6.0 of the detailed CEN.
Community date-of-birth window
- UR / EWSNot earlier than 2 January 1993 and not later than 1 January 2008
- OBC (Non-Creamy Layer)Not earlier than 2 January 1990 and not later than 1 January 2008
- SC / STNot earlier than 2 January 1988 and not later than 1 January 2008
The notice builds community relaxation into these date-of-birth windows rather than presenting only a flat age addition.
Additional age-relaxation rules
- Ex-servicemen with at least 6 months of serviceService period is deducted first; additional relaxation varies by category under the CEN rules
- PwBD UR / EWS10 years
- PwBD OBC (Non-Creamy Layer)13 years
- PwBD SC / ST15 years
- Serving Group C / erstwhile Group D railway staff with 3+ years serviceMaximum age 40 UR/EWS, 43 OBC-NCL, 45 SC/ST
- Quasi-administrative railway office staffUp to length of service or 5 years, whichever is less
- Widowed / divorced / judicially separated women not remarriedMaximum age 35 UR, 38 OBC-NCL, 40 SC/ST
- Course-Completed Act Apprentices / Apprentices Act candidatesRelaxation is tied to the completed training period and category caps specified in the notice
If a candidate is eligible for age relaxation on more than one ground, the CEN allows the maximum applicable relaxation only; relaxations are not cumulative.
Reservation and relaxation caution
The supplied extraction states that SC, ST and OBC-NCL candidates applying against UR vacancies do not receive community age relaxation. PwBD candidates applying against UR vacancies receive only the PwBD(UR) relaxation.
Educational qualification
Post-specific qualification
The required qualification is defined post by post in Annexure A of CEN 09/2025.
Qualification must already be held
Candidates awaiting final examination results should not apply. Paragraph 6.0 of the detailed CEN requires the prescribed qualification to have been held by 2 March 2026. Corrigendum 4 later extended the online application-submission deadline to 9 March 2026 but stated that all other terms and conditions remained unchanged.
Engineering qualification substitution
A Diploma or Degree in Engineering is not accepted in place of Course Completed Act Apprenticeship or ITI for Level-1 posts unless the post specifically permits it.
Nationality
Eligible categories are a citizen of India, a citizen of Nepal, a subject of Bhutan, a Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 intending permanent settlement, or a specified person of Indian origin who migrated from the countries listed in CEN 09/2025 intending permanent settlement. Candidates in the categories that require a Government of India eligibility certificate must satisfy that requirement; the certificate is required at Document Verification.
Official source
Source: Railway Recruitment Boards, CEN 09/2025 for Level-1 posts, read with Corrigendum 4 dated 2 March 2026. Nationality and the qualification cut-off were checked against the official detailed CEN. View the current official RRB CEN 09/2025 page.
Frequently asked questions
Does meeting the RRB Group D eligibility mean my application is confirmed?
No. Eligibility is self-declared when you apply, and the conducting body accepts the application provisionally on the strength of that declaration. It is verified later, at document verification, against original certificates. A candidate who clears every stage and cannot produce proof of age, category or qualification at that point is rejected then, with the whole cycle spent. Check each condition against your own documents before you apply rather than after.
What is the RRB Group D exam pattern?
The paper is 100 questions for 100 marks in 90 minutes. Wrong answers are penalised 0.333 per question. Eligibility decides whether you can sit it; the pattern decides what sitting it involves, and the two are worth reading together before you commit to a cycle.
Can I start preparing for RRB Group D before the notification is out?
Yes, and it is the better time to start. Eligibility conditions and the examination scheme are usually stable between cycles, so the paper you will sit is close to the one already published, and the months before a notification are the only ones not spent on the application itself. There are 10 free tests for RRB Group D here to work from in the meantime.
Where are the official RRB Group D eligibility rules published?
In the conducting body's own notification: the current official RRB CEN 09/2025 page, cited and linked at the foot of this page. That document governs, and where any other source disagrees with it, including this page, the notification is what counts. It can also be amended mid-cycle by a corrigendum, and eligibility conditions are among the things corrigenda most often change, so check for one before deciding you do or do not qualify.