RRB NTPC Graduate vs Undergraduate 2026: CEN 06, CEN 07 or Both?

The Railway Recruitment Boards have two Non-Technical Popular Categories notices open at the same time this year. CEN 06/2026 has 3,548 graduate-level posts and closes on 6 November 2026. CEN 07/2026 has 1,688 posts that need only 12th, and closes on 13 November 2026.

Most of the confusion we see is about one question: if you have a degree, do you pick one? You do not have to. This page compares the two notices on the points that actually change your decision. Every figure is from the two CEN PDFs.

The two notices side by side

The posts themselves:

Apply on rrbapply.gov.in for both. Full details are on our CEN 06 page and CEN 07 page.

Can a graduate apply to both?

Yes. Both notices say that more than one application leads to rejection and debarment, but the wording is "more than one application by a candidate against this CEN". The ban is inside a CEN, not across the two.

Two things make a graduate eligible for CEN 07 without any extra condition:

• 12th is the minimum, not the maximum. Nothing in CEN 07 bars higher qualifications.
• Annexure A of CEN 07 waives the 50 percent aggregate for candidates with qualifications higher than 12th (+2 Stage), as well as for SC, ST, PwBD and Ex-Servicemen candidates. A graduate who scored 46 percent in Class 12 is still eligible.

This is our reading of the "against this CEN" wording in both notices. RRBs have not issued a separate clarification on applying to both, and neither notice bars it.

Each form is a separate fee: Rs 500, with Rs 400 back if you sit CBT 1, or Rs 250 refunded in full for concession categories. If you apply to both and sit both CBT 1 papers, your net cost is Rs 200 at most, plus bank charges and any Rs 250 correction fees.

You also pick an RRB separately in each form. That matters, because the post mix changes by RRB. In CEN 06, Goods Train Manager is 526 of RRB Bilaspur's 542 posts, while RRB Chandigarh has only 6 Goods Train Manager posts out of 59. Read Annexure B of each CEN before you lock either choice. You cannot change the RRB in the correction window.

Age is the real dividing line

The upper age limit is three years lower in CEN 07. Using the date-of-birth bands printed in the two notices:

In both, you must not be born after 1 January 2009. So a UR graduate born in 1995 can apply only to CEN 06. A UR graduate born in 1998 can apply to both. PwBD, Ex-Servicemen, serving railway staff and widowed or divorced women get further relaxation under the same rules in both notices.

If you wear glasses

This is the point people miss until the medical, and failing the medical does not get you moved to a different post.

Goods Train Manager is 2,750 of the 3,548 graduate posts, or about 78 percent. If you need glasses to see 6/9 in each eye, about four out of five CEN 06 seats are closed to you, and in some RRBs nearly all of them are. In CEN 07, all 1,688 posts accept glasses within the limits above.

Lasik or any other refractive surgery bars you from A-2 and A-3, which means both Goods Train Manager and Trains Clerk. B-2 and C-2 posts stay open, subject to the conditions in the Railway Board letter attached to both notices as Annexure VII(A). If you fail the medical for the post you are selected for, you may be offered one paid appeal, and no alternative appointment is given.

For a graduate who wears glasses, CEN 07 is not a fallback. It may hold more seats you can actually take than CEN 06 does in your RRB.

Pay: Level 2, 3, 5 and 6

These are basic pay figures from the vacancy tables. Dearness allowance, house rent allowance and transport allowance are added on top, and they depend on the city and the DA rate on the day you join. We have not put a gross figure here because neither notice prints one.

The gap between Level 2 and Level 5 is Rs 9,300 a month in basic pay alone. If you clear both, CEN 06 is the better offer on pay. A Level 2 job is still a permanent central government post, and serving railway staff with three years of service get a higher age limit in later railway notices.

One preparation, two exams

The CBT pattern printed in both notices is identical:

Minimum marks are also the same in both: 40 percent for UR and EWS, 30 percent for OBC-NCL and SC, and 25 percent for ST. The CBT 2 shortlist is 15 times the community-wise vacancies of your RRB, and document verification is 1:1 against vacancies.

The topic lists are the same, so there is no separate study plan. The difficulty is set to the "educational standards prescribed for the posts", so expect the CEN 07 paper to be pitched a little easier. Neither notice gives CBT dates or says whether the two will clash. If they fall on different days, sitting both gives you two attempts with the same preparation. Practice sets: CEN 06 and CEN 07.

A quick way to decide

The age bands below are for UR. Add 3 years for OBC-NCL and 5 for SC and ST, using the table above.

• Graduate born between 2 January 1997 and 1 January 2009, no glasses: apply to both. Pick your CEN 06 RRB for Goods Train Manager seats, and your CEN 07 RRB for Ticket Clerk and Junior Clerk seats.
• Graduate born between 2 January 1997 and 1 January 2009, wears glasses: apply to both. In CEN 06, mark only the B-2 and C-2 posts. Pick an RRB with many C-2 seats, such as Kolkata (148), Ajmer (64), Chennai (63) or Mumbai (58). Chandigarh is almost all clerical, but has only 59 posts in total.
• Graduate born between 2 January 1994 and 1 January 1997: CEN 06 only. CEN 07 is closed to you by age.
• Final-year student whose result comes after 6 November: CEN 06 is closed to you. Apply to CEN 07 on your 12th marks. You need at least 50 percent in 12th, unless you are SC, ST, PwBD or an Ex-Serviceman, because the degree waiver applies only once you hold the degree.
• 12th pass only: CEN 07 only.

The fee is paid separately for each form. Fill the CEN 06 form first, since it closes a week earlier. Use the same rrbapply.gov.in account for both, and keep your name and date of birth exactly as they appear on your Class 10 certificate.