UCO Bank Apprentice 2026-27: 530 Seats, Exam 7 November, Apply by 29 October

UCO Bank will engage 530 provisional apprentices for one year under the Apprentices Act, 1961. The advertisement is HO/HRM/RECR/2026-27/COM-02, dated 13 October 2026, from HRM at Head Office, 10 BTM Sarani, Kolkata. It is on uco.bank.in/job-opportunities. The official PDF is the source for seats, the two-portal apply path and the 7 November test.

Registration and the BFSI SSC fee both run 14 to 29 October 2026. The online test is 7 November 2026 at 11:00 am. If you have already registered on NATS, the next action is the BFSI SSC email and the fee. If you have not, NATS comes first. A NATS profile without the BFSI payment is not a complete application.

This is not a clerk recruitment. It is a one-year training contract. The Bank says you are a trainee, not an employee, and it has no obligation to give you a job at the end.

Seats by State

The table is provisional. The Bank can change it. You apply for one State or UT. The Bank can post you in any district of that State. Two applications from the same person are rejected.

PwBD horizontal seats inside those totals: OC 25, HI 9, VI 1, ID 0.

West Bengal 86 and Uttar Pradesh 45 are the large rows. A one-seat State is still a full apply path. OBC must be on the Central list and non-creamy layer. A State-list OBC who is not on the Central list marks General. The OBC (NCL) certificate must be on the Government of India format, issued on or after 1 April 2026, and held by document verification. EWS uses the income and asset certificate for FY 2026-27 based on FY 2025-26.

Age and the April 2022 degree cut

Age is on 1 October 2026. Floor 20, ceiling 28 for UR and EWS. OBC (NCL) 3 years, SC and ST 5, PwBD 10 / 13 / 15 as printed. Widows and divorced or judicially separated women who have not remarried: 35 / 38 / 40. You cannot change category after submit.

The line most short blogs skip: graduation must have been completed on or after 1 April 2022, with mark sheets and the provisional or final degree to match. A 2021 pass is out. A March 2022 pass is out. Convert CGPA to a percentage with the university's own conversion certificate if you are called.

You also fail the form if you have already done or are doing an apprenticeship, if a past apprenticeship was terminated, or if you have one year or more of training or job after the degree. Ex-servicemen are not engaged.

Citizenship follows the usual India / Nepal / Bhutan / Tibetan-before-1962 / specified-origin rows, with a Government of India eligibility certificate where required.

The two portals

This is the part aggregator pages flatten into "apply online".

1. NATS at nats.education.gov.in. Student Register or Login. Complete the profile. Apply to the UCO Bank advertisement. Write down the enrolment ID. The student manual is on nats.education.gov.in/assets/manual/student_manual.pdf. After login, advertisements sit at nats.education.gov.in/student_type.php.

2. BFSI SSC emails info@bfsissc.com inviting you to beep.bfsissc.com for caste, district choices and the fee. Pay 14 to 29 October 2026, online only. The fee is not refunded, even if you skip the test. SC, ST and PwBD: Rs 200 plus GST. General, EWS and OBC male: Rs 800 plus GST. Female or transgender in those three: Rs 600 plus GST.

Names, dates and numbers on BFSI SSC must match NATS. A mismatch can drop you. No edit after submit. Keep the same email and mobile until the year ends. Queries go to info@bfsissc.com, not to a walk-in desk in Kolkata.

Last valid complete application wins if you somehow file twice. Incomplete fee payment is not a valid application.

The 7 November test

The paper is 100 questions, 100 marks, 60 minutes:

English and Hindi as printed. The advertisement does not print a negative-marking fraction. Do not invent 0.25. Qualifying marks: 40 for General and EWS, 35 for SC, ST, OBC and PwBD.

Merit is State-wise and category-wise on written marks. A tie at the cut-off goes to the older candidate.

You sit the paper from home at 11:00 am on 7 November. The link and login arrive the day before from BFSI SSC. Use your own camera-enabled machine. Stay isolated. Show the Aadhaar you put on NATS. Except PwBD, no one else may sit near you. Fail to register for the test and you are out of the process, even if NATS and the fee are done.

The Bank may publish a wait list. Medical fitness is required. Call letters go by email only. Disputes sit in courts at Kolkata.

Language, hours and money

You must be able to read, write, speak and understand one local language of the State you chose. The test is during document verification. A class 10 or 12 mark sheet that shows that language exempts you. Fail the test and you are not engaged.

Training hours match clerical staff. Stipend Rs 16,650 a month: Bank Rs 10,500, government DBT Rs 6,150 (subject to change). No other allowance. No hostel, transport or residence from the Bank. No PF, ESI or bonus. No union. If you leave mid-training without a reason beyond your control, you can be asked to refund the training cost and stipend.

The contract ends on the last day of the year. No separate termination notice. If you do not report on day one, the contract ends without notice or compensation.

If you have already applied

Confirm three things before 29 October: NATS enrolment ID exists, the BFSI SSC fee is paid, and the State on both portals is the one you can actually live and speak in. A Bihar NATS row and a West Bengal BFSI row is the mismatch the note warns about.

If the BFSI email has not arrived, check spam for info@bfsissc.com, then write to that address with the NATS ID. Do not open a second NATS ID.

On 6 November, watch the same email for the exam link. A phone without a working camera is not a plan B the advertisement offers. Test the camera and Aadhaar image this week.

OBC (NCL) issued before 1 April 2026 will not do at verification. Get the new certificate now, not after the merit list.

Corrigenda appear only on uco.bank.in, career or job-opportunities. The Bank is "not responsible for printing errors".

The career page listed HO/HRM/RECR/2026-27/COM-02 on 13 October 2026 with a View PDF and an apply-online button. That button does not replace NATS. The advertisement still starts at nats.education.gov.in and then beep.bfsissc.com. A bank-site click that skips NATS is an incomplete path.

The scheme table prints four sections of 25, 100 marks, 60 minutes. It does not print a negative-marking fraction. Until BFSI SSC emails a handout that adds one, do not run your mocks with a 0.25 penalty you invented.

Pattern, language test and merit rules are on the syllabus page. Twelve questions on the two-portal path and the 40/35 cut-off are on the practice page.