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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) holds a competitive examination named Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA) Examination for posts like Commercial Apprentice, Traffic Apprentice, Assistant Station Master, Clerk Grade I, guards etc.
This examination is held once a year, generally in the month of July. Blank application forms and other particulars are published in Employment News, generally in the month of February.
Eligibility Criteria
The candidate applying for UPSC SCRA exam should satisfy following eligibility criteria.
Age – limits:
The candidates should be minimum 17 years and a maximum of 21 years on 1st August of the year of examination. Age relaxation is application for certain categories of persons based on UPSC rules.
Educational Qualification:
For Admission to the examination a candidate –
- Must have passed in the first or second division, the Intermediate or an equivalent examination of a university or board approved by the Government of India with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the examination.
- Must have passed the first year Examination under the three year degree course of a university or the first examination of the three year diploma course in Rural Service of the National Council for Rural Higher Education or the third year Examination for promotion to the 4th year of the four year B.A. / B.Sc. ( Evening College ) Course of the Madras University with Mathematics and at least one of the subjects Physics and Chemistry as subjects of the Special Class Railway Apprentices examination provided that before joining the degree / diploma course he / she passed the Higher Secondary examination or the Pre-University or equivalent examination in the first or second division.
Application Fee
The Candidates applying SCRA Exam Online ( excepting Female / SC / ST / PH candidates who are exempted from payment of fee ) are required to pay a fee of Rupee 100/- ( Rupees One Hundred only ) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by Cash, or by using net banking facility of SBI, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur / State Bank of Hyderabad / State Bank of Mysore / State Bank of Patiala / State Bank of Travancore or by using Visa / Master Credit / Debit Card.
All female candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes are not required to pay any fee for SCRA Exam.
Examination Details
The exam is held in two parts, first part contains written examination that consists 3 papers. Each paper is allotted 2 hours times for answering.
| # | Subjects | Maximum Mark |
|---|---|---|
| Paper-I: | General Ability Test (English, General Knowledge and Psychological Test) | 200 Marks |
| Paper-II: | Physical Sciences (Physics and Chemistry) | 200 marks |
| Paper-III: | Mathematics | 200 marks |
| Total: | 600 Marks | |
Candidates should note that there will be penalty ( Negative Marking ) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers.
The papers in all the subjects will consist of Objective ( multiple choice answer ) Type questions only. The Question Papers ( Test Booklets ) will be set in English only.
Candidates are not permitted to use calculators for answering objective type papers ( Test Booklets ). They should not, therefore, bring the same inside the Examination Hall.
Upon successful completion, the candidates have to appear for Personality Test that carries 200 marks.
Syllabus: GENERAL ABILITY TEST SYLLABUS PHYSICAL SCIENCES SYLLABUS MATHEMATICS SYLLABUS
DOWNLOAD UPSC SCRA QUESTION PAPERS
Exam Centers
The UPSC SCRA Exam is usually conducted at the following centers :
| Agartala | 45 | Gangtok | 42 | Panaji (Goa) | 36 |
| Ahmedabad | 01 | Hyderabad | 10 | Patna | 15 |
| Aizawl | 47 | Imphal | 44 | Port Blair | 37 |
| Allahabad | 02 | Itanagar | 48 | Raipur | 49 |
| Bangalore | 03 | Jaipur | 11 | Ranchi | 41 |
| Bareilly | 54 | Jammu | 34 | Sambalpur | 53 |
| Bhopal | 04 | Jorhat | 46 | Shillong | 16 |
| Chandigarh | 35 | Kochi | 24 | Shimla | 17 |
| Chennai | 12 | Kohima | 43 | Srinagar | 18 |
| Cuttack | 07 | Kolkata | 06 | Thiruvanathapuram | 19 |
| Dehradun | 14 | Lucknow | 26 | Tirupati | 50 |
| Delhi | 08 | Madurai | 40 | Udaipur | 52 |
| Dharwar | 39 | Mumbai | 05 | Vishakhapatnam | 51 |
| Dispur | 09 | Nagpur | 13 | ||
The Candidate should note that there will be a ceiling on the number of candidates allotted to each of the Centres, except Chennai, Delhi, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur. The allotment will be on the “First-apply-First-allot” basis. Once the capacity of a center is attained, it will be frozen. Candidates should also note that once center is alloted, it will not be changed under any circumstances.
Contact Details
In case of any guidance / information / clarification regarding their SCRA application form status 2016, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC’s Facilitation Counter near Gate “C” of its campus in person or over Telephone No : 011-23385271 / 011-23381125 / 011-23098543 on working days between 10.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs.