South Western Railway Scouts & Guides Quota 2026–27: 11 Level-2 and Level-1 railway openings

South Western Railway's Railway Recruitment Cell (RRC), Hubballi has issued Employment Notice SWR/P-HQ/Scouts & Guides/26-27 on 14 November 2026 for recruitment against the Scouts & Guides open-advertisement quota. The notice covers 3 Group-C Level-2 vacancies and 8 erstwhile Group-D Level-1 vacancies in South Western Railway (SWR) and Rail Wheel Factory (RWF), Yelahanka. These are railway service vacancies, not a Scouts volunteer programme and not the separate SWR employee-only GDCE recruitment.

The decisive eligibility distinction is that ordinary school education alone is insufficient. Applicants must also hold the prescribed President Scout/Guide/Rover/Ranger or Himalayan Wood Badge qualification, meet the five-year active-membership requirement, and document participation in the specified national and state-level events. Both levels require their own online application and fee if an applicant seeks both.

📌 Recruitment overview and confirmed dates

The official RRC Hubballi website links both the full notification PDF and the Apply Online portal. The employment notice fixes the closing date, but does not separately state an application-opening date or opening hour; use the live official application link to register while the application window is available.

🚆 Which level and unit has how many seats?

🥧 Official 11-seat distribution by railway pay level

📊 Allocation between South Western Railway and Rail Wheel Factory

The eight South Western Railway seats comprise two Level-2 and six Level-1 seats; the factory's three comprise one Level-2 and two Level-1. This is an allocation of advertised seats, not a promise of an individual posting location after selection. The railway may post a selected candidate anywhere on its notified railway/factory establishment and in an appropriate safety category.

Community reservation: The notice expressly says these 11 seats are open to all communities and no seat is reserved for an individual community. Eligibility for age relaxation or reduced examination fee must not be mistaken for a reserved vacancy. No UR/OBC/SC/ST/EWS seat allotment is separately published.

🎓 Educational eligibility: two different routes

Group C — Level-2 (3 seats)

A candidate must satisfy one of the following routes:

1. 12th (+2) or recognised equivalent from a recognised board with at least 50% aggregate marks. The 50% requirement does not apply to SC/ST candidates, ex-servicemen or applicants with recognised graduation/postgraduation.
2. Matriculation plus Course Completed Act Apprenticeship or ITI approved by NCVT/SCVT from a recognised institution for posts in technical categories. The notice specifically warns that an engineering diploma is not automatically an alternative higher qualification for this technical route.

The recruitment notice does not identify a guaranteed clerical designation for each of the three seats. If ultimately appointed as Clerk-cum-Typist, the appointee must obtain the prescribed typing proficiency within two years of appointment, remaining provisional in that category until it is acquired.

Group D — Level-1 (8 seats)

A candidate needs 10th pass OR ITI OR recognised equivalent OR an NCVT National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC). These are alternatives, not four qualifications that every applicant must hold. Successful candidates will be appointed to safety-category posts and must meet the medical standard prescribed for the post assigned.

Final-year / awaiting-result candidates are not eligible under the notice. Verify that every qualification and supporting certificate is already available when submitting the form.

🏕️ Scouts & Guides qualification: all three conditions must be satisfied

• Award route: President Scout/Guide/Rover/Ranger or Himalayan Wood Badge (HWB) in any section. Provisional award certificates may allow provisional participation, but final empanelment/appointment follows the specific Railway Board verification conditions; provisional acceptance is not guaranteed appointment.
• Activity: Active Scouts organisation membership for the last five years, supported by the Certificate of Activeness and prescribed declaration/countersignature in Annexure-I.
• Events: Participation in at least two National-level or All India Railways-level events AND two State-level events, with the original certificates specified in Annexure-I. The two event levels are cumulative, not substitutes for one another.

The certificate-scoring schedule does not award additional marks merely for the first two compulsory National events and first two compulsory State events; extra event participation can earn certificate marks. This distinction is important when estimating one's merit score.

🎂 Age eligibility: use 1 January 2027, not application date

Both DOB windows are inclusive as printed. The candidate's matriculation/secondary, school-leaving, or accepted equivalent birth-date record must be consistent with the application; later changes to declared DOB are not permitted.

Category-wise upper-age concessions

The special concessions require valid supporting documents and cannot simply be stacked without the rule applying to the applicant. For OBC-NCL, the notice specifies the 2026–27 certificate (issued on/after 1 April 2026) or the stated existing-certificate-plus-self-declaration procedure.

💳 Fee, examination attendance and conditional refund

This is a reduced fee, not a zero-fee exemption. The refund is contingent on actually appearing in the written examination, otherwise the fee is not refundable. Incorrect, rejected or incomplete applications are not eligible for the refund. Record the correct beneficiary name, bank, account number and IFSC to enable the refund. An applicant submitting two applications, one per level, pays both fees separately.

For this fee concession, EBC means family annual income below ₹50,000, supported by the prescribed Annexure-E income certificate. It is not automatically the same thing as EWS. The prescribed minority self-declaration and, where directed, subsequent affidavit are separate requirements.

📝 Selection: exactly 100 marks

📊 Written test and Scouts & Guides certificate assessment

The 60-mark written test comprises 40 objective-type questions for 40 marks in CBT/TBT mode and one essay-type question for 20 marks on Scouts & Guides and general knowledge. The original notice does not fix the written-test date, duration, negative-marking rate, examination city or final qualifying cutoff; candidates should not rely on assumptions from previous recruitment cycles.

Full 40-mark Scouts & Guides certificate scorecard

Example: a candidate with only the two mandatory National events and two mandatory State events should not count 20 bonus marks from those minimum certificates. Extra qualifying events, specialised courses and district-rally certificates determine the corresponding marks.

Actual notified syllabus

The written test covers Scouting/Guiding history; Scout/Guide law and promise; district, state and national organisations and training centres; reference books; Scouting for Boys and Guiding for Girls in India; motto, left-hand handshake, salute, prayer, flag song, national anthem and flag recognition; service activities; hiking and proficiency badges; stages and progressive training of Scouts, Guides, Rovers and Rangers; Thinking Day; pioneering and handicrafts; Indian Railway/Jamborette, National Jamboree and Jamboree on the Air; WAGGGS/WOSM; Uprashtrapati Award and Prime Minister Shield competitions; community development, aims and methods of Scouting; and the role of Scouting in citizenship. General knowledge is included in the test description; no separate additional GK chapter or chapter-wise weightage is declared.

Document verification and medical fitness

Original certificates proving date of birth, education, Scouts & Guides qualification, membership/events, community or fee/age concessions and other claims must be brought for verification. Government/PSU employees require the employer's No Objection Certificate as applicable. The railway will medically examine recommended candidates for the relevant post, and those who do not meet the required standard are not entitled to an alternative appointment. The railway provides no general TA/DA or accommodation for the written exam or verification. The notice cautions that a 4–5 day stay may be required for these activities, at the candidate's own arrangement.

📤 Apply online: photograph, certificate and payment checkpoints

1. Open the official RRC Hubballi website, read Employment Notice SWR/P-HQ/Scouts & Guides/26-27, and follow its specifically linked Scouts & Guides Apply Online page. Register as a new applicant and then complete the relevant level's application.
2. Enter name, father's name and date of birth consistently across the school and Scouts & Guides certificates. Prepare a current colour photograph taken within the preceding 3 months, JPG/JPEG, 20–50 KB, full front-facing image without cap or sunglasses. Keep two matching additional copies for verification.
3. Upload signature and left thumb impression as directed; the notification states 20–50 KB for the relevant scanned signature/LTI images. Block-capital or detached/disjoint signatures may be rejected.
4. Upload Aadhaar, birth-date proof, appropriate school/ITI/NAC qualification evidence, the Scouts & Guides award/activity/event certificates (Annexure-I), and age/fee concession documents where applicable. Upload academic proof and Scouts & Guides proof as their respective single PDF files as requested by RRC.
5. For an OBC concession use the correct central OBC-NCL 2026–27 certificate or the notice's acceptable existing-certificate-plus-declaration route. For EBC/minority/PwBD and other concessions follow their corresponding Annexures; do not treat a fee concession as an awarded seat reservation.
6. Pay the examination fee online, retain the transaction e-receipt, confirm submission and keep a copy of the final application. The last submission time is 23:59 IST on 13 December 2026. If applying for both levels, repeat the application and payment separately.

A photo wearing a cap, unclear certificate scans, wrong community proof, missing Scouts & Guides Certificate of Activeness or mismatched personal particulars can cause rejection. Applicants should inspect the upload preview before submitting and not assume the documents can be replaced at a later selection stage.

📍 Posting and what the vacancy list does not promise

Level-2 has two SWR positions plus one at RWF Yelahanka. Level-1 has two seats each in Hubballi, Bengaluru and Mysuru divisions, and at RWF Yelahanka. The recruitment notice permits posting in appropriate safety-category posts anywhere on South Western Railway or RWF as decided at allotment; the division distribution is a vacancy breakdown, not a guarantee of a preferred station, role or shift. Relevant railway training may follow selection. A Level-2 candidate allotted Clerk-cum-Typist must gain typing proficiency within two years.

Important boundary: The advertisement explicitly specifies a written test, certificate marks, verification and medical fitness. It does not announce an exam date, admit-card issue date, answer key, merit list or result. Check RRC Hubballi notices and registered SMS/email for official updates.

🔗 Original Railway Recruitment Cell notices

• South Western Railway Scouts & Guides Quota 2026–27 — original 21-page employment notice
• RRC Hubballi — official notice board and Apply Online access
• Official application portal linked by RRC Hubballi

Candidate's final check: Identify the correct Level-2 or Level-1 education pathway; verify all three Scouts & Guides requirements; calculate age on 1 January 2027; and submit the correct level-specific application before the 13 December, 23:59 deadline.