Total Vacancies
933
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UPSC
Union Public Service Commission
UPSC CSE 2026 • Advt No: 05/2026-CSE
UPSC Civil Services Examination 2026 for IAS, Indian Foreign Service, IPS, IRS and other Group A and Group B services/posts.
Total Vacancies
933
Age Limit
21–32 Years
As on 01 Aug 2026
Application Dates
4 Feb – 24 Feb 2026
Closes 6:00 PM IST
Job Location
All India
Qualification
Graduate degree from a recognised university or equivalent qualification.
Salary / Stipend
As per allocated service/post rules after final selection.
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IFS Mains Exam Date Notice
Read eligibility, dates, fees, vacancies and application instructions carefully.
Key point | Details |
|---|---|
Current stage | Preliminary result declared; Civil Services Main Examination is scheduled for 21–23 and 29–30 August 2026. |
Vacancies | Approximately 933; the final number may change. |
Services | IAS, IFS, IPS and other notified Group A and Group B services |
Basic qualification | Graduate degree or recognised equivalent; eligible final-year or result-awaited candidates could apply provisionally, subject to later proof. |
General age limit | 21 to 32 years as on 01 August 2026. |
General date-of-birth range | 02 August 1994 to 01 August 2005 |
Current next step | Main Written Examination for candidates qualified in Prelims and admitted after the prescribed Main application process. |
Current-stage alert: qualifying Prelims alone is not enough. A qualified candidate must complete the separate Civil Services Main application process within the notified window; otherwise the Main e-admit card will not be issued.
Final-year and result-awaited candidates were only provisionally eligible. They must produce acceptable proof of passing within the deadline prescribed by UPSC for the later stage.
Age relaxation is category-specific. Major relaxations include 3 years for eligible OBC candidates, 5 years for SC/ST candidates and up to 10 years for PwBD candidates, subject to the notification.
Nationality rules differ by service. IAS, IFS and IPS require Indian citizenship; certain additional nationality categories may be considered for other services subject to an eligibility certificate.
Medical suitability is service-specific. Final allocation depends on meeting the physical and medical standards prescribed for the allotted service.
Existing civil-service members must check the 2026 restrictions. Serving IAS or IFS members are not eligible to appear, and candidates already selected or appointed to IPS cannot be allocated IPS again through CSE 2026.
Category | Maximum attempts |
|---|---|
General / EWS | 6 |
OBC | 9 |
SC / ST | Unlimited within the age limit |
PwBD — General / EWS / OBC | 9 |
PwBD — SC / ST | Unlimited within the age limit |
Attempt rule: appearing in even one Preliminary paper counts as an attempt. Merely submitting the application without appearing does not count.
Preliminary Examination — two objective papers of 200 marks each; this is only a screening stage.
Main Written Examination — nine descriptive papers: two qualifying papers and seven papers counted for merit.
Interview / Personality Test — 275 marks, with no prescribed minimum qualifying marks.
Final ranking — based on 1,750 merit marks from the Main written papers plus 275 interview marks, for a total of 2,025 marks.
Service allocation — based on rank, service and cadre preferences, category, medical fitness and available vacancies.
Prelims essentials: General Studies Paper II is qualifying with 33%; Paper I determines Prelims merit, and one-third of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for a wrong answer.
Date | Papers |
|---|---|
21 August 2026 | Essay |
22 August 2026 | General Studies I and II |
23 August 2026 | General Studies III and IV |
29 August 2026 | Qualifying Indian Language and English |
30 August 2026 | Optional Subject Papers I and II |
Main-paper rule: the Indian Language and English papers are qualifying. Their marks do not count in final merit, but candidates must meet the prescribed standard for the merit papers to be evaluated.
Login to the UPSC application portal and select Civil Services Main Examination 2026.
Review the URN, Common Application Form and education details carried forward from the Preliminary application; most of these fields are read-only for the 2026 cycle.
Review or update disability-related facilities where permitted including scribe, big-font, compensatory-time or assistive-device requirements.
Provide the required Home State or cadre preference and complete the declarations shown in the Main application.
Pay the ₹200 Main Examination fee where applicable and save the submitted form. Women, SC, ST and PwBD candidates are exempt from the Main fee.
No-change rule: after final submission, no addition, deletion, correction or modification is permitted. Changes made later in the URN profile do not automatically update the Civil Services Examination 2026 application.
Preference update: the UPSC portal states that a later service-preference update window will be provided after declaration of the Civil Services Main Examination 2026 result.
Preliminary Examination: ₹100 for candidates required to pay; women, SC, ST and PwBD candidates were exempt.
Main Examination: ₹200 for candidates required to pay; women, SC, ST and PwBD candidates are exempt.
complete age-relaxation, reservation and certificate conditions;
the full list of participating services and service-specific medical standards;
detailed syllabus, optional subjects and language-paper exemptions;
rules for candidates already allocated, selected or appointed to civil services;
document-upload and cadre-preference instructions for the current Main stage.
No. Prelims is a screening stage. Final ranking is based on the merit-counting Main papers and the Personality Test.
No. The separate Main application must also be completed within the prescribed period, and the candidate must receive the Main e-admit card.
No. UPSC states that no correction or modification is allowed after final submission.
The Preliminary result has been declared, and the Main Written Examination is scheduled for August 2026.
Published updates and official resources in a compact newest-first list.