Eligibility for the examination is as follows:
Nationality • For the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Foreign Service (IFS); the candidate must be a citizen of
India. • For other services, the candidate must be one of the following: • A citizen of India. • A citizen of
Nepal or a subject of
Bhutan. • A
Tibetan refugee who settled permanently in India before 1 January 1962. • A person of Indian origin who has migrated from
Pakistan,
Myanmar,
Sri Lanka,
Kenya,
Uganda,
Tanzania,
Zambia,
Malawi,
Zaire,
Ethiopia or
Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.
Educational qualification All candidates must have as a minimum one of the following educational qualifications: • Candidates who have passed the final exam of the
MBBS degree but have not yet completed an internship. • Candidates who have passed the final exam of
ICAI,
ICSI and
ICWAI. • A degree from a private university. • A degree from any foreign university recognized by the
Association of Indian Universities.
Age The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on 1 August of the year of examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations. • For
Other Backward Castes (OBC) the upper age limit is 35 years. • For
Scheduled Castes (SC) and
Scheduled Tribes (ST), the limit is 37 years. • For Defence Services Personnel disabled in operations during hostilities, the limit is 40 years. • For Candidates belonging to ex-servicemen including
Commissioned officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered
military services for at least five years as of 1 August, of the year and have been released • For
PWD candidates, the limit is 37 years. • For
Domiciles of
Jammu and Kashmir from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1989, the limit is 32 years. • For the
Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, the standard age limits apply.
Number of attempts The number of times a candidate can appear for the exam are given below. • General category candidates – 6
Restrictions on Applying for the Civil Services Examination (since CSE-2026) •
IAS/IFS from previous exams • A candidate who is already appointed to the
IAS or
IFS from an earlier exam and continues to be a member of that service, is not eligible to appear for CSE-2026. • If such a candidate is appointed to IAS or IFS after the Preliminary Examination-2026 but continues in service, they shall not be eligible for the Main Examination-2026 even if qualified in Prelims. • '''Candidates allocated IPS or Central Group 'A' through CSE-2026''' : These candidates can appear in CSE-2027, if otherwise eligible, subject to the following: • They must obtain one-time exemption from joining training for the service allocated through CSE-2026 to appear in CSE-2027. • They shall join only the Foundation Course (FC) training. • If they are not allocated any service in CSE-2027, they can join the service allocated through CSE-2026. • If they want to use remaining attempts after the one-time exemption, they must not join any service allocated from CSE-2026 or CSE-2027; such allocation shall be automatically cancelled. • Candidates allocated service in CSE-2025 or earlier are given one-time opportunity to appear in CSE-2026 or CSE-2027 to utilize remaining attempts without resigning. To appear in CSE-2028 or later, they must resign from the allocated service. ==Preliminary==