The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the official notification for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2026. A total of 933 vacancies have been announced this year. Candidates seeking administrative roles can apply for the recruitment examination between February 4 and 24, 2026, up to 6:00 PM.
They are advised to read the eligibility criteria, restrictions on applying, application fee and other details carefully, before applying for UPSC’s CSE 2026 at upsc.gov.in.
UPSC CSE 2026 Tentative Vacancies
The number of vacancies to be filled through the examination is expected to be approximately 933, which includes 33 vacancies reserved for persons with benchmark disability category; 7 vacancies for candidates of (a) blindness and low vision; 11 vacancies for (b) deaf and hard of hearing; 8 vacancies for (c) locomotor disability, including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, and muscular dystrophy; and 7 vacancies for (e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (c) except the combination of blind & deaf (B+D).
Note: The final number of vacancies may undergo change after getting the firm number of vacancies from the Cadre Controlling Authorities.
Who Can Apply for UPSC CSE 2026
Candidates who fulfill the following requirements will be considered eligible:
- They must hold a Graduate degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 or possess an equivalent qualification.
- The candidate should be at least 21 years old and not more than 32 years old, as of August 1, 2026. Relaxations are provided in case of reserved categories.
For detailed eligibility criteria, please visit the official website.
UPSC CSE 2026: Number of Attempts
According to the latest notification, the general category will have a total of 6 attempts to clear UPSC CSE. Those belonging to OBC, SC/ST, and PwD categories have been provided relaxations.
- OBC: 09
- PwBD: 09 (GL/EWS/OBC)
- SC/ST: Unlimited
UPSC CSE 2026 Application Fee
All the candidates (except female/SC/ST/persons with benchmark disability candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay a fee of Rs. 100 using the net banking facility of any bank or by using Visa/Master/RuPay/credit/debit card/UPI payment for appearing in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2026.
Those admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2026, will have to pay a further fee of Rs. 200 (except for the exempted category, i.e., SC/ST/PwBD/Women) through a window of 10 days to be provided after the declaration of the result of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.
UPSC CSE 2026 Prelims & Main Exam Pattern
The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks in the subjects set out in sub-section (A) of Section II. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit
After prelims, qualified candidates will go through the UPSC CSE 2026 Main and personality test. The Mains examination will comprise nine descriptive papers, including Essay, General Studies Papers I to IV, two optional subject papers, and two qualifying language papers, with a total of 1,750 marks.
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List of optional subjects for Main Examination:
(i) Agriculture
(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
(iii) Anthropology
(iv) Botany
(v) Chemistry
(vi) Civil Engineering
(vii) Commerce and Accountancy
(viii) Economics
(ix) Electrical Engineering
(x) Geography
(xi) Geology
(xii) History
(xiii) Law
(xiv) Management
(xv) Mathematics
(xvi) Mechanical Engineering
(xvii) Medical Science
(xviii) Philosophy
(xix) Physics
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(xx) Political Science and International Relations
(xxi) Psychology
(xxii) Public Administration
(xxiii) Sociology
(xxiv) Statistics
(xxv)Zoology
(xxvi) Literature of any one of the following languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.
Read More | UPSC CSE Notification 2026 Live Updates | Official Notice
