UPSC expands conditions for attempting CSEs after being allotted for IPS, Group A Services

The Union Public Services Commission has expanded the restrictions on applying for the Civil Services Examination from 2026 onwards for candidates who are allotted the Indian Police Service or any other Central Services Group “A”, according to a notification for the CSE 2026 issued on Wednesday (February 4, 2026).

The notification also mandated that face authentication would be mandatory for all candidates across all examination venues, as reported by The Hindu last month. The UPSC added that live photo capture would be required at the time of filling out the common application forms for the examinations.

The expansion of the restrictions has led to some confusion on social media, even as many users pointed out that the notification had several spelling mistakes in it. One user pointed out errors in the spelling of “examination”, the spelling of the government’s PRATIBHA portal, and words such as “statutory”, “functional”, and “candidates”.

The notification said that the UPSC was looking to fill approximately 933 vacancies this year, of which 33 would be reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disability.

The UPSC notification, while keeping the restrictions for those already allotted the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service in past CSEs unchanged, has introduced a set of conditions.

A candidate allotted any of these services in the CSE 2026 would be eligible for the 2027 CSE if they are granted an exemption from training for that service by the “authority concerned”. The notification added that the candidate would be “eligible for grant of one-time exemption only from joining the training in order to enable him/her to appear in CSE- 2027. It added that such a candidate should join the training for “foundation course only”.

Resignation rule

Further, the notification said that such candidates would not be allowed to appear in CSE 2028 or any subsequent CSEs “unless he/she resigns from the allocated service”. The notification said that candidates who had been allotted any service based on CSE 2025 or earlier years, would have “a one-time opportunity” to appear either in this year’s examination or the one for 2027 without having to resign from their service. If their aim was to use their remaining attempts for CSE 2028 or subsequent exams, they would have to follow the resignation rule, the UPSC said.

The notification said that this set of conditions would apply to those being allotted Indian Police Service or any Central Service categorised as Group A. The notification specified that services such as the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Indian Civil Accounts Service, Indian Corporate Law Service, Indian Information Service, Indian Postal Service, Indian Railway Management Service, Indian Revenue Service and Indian Trade Service, are among the 15 Services under the Central Service Group “A”, to whom these restrictions would apply in addition to those allotted IPS.

However, for those allotted IPS in the years before 2026, the restriction on them from opting for IPS in the 2026 CSE has been retained.

The UPSC said that if a candidate did not join training and was not granted exemption, their “allocation of service on the basis of CSE-2026 shall stand cancelled”. The notification added that candidates being allotted a service in the 2026 CSE and being recommended for a service in the 2027 CSE, have the option of choosing between services allotted to them in these years, with the other slot being cancelled.

Option given

Even if such candidates are not recommended in the 2027 CSE, they can choose to opt for the service allotted to them in the 2026 CSE. However, if they do not join the training for the services allotted to them in 2026 or 2027, both these allocations would stand cancelled.

In such cases, the seniority of the candidate would be decided on the service allocated to them either in the 2026 or the 2027 CSE. The notification further said candidates can choose to use their remaining attempts even if they have availed the one-time exemption from joining training, provided they do not join the services allotted to them either in the 2026 or the 2027 CSEs.