- India
- Feb 06
- Sreesha V.M
UPSC Civil Services Prelims to be conducted on May 24
• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has issued notification for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2026.
• The commission announced 933 vacancies for this year’s recruitment cycle, which include 33 posts reserved for persons with benchmark disability.
• The Preliminary Examination will be held on May 24.
• The Civil Services Examination is conducted annually by the UPSC in three stages — Prelims Test, Mains and Personality Test — to select officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
• The online applications can be filled up to February 24 till 6 pm.
• Applicants are also required to upload their photograph and capture their ‘live photograph’ while filling up the Common Application Form (CAF).
• They are required to sign three times (one below the other) on a plain white paper using a black ink and upload the same while filling up the CAF.
• The candidates will not be allowed to withdraw their applications after the submission of the same.
• Further no correction /alteration/modification in any field(s) of the application form is allowed after submission.
Three new exam centres
The Commission has also expanded its network of examination centres to reduce pressure on high-demand locations:
i) Meerut has been added to decongest Delhi-NCR.
ii) Kanpur to ease pressure around Lucknow.
iii) Bhubaneswar to supplement centres near Cuttack.
Face authentication mandatory
• In order to ensure a secure and smooth examination process, all candidates will be required to undergo face authentication at the examination venue mandatorily.
• Candidates are advised to enter the examination venue well in time for face authentication/identity verification and frisking.
What are the restrictions on applying for the examination?
• According to the notification, a candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) based on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to appear for the Civil Services Examination 2026.
• If a candidate is appointed to the IAS or IFS after the preliminary exam, they will not be eligible to appear in the Mains exam “notwithstanding having qualified” in the Prelims.
• If appointed after the commencement of the Main exam but before the results are declared, they will not be considered for any service/post under the CSE 2026 results.
• Candidates already selected or appointed to the IPS will not be eligible to opt for or allocated to the same service again through the CSE-2026 examination.
• Candidates allocated to the IPS or Central Service Group ‘A’ in the CSE-2026 “will have the option to appear in immediate subsequent CSE-2027” exam, provided they obtain a one-time exemption from joining their training from the concerned authority.
PwBD candidates can opt the desired centre
• In a significant reform aimed at supporting Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), UPSC has overhauled its examination centre allocation framework.
• Under the revised mechanism, there will be no capping on examination centre capacity for PwBD candidates.
• Initially, the existing capacity of each centre will be utilised by both PwBD and non-PwBD candidates.
• However, once a centre reaches full capacity, it will no longer be available for selection by non-PwBD candidates, while PwBD candidates will continue to have the option to select the same centre.
• Additional capacity will be created wherever required to ensure that no PwBD candidate is denied their preferred examination centre.
Online Question Paper Representation Portal
• The UPSC has also cut down the time frame for making representation on the question paper from existing seven to five days.
• The Commission will be providing an opportunity to the appeared candidates to make representations on the questions asked in the papers of the examination and on the answer key of the question paper (objective type) of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination in a time frame of five days.
(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)