UPSC Age Limit for IAS, IPS, IFS ( Category wise)
Civil service exams have always been the first choice for everyone to pursue a stable career, and the latest exam schedule for UPSC 2025 has been announced.
What are the civil service exams? Types of State Exams? The toughest national test? Who are the high-paid civil servants? Decide on the target exam after you are familiar with it all, and do you know that many exams have an age limit for eligibility for the civil service exam? For example, age limit for IPS, the age limit for IFS, etc.
UPSC Age Limit 2025 – UPSC is the competent authority to specify the UPSC 2025 eligibility criteria for all UPSC aspirants.
Aspirants appearing for the UPSC entrance test for the 2025 session should know every detail of the UPSC age limit criteria. Before we proceed on to the UPSC eligibility criteria in detail, let us first have an overview of the UPSC 2025.
UPSC Exam Highlights
UPSC eligibility criteria 2025 are the set of parameters that the candidates must have fulfilled before applying for the UPSC entrance exam. The eligibility criteria of UPSC specify the conditions and guidelines related to qualifying exam, nationality, the limit of the age to apply, number of maximum attempts, and more for UPSC and one of the most important eligibility criteria is Age Limit.
So here in this article we are going to discuss Age Limit for UPSC Exam. UPSC Aspirants are advised to go through the UPSC age Limit criteria before the commencement of the UPSC online application registrations to know whether they are eligible or not. Read the detailed information regarding UPSC 2025 Age limit criteria.
| Name of the Exam | Civil Services Examination (CSE) |
| Exam Conducting Body | Union Public Service Commission |
| Type of Exam | National Level Exam |
| Purpose of the Exam | UPSC is India’s central agency which conducts exams like Civil Services Exam (CSE) to recruit candidates into top governmentservices like IAS, IPS, IFS, etc. UPSC recruits candidates to both civil services as well as defense services. |
| Frequency of Exam | Depends on Vacant Positions |
| Educational Qualification | Candidates Must be Completed Graduation in any Government Recognized University |
| Mode of Application | Online |
| Mode of Fees Payment | Online |
| Mode of Exam | Offline (Pen and Paper) |
| Exam Duration | 3 Hours |
| Exam Syllabus | ☆ Preliminary Stage – General Studies & CSAT ☆ Mains Stage – 9 Theory Papers (GS I-IV, Language Papers, Essay & Optional) ☆ Personality Test – Interview |
| Official website | www.upsc.gov.in |
UPSC IAS Eligibility Criteria
| UPSC IAS Eligibility Criteria | |
|---|---|
| Age Limit | 21 to 32 years (must not have touched the 32nd year) |
| Age Relaxation | OBC – 3 years SC/ST – 5 years PwBD – 10 years |
| Educational Qualification | Graduation (Bachelor) |
| Number of Attempts | General – 06 OBC & PwBD – 09 SC/ST – Unlimited |
| Nationality | Indian Citizens Only |
UPSC Age Limit for IAS, IPS, IFS
The main concern of every aspirant regarding the UPSC eligibility criteria is the age limit for appearing for the UPSC entrance test. Candidates must have completed 21 years of age either at the time of admission or else on or before August 2024, as per the UPSC eligibility criteria.
The decision over the upper age limit for UPSC exam eligibility depends on Category and candidates are allowed to appear for the exam and admissions. The upper UPSC Age Limit for IAS, IPS, IFS is fixed differently for different categories, which is given below.
- The upper age limit for the General category is 32 years.
- The upper age limit for SC/ST: is 37 Years.
- The upper age limit for OBC: is 35 years.
- The upper age limit for Defense Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof: is 35 years.
- Upper age limit for Ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years of Military Service: 37 years.
- Upper age limit for blind, deaf-mute, and Orthopaedically handicapped persons (general category): 42 years.
| Category | Minimum Age | Relaxation | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | 21 Years | No Relaxation | 32 Years |
| OBC | 21 Years | 32+3 Years | 35 Years |
| SC/ST | 21 Years | 32+5 Years | 37 Years |
| Physically disabled (Blind, Deaf-mute, Orthopedically handicapped) | 21 Years | 32+10 Years | 42 Years |
| Ex-serviceman discharged from duty due to disability | General: 21 Years | 32+3 Years | 35 Years |
| OBC: 21 Years | 32+3+3 Years | 38 Years | |
| SC/ST: 21 Years | 32+3+5 Years | 40 Years | |
| Ex-serviceman discharged after 5 years duty | General: 21 Years | 32+5 Years | 37 Years |
| OBC: 21 Years | 32+5+3 Years | 40 Years | |
| SC/ST: 21 Years | 32+5+5 Years | 42 Years |
Note: Apart from the mentioned limits, OBC/ SC/ ST candidates will get the benefit of cumulative age relaxation. This means age relaxations get added in special cases, say, for example, if the person is OBC + Ex-servicemen, he will get an extension of 3 + 5 = 8 years, ie his upper age limit now stands at 40 years.
Category-wise No. of Attempts for UPSC Exam
There are some restrictions on the number of times this exam can be taken, which again is different for different categories. The number of attempts for the IAS exam:
- General Category: 6 attempts till 32 years of age.
- The number of attempts for the IAS exam: OBC: 9 attempts till 35 years of age.
- The number of attempts for the IAS exam: SC/ST: unlimited attempts till 37 years of age.
| Category | No. of Attempts for UPSC CSE |
|---|---|
| General | 6 Attempts |
| OBC | 9 Attempts |
| NEWS | 6 Attempts |
| SC/ST | Till the Age Limit |
| Physically disabled Candidates | ☆ For General and OBC candidates 9 Attempts ☆ For SC/ST candidates Unlimited attempts up to Age Limit |
Note: Physically Handicapped /disabled candidates belonging to the General category will get the benefit of 9 attempts till the age prescribed by UPSC – 42 years.
Frequently Asked Questions on UPSC Age Limit
1. What is the UPSC age limit for IAS Exam?
Answer: The age limit for IAS is as follows
- The minimum age limit for general candidates is 21 years and the maximum is 32 years.
- Age will be reckoned from 1st August of the year of examination.
- There is an age relaxation of 5 years for SC/ST candidates.
- There is an age relaxation of 3 years for other backward castes.
- Candidates who were domiciled in Jammu and Kashmir between 1st January 1989 to 31st December 1989 will get an age relaxation of 5 years.
- Physically handicapped candidates who fall in the general category have been given 7 chances.
- Relaxation of 3 years is given to persons with disabilities while serving in the army during operations in a foreign or disturbed area.
- There is an age relaxation of five years for Ex-Servicemen including Commissioned Officers.
- Medically blind, deaf, and dumb people are exempted from service for ten years.
2. What is the UPSC age limit for open Category
Answer: UPSC Age limit for Open
- UPSC Age Limit for open must attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 32 on 1st August of the year of the Exam.
- Candidates belonging to OBC (non-creamy layer) category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 35 on 1st August of the year of the Exam.
- Candidates belonging to the SC category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 37 on 1st August of the year of the Exam.
- Candidates belonging to the ST category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 37 on 1st August of the year of the Exam.
3. What is the UPSC age limit for OBC Category?
Answer: UPSC Age Limit for OBC
- UPSC age limit for OBC (noncreamy layer) category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 35 on 1st August of the year of the Exam.
- Candidates belonging to the General category and OBC (creamy layer) must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 32 on 1st August of the year of the Exam.