UPSC CSE (IAS) Selection Process 2026: Prelims, Mains, Interview

The UPSC IAS selection process start with the application process. The Union Public Service Commission will release the UPSC IAS notification on its official website - upsc.gov.in and along with it, the Civil Service (IAS) applications will also start. The candidates will get twenty days to fill the UPSC application form.

The candidates can see below the exam process

• After the applications, the Commission will release the UPSC Civil Service (IAS) prelims admit card for the candidates founf eligible for the exam. The IAS Admit card 2026 will be released three weeks before the exam date.
• The Civil Service Prelims exam will be conducted on May 24, 2026.
• The Commission will release the IAS result 2026 for the prelims exam by June 10.
• After the result, the eligible candidates will be asked to fill the Details Application Form(DAF) for the main (written) exam.
• The UPSC main exam will be conducted in August 2026.
• The Civil Service Main result will be released in November/December 2026.
• The qualified candidates will be called for the face to face interview at the UPSC Bhawan, New Delhi 
• IAS Final Result 2026 will be released in April 2027.

The number of candidates to be admitted to the IAS main examination (written) will be about twelve to thirteen times, the total approximate number of IAS vacancies to be filled in the year through the examination. There are two objective-type question papers in the IAS prelims exam. Both papers are of 200 marks and the candidates need to score marks equal to or more than the IAS cut-off marks prescribed by the UPSC. The candidates can see below the IAS prelims exam pattern

The candidates can see here the UPSC IAS exam pattern. IAS prelims exam is considered as the toughest exam because most of the candidates are filtered out at this stage. The level of competition is highest in this stage. IAS Prelims result is declared within a month of the exam.

Also Read: UPSC Exam Timing

The Union Public Service Commission will conduct the Civil Service (IAS) main exam 2026 in the last week of August. The candidates should note that the IAS main exam is conducted offline and is descriptive in nature where the candidates are required to write the essay type conventional answers in the Question-cum-Answer booklet provided by the Commission. As the name suggests, it is the main part of the IAS selection process. There are two parts of the IAS main exam. IAS main- written and IAS main - personality test. The marks secured in the IAS main written is considered for the IAS result. The IAS main exam has nine descriptive papers the details of which are summarised below:

The number of candidates qualifying in the IAS main exam is two times the number of vacancies. The IAS main exam is conducted based on the IAS syllabus notified in the official advertisement.

The IAS interviews are conducted face to face only at the UPSC Bhawan, Dholpur House, New Delhi. It is the final stage of the Civil Sevice (IAS) selection process. The syllabus for the IAS personality test is not defined in the official notification. The Commission wil test the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service.  The interview/Personality Test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. There are high chances(50% probability) of a selection of the candidate called for the IAS interview.  The IAS interviews are conducted at the UPSC headquarters, New Delhi and the candidates need to come to the UPSC office for the IAS interview.

See here: Most important topics for IAS Exam

The Union Public Service Commission conduct the Civil Service exam every year to recruit the candidates for the All India Services and Central Civil Services. The candidates can see below the three All India Services:

1. Indian Administrative Service
2. Indian Police Service
3. India Police Service

Interestingly, the Indian Foreign Service is a Central Civil Service only. Another service which is demanded from every quarter of the nation is the Indian Education Services. The candidates can see here a short video regarding the number of service in the Civil Service (IAS) exam.

The candidates who appear in the IAS interview are called for the medical examination by a special purpose board constituted for the said purpose. The medical examination is conducted at the designated hospitals in New Delhi only. The candidate’s medical report is made available to him through the login in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) website. In case the candidate is not fully satisfied with the report, he or she can appeal against the report. This appeal should be preferred within one week of the date of publication of the report.

List of Medical Colleges Conducting the Medical Test

The medical test of the candidates is conducted the next working day of the interview. The candidates are informed about the hospital and the allotted date and time at the time of UPSC interview. The medical test is conducted by a medical board appointed for the said purpose.  The medical examination is essential for the service allocation and the conformity of the claims made for the specific category. The list of hospitals conducting medical test for Civil Service Exam is given below:

• Safdarjung Hospital
• Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
• Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital
• Succheta Kriplani Hospital
• Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital
• Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital
• BR Ambedkar Hospital
• Guru Nanak Eye Centre 
• AIIMS, New Delhi

The medical examination of the candidates who fall in PwB category will be conducted at the Safdarjung Hospital only. The final certificate confirming the PwB of the candidates will be issued by AIIMS, New Delhi after due examination of the candidates by the Benchmark Disability Expert Panel constituted for this purpose only. After the medical examination, the result is declared and the candidate's roll number, name and ranks are published by the UPSC. After the results, UPSC publishes the IAS cut-off marks for all the stages of the UPSC exam.

Check Here: IAS Result

After the results, UPSC sends the recommended candidates list to the Department of Personnel and training. This marks the end of the IAS selection process.

The candidates can see here the questions related to IAS selection process.