UPSC Recruitment 2024: Eligibility, Age Limit, Selection Process

The UPSC 2024 recruitment started with the official notification. The UPSC 2024 notification for the Civil Service Service 2024 exam was released on February 14, 2023. The UPSC notification officially mentioned the vacancies, eligibility, syllabus, exam pattern and other rules that will govern the recruitment for all stages.

The minimum eligibility criteria for most of the UPSC exams is a graduate degree from a UGC-recognised university. There is no minimum percentage requirement in the graduate exam. The UPSC provides equal opportunity to all candidates. In most of the exams, only a graduate degree is mentioned in the official notification. Even in the Civil Services exam, no percentage is mentioned for the graduate degree course. The candidates can see here the important components of UPSC eligibility.

UPSC Eligibility - Nationality

For Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), a candidate must be a citizen of India. For all other services, a candidate can either be a citizen of India or

• A subject of Nepal/Bhutan
• A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962, with the intention of permanently settling in India
• A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India

Note: Candidates who are subjects of Nepal/ Bhutan or Tibetan refugees are not eligible to apply for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

UPSC Age Limit

The minimum age limit for the UPSC exams is twenty-one years of age. But the age limit is mentioned in the official notification released for the exam. In the direct recruitment notifications, which require specialised experience for the post, the minimum age requirements are mentioned in the official notification. The candidates can see here the important components of UPSC eligibility.

The upper age limit differs from exam to exam. The age requirement for different exams is given below.

*The minimum age and maximum age is taken across all the posts/academies.

In some specialised services exam, specialised education is required such as for the Indian Economic Services, and Indian Engineering Services (IES), the educational requirement is an engineering degree. Same with the Combined Medical Services, the minimum educational requirement is the MBBS degree.

NDA exam is an exception to the above, as this exam requires intermediate as minimum educational qualification. The candidates appearing in the final year of the eligibility exam can appear in the UPSC exam provided that they need to submit the result of the eligibility exam before the main exam ( in case there is the main exam) or before the completion of the exam process as the case may be. For details see here the UPSC eligibility criteria for various exams.

• IAS Eligibility
• CDS Eligibility
• NDA Eligibility

There is a medical test mandatory to qualify in most of the exams. In CAPF exam, there is a physical and medical standard test conducted by CRPF at the designated CRPF centres across the nation. In NDA and CDS exam, an SSB is conducted at the designated centres across the nation.
The basic need of the medical examination is to check the physical and mental soundness of the candidate and his or her suitability for the post.

Union Public Service Commission issues recruitment notifications for various positions which are not given in the UPSC exam calendar for the year. UPSC recruitment notice is issued as per the requisition received from different departments. The UPSC recruitment notification is released from time to time as the UPSC thinks fit. The UPSC releases the following notification each year.

• Civil Services Notification
• Engineering Services Notification
• Combined Medical Services Notification
• Central Armed Police Force Notification
• Indian Economic Service Notification
• Combined Defence Services Notification
• National Defence Academy Notification

Besides the above, UPSC releases various notifications for the recruitment of different positions. Most of these recruitment notices are floated to conduct direct recruitment through the interviews. The UPSC conducts the written exam only when the number of candidates increases a certain number.

The UPSC recruitment process is unique for the different exam but most of the exam is conducted in three stages. Some specialised services exam is conducted in two-phase only, such as Combined Medical Service Examination (CMS).

UPSC recruitment details are given in the notification and the associated rules for the recruitment exam is mentioned in the gazette notification issued for the exam by Government of India. The recruitment/selection process for various UPSC recruitments given below.

Civil Services Exam 

Engineering Services Exam(IES)

Combined Armed Police Forces Exam (CAPF)

Combined Medical Services Exam (CMS)

Combined Defence Services Exam (CDS)

National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Exam (NDA & NA)