Eligibility Criteria – Civil Services Exams (CSE)

Nationality

• For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.
• For the Indian Revenue Service, a candidate must be one of the following –

• a citizen of India
• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India

• For other services, a candidate must be one of the following –

• a citizen of India
• a citizen of Nepal or a subject of Bhutan
• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India

Education

• All candidates must have a minimum of any of the following educational qualifications

• A degree from a Central, State or Deemed university
• A degree received through Correspondence Education or Distance
• A degree from an Open University
• A qualification recognized by the Government of India as being equivalent to either of the above

• The following candidates are also eligible, but have to submit proof of their eligibility from a competent authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, failing which they will not be allowed to attend the exam

• Candidates who have appeared in an examination, the passing of which would render them educationally qualified enough to satisfy any of the above points
• Candidates who have passed the final exam of the MBBS degree but have not yet completed their internship
• Candidates who have passed the Final exam of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India(ICAI), ICSI and ICWAI
• A degree from a private university A degree from any foreign university recognized by Association of Indian Universities

Minimum age – Calculated on the date Aug 1

• The minimum age to appear for IAS Exam is 21 years.
• This means that the candidate must have at-least 21 years of age on 1st August of that given year when the exam is held.

Maximum Age – Calculated on the date Aug 1

Max. No. of Attempts

However these candidates are requested to bear in mind –

• An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be considered to be an attempt at the Examination.
• If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, he/she shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.
• Not withstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.
• Candidates just applied but did not appear is not counted as an attempt.