Number of Attempts, Category-Wise Age Limit For IAS And IPS Exam

UPSC CSE Prelims Application Form 2024 can be filled by visiting the official website —upsc.gov.in and https://upsconline.nic.in/. At present, UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2024 has not been released.

UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 Eligibility Criteria: The Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) will release a detailed notification along with its application form for the Civil Services(Preliminary) Examination 2024 on February 14, 2024. Once released, IAS aspirants can fill up the UPSC CSE Prelims Application Form 2024 by visiting the official website —upsc.gov.in and https://upsconline.nic.in/. You can also use One-time registration (OTR) for examinations of UPSC and online applications. OTR has to be registered only once in a lifetime. This can be done anytime throughout the year. If the candidate is already registered, he/she can proceed straightway for filling up the online application for the examination. 

UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 – Date And Time

As per the UPSC Annual exam calendar 2024, the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2024 is scheduled to be conducted on May 26, 2024, while the last date to apply for the same is March 5. The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages

1. Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the
   Main Examination; and
2. Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.

Now, speaking about the competitive examination, we must understand that every candidate has a fixed number of attempts to appear for the examination. Candidates belonging to either the SC/ST/OBC or the General category must obey the guidelines as listed in the information bulletin. Before filling up the application form, check eligibility criteria such as number of Attempts, and category-wise age limit here.

UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 Eligibility Criteria: Category-Wise Age Limit

• A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2023 i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1991 and not later than 1st August, 2002.

The upper age-limit prescribed above will be relaxable: (a) up to a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;

• up to a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates;
• up to a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services Personnel, disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof;
• up to a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs)/ Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2023 and have been released:
• on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, 2023, otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency); or
• on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service; or
• on invalidment.

up to a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August, 2023 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.

• up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) categories viz.
• blindness and low vision
• deaf and hard of hearing;
• locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy;
• autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness;
• multiple disabilities from amongst person under clauses (i) to (iv) including deaf-blindness. To know more, you can refer to the UPSC CSE Prelims 2023 Notification HERE.

UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 Eligibility Criteria: Category-Wise Number of Attempts

If going by the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2023 notification, every candidate appearing at the examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six (6) attempts at the CSE. However, relaxation in the number of attempts will be available to the SC/ST/OBC and PwBD category candidates who are otherwise eligible. The number of attempts available to such candidates as per relaxation is as under:

NOTE: The terms – GL for General, EWS for Economically Weaker Sections, SC for Scheduled Castes, ST for Scheduled Tribes, OBC for Other Backward Classes, and PwBD for Persons with Benchmark Disability – are used for denoting the categories of candidates taking an attempt at the Examination.

An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination. If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, it will be deemed that the candidate has made an attempt at the Examination. Notwithstanding any subsequent disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the Examination will count as an attempt.

How to Apply?

Candidates are required to apply online by using the website upsconline.nic.in. It is essential for the applicant to register himself/herself first at the One Time Registration (OTR) platform, available on the Commission’s website, and then proceed for filling up the online application for the examination. OTR has to be registered only once in life time. This can be done anytime throughout the year. If the candidate is already registered, he/she can proceed straightway for filling up the online application for the examination. For more details, visit the official website of UPSC.