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Eligibility Condition

Detailed requirements for Civil Services Examination, 2025.

I. Nationality

(1) For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.

(2) For other services, a candidate must be either:

  • a citizen of India, or
  • a subject of Nepal, or
  • a subject of Bhutan, or
  • a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
  • 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.

Provided that: a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him/her by the Government of India.

II. Age Limits

(1) 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, 2025 i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1993 and not later than 1st August, 2004.

(2) The upper age-limit prescribed above will be relaxable:

  • 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, 2025 and have been released:
    • on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, 2025, 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, 2025 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.

Note-I: Candidates belonging to either the SC or the ST or the OBC category who are also covered under any other clauses of para 3(II)(2) above, viz. those coming under the category of Ex-servicemen or PwBD, will be eligible for grant of cumulative age-relaxation under both categories.

Note-II: The term Ex-servicemen will apply to the persons who are defined as Ex-servicemen in the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979, as amended from time to time.

Note-III: The age concession under para 3(II)(2) (d) and (e) will be admissible to Ex-servicemen i.e. a person who has served in any rank whether as combatant or non-combatant in the Regular Army, Navy and Air Force of the Indian Union and who either has been retired or relieved or discharged from such service whether at own request or being relieved by the employer after earning pension.

Note-IV: Notwithstanding the provision of age-relaxation under para 3(II) (2) (f) above, candidates of PwBD category will be considered to be eligible for appointment only if they (after such Medical Examination as the Government or appointing authority, as the case may be, may prescribe) are found to satisfy the requirements of physical and medical standards for the concerned Services to be allocated to the candidates of PwBD category by the Government.

Note-V: Save as provided under para 3(II) (2) above, the age-limits prescribed can in no case be relaxed.

(3) The date of birth, accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a University which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Higher Secondary examination certificate or an equivalent examination certificate. The certificate in support of the date of birth is required to be submitted by a candidate only at the time of applying for the Civil Services Examination. No other document relating to age like horoscopes, affidavits, birth extracts from Municipal Corporation, Service records and the like will be accepted.

Note-I: Candidate should note that only the date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in an equivalent certificate as mentioned in para 3 (II) (3) above and issued prior to the date of submission of application will be accepted by the Commission, and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

Note-II: Candidates should also note that once a date of birth has been submitted by them in the application form and entered in the records of the Commission for the purpose of admission to an Examination, no change will be allowed subsequently or at any other Examination of the Commission on any grounds whatsoever.

III. Minimum Educational Qualification

A candidate must hold a Graduate degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 or possess an equivalent qualification.

Note-I: Candidates who have appeared at a qualifying examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission’s Examination but have not been informed of the result as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the written part of Civil Services Examination, 2025. However, all such candidates, who are declared qualified by the Commission for Interview/Personality Test, will be required to produce proof of passing of the requisite qualifying examination within the time limit prescribed in Rule 13 of CSE, 2025. Only valid proof of passing the qualifying examination viz. Degree Certificate/Final Mark Sheet/Provisional Degree Certificate etc. as are normally issued to the candidate by the competent authority after the formal declaration of results by the University/Boards may be accepted. Proof of completion of internship is required in case of MBBS/BDS/Veterinary Science etc. and equivalent degree.

Note-II: In exceptional cases, the Commission may treat a candidate who does not have any of the foregoing qualifications as a candidate, provided that the candidate has passed an examination conducted by any other institution the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies the admission to the Civil Services Examination.

Note-III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognised by Government as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be eligible for admission to the Civil Services Examination.

Note-IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S or any other equivalent professional examination leading to a medical degree or certificate but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Civil Services Examination, provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University/Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required