No second chance: UPSC bars serving IAS, IFS, IPS officers from CSE 2026

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has clarified that serving IAS, IPS, and IFS officers will not be allowed to appear in the Civil Services Examination (CSE 2026), barring consecutive or parallel attempts once a candidate has been appointed to a service.

As per the notification, UPSC CSE prelims exam 2026 is scheduled to be conducted on May 24, while the mains exam will be held in August for a total of 933 vacancies.

As per the Rule12 of Civil Service Rules 2026, candidates who are appointed to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or Indian Foreign Service (IFS) through an earlier exam and continue to be members of the service will be not eligible to appear in the UPSC CSE 2026.

Even if such an appointment takes place after the UPSC CSE prelims exam but before the main exam, they will be barred from appearing in the mains. Further, if a candidate is appointed to IAS or IFS after the CSE 2026 Mains exam but before the final result, they will also not be considered for allocation.

Similarly, candidates who have been selected or appointed to the Indian Police Service (IPS) through an earlier exam will not be eligible for the IPS post again, the rule states.

One-time relaxation for IPS, Group A

The commission has also allowed a one-time exemption for candidates allocated to IPS or Central Services Group ‘A’ through CSE 2026 to appear in CSE 2027, subject to strict conditions, including exemption from joining training and forfeiture of service allocation if training is not joined or exemption is not taken.

UPSC has also provided a limited relaxation for candidates allocated services through CSE 2025 or earlier, allowing them to appear in either CSE 2026 or CSE 2027 to utilise their remaining attempt without resigning from service. However, candidates wishing to appear in CSE 2028 or later will be required to resign from the allocated service.

Number of attempts in UPSC IAS 2026

Every candidate appearing for the CSE will be permitted six attempts at the CSE. However, relaxation in the number of attempts will be available to SC, ST, OBC, and PwD category candidates.