(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) a citizen of India, or
(b) a subject of Nepal, or
(c) a subject of Bhutan, or
(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
(e) 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.

(1) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on 1st of August on the year of exam. Necessary action to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/Regulations pertaining to various services is being taken separately.

(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.

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 to produce at the time of their interview the original degree or a certificate from the concerned competent authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree.

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-I: 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.

Note-II: An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination.

Note-III: 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.

Note-IV: Notwithstanding any subsequent disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the Examination will count as an attempt.

(1) A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) based on the results of an earlier Examination and continues to be a member of that Service will not be eligible to appear at the Civil Services Examination-2025. In case such a candidate is appointed to the IAS or IFS after the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination-2025 is over and the candidate continues to be a member of that Service, the candidate shall not be eligible to appear in the Civil Services (Main) Examination-2025 notwithstanding having qualified in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination-2025. If such a candidate is appointed to the IAS or IFS after the commencement of the Civil Services (Main) Examination-2025 but before the result thereof is declared by the Commission and continues to be a member of that Service, the candidate shall not be considered for appointment to any Service/Post on the basis of the result of the CSE-2025.

(2) A candidate who has been selected or appointed to the Indian Police Service on the basis of the results of the earlier examination shall not be eligible to opt for or allocated to Indian Police Service on the basis of the result of CSE-2025.

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Civil Services Examination, 2025 as per guidelines given in Appendix-III of Rules for Examination published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 22nd January, 2025.