Education · Free tool
UPSC CSE Age Eligibility
Min age 21. Max age and attempts depend on category — General/EWS: 32 / 6 attempts; OBC: 35 / 9; SC-ST: 37 / unlimited; PWD: 42 / 9.
How UPSC counts age and attempts
Age is reckoned as on 1 August of the year of examination. Minimum age is 21 for all categories. The Prelims appearance counts as one attempt even if you skip Mains — but you can withdraw before paying the fee without it counting. Defence service personnel disabled in operations, and certain ex-servicemen, get additional relaxations on top of the category bands.
Worked example
A General-category aspirant born on 15 October 1994 wanting to write CSE 2026: age on 1 August 2026 = 31 years, 9 months — within the 32-year cap, so eligible. If they have already written Prelims in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025, they have used 4 of 6 attempts and can sit in 2026 and 2027 before exhausting attempts. An OBC candidate in the same situation has 9 attempts and up to age 35, giving 5 more years and 5 more attempts.
When to use this
- Before filing the DAF — confirming you are within both caps
- Planning whether to skip a year to prepare better vs lose an attempt
- Switching strategy after the final year of eligibility
- Cross-checking the category certificate validity (OBC-NCL needs to be FY-current)
For the precise birth-date math, use our age calculator with the cutoff set to 1 August.
FAQ
Is the age cap from current age or birth year?
Age as of 1 August of the exam year. So for CSE 2026: must be 21 years and not 32 years on 1 Aug 2026. Birthdates before 2 Aug 1994 are over-age for general.
Are SC/ST attempts truly unlimited?
Until the age cap (37 for SC/ST). Within that age, no attempt limit. PWD has 9 attempts capped at 42. OBC has 9 attempts till 35. General/EWS: 6 attempts till 32.
Does becoming PWD reset my attempts?
No — total attempts across categories stay capped. If you become PWD mid-career, you get the higher PWD cap going forward but past attempts count.