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Civil Services / Administrative
NationalGovt2026 cycle

UPSC Engineering Services (ESE)

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

Official website Sign in with your email to track exams
Domain
Civil Services / Administrative
Level
National
Type
Govt
Application closes
16 Oct 2025, 6:00 pm IST

Eligibility for your profile

Sign in required

Sign in to check your eligibility for UPSC Engineering Services (ESE)

Use your private student profile for a personal verdict and the exact reasons behind it.

This is a preliminary profile match. Confirm every rule in the latest official notification before applying.

Exam snapshot

Overview

Conducting body

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

What you get

Class-I Gazetted Officers in Indian Railways, CPWD, MES, etc.

Latest content cycle

2026

Application window

26 Sept 2025 → 16 Oct 2025, 6:00 pm IST

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Worth preparing alongside

We cannot line UPSC Engineering Services (ESE) up against other exams yet

This does not mean UPSC Engineering Services (ESE) shares nothing with the exams you are preparing for — only that we have not loaded a chapter-by-chapter syllabus we can compare against, so we will not guess. We compare 0 exams whose official syllabus we have traced to the conducting body, and this one is not among them yet.

Plan with confidence

Complete exam guide

Eligibility, pattern, syllabus, dates and official resources in one structured view.

Eligibility

Planning reference — verify the current detailed notice

Candidates choose one engineering category. Degree eligibility, participating services, medical classification and final allocation must all be checked against that category.

Entry / academyAgeDate-of-birth windowSex / marital condition
Engineering Services Examination21–30 years on 1 January 20262 January 1996–1 January 2005Not stated

Nationality

Citizen of India · Subject of Nepal or Bhutan · Specified Tibetan refugee or person of Indian origin with a Government of India eligibility certificate where required

Final-year candidates

Yes

Physical standards

Final recommendation is followed by service-specific medical examination and physical standards. A rank does not guarantee allocation to every service.

Post / scopeMinimum educationStreams / conditionsFinal year
General ESE routeEngineering degree or an accepted equivalent routeCivil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, Equivalent professional or recognised foreign engineering qualifications listed in the noticeAllowed
Indian Naval Armament Service — Electronics postsEngineering qualification or specified MSc equivalentWireless Communication Electronics, Radio Physics, Radio Engineering, Other general ESE qualification routesAllowed
Indian Radio Regulatory Service Group AEngineering qualification or specified MSc equivalentWireless Communication Electronics, Radio Physics, Radio Engineering, Physics and Radio Communication, Electronics, Telecommunication, Other general ESE qualification routesAllowed
Exam pattern

Qualification pathway

Clear each applicable stage in order

Final selection or admission still depends on the published cutoff or merit list and any applicable counselling, document, medical, preference and vacancy rules.

Selection sequence

  1. 1

    Stage I — Preliminary

    Required

    Preliminary marks count in final merit. Candidates must meet the qualifying standards in both papers.

    Preliminary Exam Date: 2026-02-08

  2. 2

    Stage II — Main

    Required

    Two English-only conventional papers in the chosen Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, or Electronics and Telecommunication discipline.

    Main Written Result Date: 2026-07-24

  3. 3

    Stage III — Personality Test

    Required
  4. 4

    Medical Examination

    Required
  5. 5

    Final Merit and Service Allocation

    Required

    All three scored stages count: 500 Preliminary, 600 Main and 200 Personality Test. Allocation also depends on category, engineering discipline, service preferences, medical fitness and vacancies.

Paper and stage details

What each stage contains

5 records

Stage I — Preliminary

objective written

Questions

Not stated

Maximum marks

500

Duration

300 min

Subject distribution

  • Paper I — General Studies and Engineering Aptitude · 200 marks
  • Paper II — Chosen Engineering Discipline · 300 marks

Marking rule

One-third of the marks assigned to an objective question is deducted for a wrong or multiple-marked answer; no penalty for blank answers.

Preliminary marks count in final merit. Candidates must meet the qualifying standards in both papers.

Stage II — Main

descriptive written

Questions

Not stated

Maximum marks

600

Duration

360 min

Subject distribution

  • Discipline-specific Paper I · 300 marks
  • Discipline-specific Paper II · 300 marks

Two English-only conventional papers in the chosen Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, or Electronics and Telecommunication discipline.

Stage III — Personality Test

interview

Questions

Not stated

Maximum marks

200

Duration

Not stated

Medical Examination

medical

Questions

Not stated

Maximum marks

Not stated

Duration

Not stated

Final Merit and Service Allocation

merit

Questions

Not stated

Maximum marks

1300

Duration

Not stated

All three scored stages count: 500 Preliminary, 600 Main and 200 Personality Test. Allocation also depends on category, engineering discipline, service preferences, medical fitness and vacancies.

Syllabus

Showing all 17 topics, across all 5 subjects and 7 chapters.

General Studies and Engineering Aptitude3 chapters · 10 trackable topics
  • Awareness and Aptitude

    3 topics

    • Current issues of national and international importance relating to social, economic and industrial development
    • Engineering Aptitude covering Logical reasoning and Analytical ability
    • Ethics and values in Engineering profession
  • Engineering Foundations

    4 topics

    • Engineering Mathematics and Numerical Analysis
    • General Principles of Design, Drawing, Importance of Safety
    • Standards and Quality practices in production, construction, maintenance and services
    • Basics of Material Science and Engineering
  • Environment, Projects and ICT

    3 topics

    • Basics of Energy and Environment: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, Climate Change, Environmental impact assessment
    • Basics of Project Management
    • Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based tools and their applications in Engineering
Civil Engineering1 chapters · 4 trackable topics
  • Category Paper

    4 topics

    • Building Materials
    • Solid Mechanics
    • Structural Analysis
    • Design of Steel Structures
Mechanical Engineering1 chapters · 1 trackable topics
  • Category Paper

    1 topics

    • Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering1 chapters · 1 trackable topics
  • Category Paper

    1 topics

    • Electrical Engineering
Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering1 chapters · 1 trackable topics
  • Category Paper

    1 topics

    • Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering
Important dates

2026 cycle

Latest confirmed cycle has concluded

Main Written Result Date: 2026-07-24

Concluded

Next examination date has not yet been published in StudyBddy's verified official record. The date above is historical—not an upcoming deadline.

Full published timeline5 completed · 0 awaiting dates

Main Written Result Date

Completed

2026-07-24

Main Exam Date

Completed

2026-06-21

Preliminary Exam Date

Completed

2026-02-08

Application Window

Completed

2025-09-26 → 2025-10-16T18:00:00+05:30

Notification Date

Completed

2025-09-26

Job profile & salary

Approximate Vacancies

474

Notes

The service list and medical classifications are category-specific. Final allocation is governed by merit, preference, medical fitness and notified vacancies.

CategoryOutcomes
Civil EngineeringCivil, roads, water, defence, railways and other participating engineering services and posts listed in the notice.
Mechanical EngineeringMechanical, defence, railways, naval, enterprise-development and other participating services and posts listed in the notice.
Electrical EngineeringElectrical, power, defence, railways and other participating services and posts listed in the notice.
Electronics and Telecommunication EngineeringTelecommunications, radio regulation, defence quality, naval armament, railways and other participating services and posts listed in the notice.
Cutoffs

UPSC publishes discipline- and stage-specific historical cutoff documents. No predicted 2026 cutoff is shown as official.

Previous-year papers
Books & study sources
Book recommendations have not been reviewed yet.
Official & trusted free resources
NamePurposeUrl
ESE 2026 notificationControlling source for services, eligibility, pattern, syllabus, medical standards and vacanciesOpen ↗
ESE Main 2026 status pageOfficial timetable, papers and written resultOpen ↗
UPSC previous papersOfficial Preliminary and Main paper archiveOpen ↗
UPSC cutoff marksOfficial discipline-wise cutoff archiveOpen ↗
UPSC application portalOfficial application and candidate servicesOpen ↗
How to apply
Open official application page
  1. 1Choose one engineering category and check its participating services, degree route and medical standards.
  2. 2Create or use the UPSC Universal Registration Number and complete the Common Application Form.
  3. 3Complete the ESE-specific module, documents, centre, category and fee.
  4. 4Save the submitted form. The 2026 application window closed on 16 October 2025 at 18:00.
  5. 5After qualifying Preliminary and Main, complete the interview document window, service preferences and medical process.
FAQs
Do ESE Preliminary marks count in final merit?

Yes. Final merit includes 500 Preliminary, 600 Main and 200 Personality Test marks.

Can a candidate choose more than one engineering discipline?

No. The notice requires one category: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, or Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering.

What is the 2026 Main status?

The Main examination was held on 21 June 2026, and UPSC uploaded the written result on 24 July 2026. Interview and final-allocation stages follow.

Does a final rank guarantee every service?

No. Allocation also depends on discipline, service preferences, medical classification, category and vacancies.

Final eligibility and dates are always subject to the latest official notification. Content marked “Pending verification” is not presented as verified advice.