UPSC Eligibility 2022 - UPSC Age Limit, IAS Officer Qualification

UPSC Eligibility 2022

The commission released the UPSC Notification 2022 on 2nd February 2022 along with the IAS eligibility. Candidates who want to apply for 2022 can check the eligibility criteria in this post. The first stage of UPSC or the Preliminary examination is scheduled to be conducted on 05th June 2022. Below we will be covering the updated IAS requirements so that candidates can get a clear idea about the UPSC age limit, qualifications, and other requirements.

• UPSC Age Limit - 21 -32 Years
• Maximum Age for UPSC - Changes as per UPSC Age Relaxation for reserved categories. 
• UPSC Qualification Criteria - Educational Qualification for UPSC is to be a graduate from a recognized university. 
• Nationality- Indian
• UPSC Attempt Limit- 6 attempts for General Category

UPSC Age Limit

The UPSC Age Limit varies as per reservation categories. As per the official IAS Age Limit from the UPSC Eligibility, the minimum age of the candidate must be 21 years. The maximum Age for UPSC must be 32 years as of 1st August 2022. 

Below we have mentioned the category-wise IAS Age Limit

☛ Check:- IAS Officer Salary in India

How to calculate UPSC Age Limit?

The commission calculates the IAS Age Limit as of 1st August of the year in which the UPSC Exam is conducted. The minimum age limit to sit for the UPSC Examination is 21 years. For example, if a candidate is appearing for the UPSC 2022, the candidate needs to be of 21 years on the 1st of August, 2022. Even the upper age for the UPSC Exam is calculated as of 1st August.
For general category candidates, the upper UPSC Age Limit is 32 years. The upper age limit prescribed in the UPSC Notification is relaxable up to a maximum of five years if the candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe. For an OBC candidate, a relaxation of 3 years is mentioned, making the maximum age to sit for the UPSC Exam to be at 35 years.

To calculate the correct UPSC Age Limit, a candidate should not have been born earlier than 2nd August 1990, and not after 1st August 2001.

UPSC Age Limit Relaxation for Different Categories

As we have mentioned in the table above, candidates from SC, ST, OBC, and other categories get age relaxation on the upper IAS Age Limit. Candidates from the OBC category get an age relaxation of 3 years, which makes their upper age limit 35 years. Candidates from SC/ST category will get an age relaxation of 5 years, so their upper age limit is 37 years.

In the table below we have provided the upper age limit for each category.

Latest News about UPSC Age Limit

Recently, applicants who couldn't appear for UPSC Exam due to Covid-19 requested an extra attempt and relaxation on UPSC Age Limit. As per the latest news, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is not in favor of providing an extra attempt or relaxing the IAS Age Limit. DoPT also claimed that any alteration of the IAS Age Limit or the number of attempts allowed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak might lead to similar demands from other groups of applicants. It will also have an impact on other contenders' chances.

UPSC Eligibility- Number of Attempts

Number attempts can be explained as the number of times a candidate is allowed to appear for the UPSC Exam. Every candidate is only eligible to appear UPSC Exam up to a certain number. We have mentioned all the information regarding the number of attempts allowed for a candidate from each category. 

• General category candidates get a total of 6 attempts with an age limit of 32 years
• Candidates from the OBC category get 9 attempts till 35 years of age
• SC/ST category candidates get an unlimited number of attempts till 37 years of age
• EX-Servicemen/Benchmark Disability- EWS/Disabled Defense Services Personnel will get 9 attempts till the age of 42 years.

UPSC Qualification

To be eligible for the UPSC exam, candidates must meet various academic requirements. Below we have mentioned the UPSC Eligibility for educational qualifications in detail.

• The candidates need to have a degree from a recognized government university or have an equivalent qualification.
• UPSC Eligibility for Final Year Students: Those who are in their final year of graduation, and waiting for results can also apply for the UPSC Exam. However, these candidates have to produce proof of passing the said exam.
• Medical students who have cleared their final year can also apply for the UPSC exam. But such candidates need to submit the course completion certificate along with the Mains examination application.

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UPSC Eligibility - Nationality

Under the nationality eligibility criteria for UPSC, citizens from other countries can also apply for UPSC under certain conditions. We have mentioned the complete IAS eligibility criteria on the basis of nationality below. 

For IAS, IPS, and IFS - Candidates need to be a citizen of India

For Other Services:-

1. A candidate can be a citizen of India, or
2. Nepal, or
3. Bhutan
4. A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1st January 1962 and got permanently settled in India.
5. A person from India who has migrated from Burma, Sri Lanks, Pakistan, Uganda, African countries, Malawi, United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia, and Vietnam intends to settle in India permanently.
6. Those candidates who belong to 2,3,4 and 5 categories should provide a certificate of eligibility issued by the Indian Government. These candidates may take the exam before getting the said certificate of eligibility. However, he/she would only get the offer of appointment after the certificate has been issued by the Indian Government.

Summary of UPSC Eligibility 

Below mentioned is the synopsis of the IAS Eligibility for all the categories of applicants. The Nationality and Qualification mostly remain the same for all categories. The major difference is in the UPSC Age Limit and the Number of Attempts