IPS Eligibility 2023 – IPS Qualification and Age Limit
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 14th, 2023
IPS eligibility includes various factors such as age limit, qualification, height and weight, medical requirements, etc., for male and female candidates as prescribed by the Union Public Service Commission. The Indian Police Service, or IPS, is counted as one of the most respectful and well-deserving Indian Civil Services. To get into this civil service, one needs to be aware of the complete IPS eligibility stated by the UPSC.
The minimum qualification for IPS is a Graduation degree from a recognized university, and the minimum IPS age limit is 21 years for all categories. Once you are sure of your IPS eligibility, you can move on with your preparation to clear the UPSC Civil Service Examination (CSE) and secure the required rank.
Table of content
IPS Eligibility
The UPSC Civil Service Examination is one of the toughest entrance exams in the country. Each year, huge numbers of applicants sit for the IPS exam, and only a fraction of them can cut through the complex process of Prelims, Mains & Interviews. The first important step is to confirm your IPS eligibility if you don’t want to get disqualified from the process later.
Certain parameters, such as physical requirements for IPS, including height and weight, educational qualifications, IPS age limit, medical requirements, etc., must be satisfied by the applicants to become eligible for the IPS exam. Candidates can look at the detailed IPS eligibility for females and males below.
| IAS Physical Eligibility | UPSC Age Limit |
| EWS Eligibility in UPSC | UPSC IPS Age Limit for SC and ST |
IPS Qualification
The first step of working towards the goal of becoming an IPS Officer is to know if you possess the minimum IPS qualification required to apply for this exam.
- A candidate willing to apply for the exam must have a graduation degree from a govt. recognized university.
- Such candidates awaiting the final year results of their graduation are also eligible to apply for the IPS exam.
- The candidates yet to appear in the final year examination are also eligible for application to the UPSC Prelims exam only on the condition that they can submit proof of their passing the exam while applying for the UPSC Mains exam.
IPS Age Limit 2023
The Union Public Service Commission provides proper IPS eligibility criteria that clearly state the permissible qualifications, including the IPS exam age limit. Candidates willing to appear for the exam need to conform to the IPS age limit for General and other categories. Refer to the table below and check the age criteria per UPSC IPS eligibility norms.
| Category | Minimum Age | Maximum Age |
| IPS age limit for General | 21 years | 32 years |
| OBC | 21 years | 35 years |
| SC/ST | 21 years | 37 years |
IPS Age Relaxation
Candidates from all categories are permitted to sit for the UPSC IPS examination. It is equally important for the candidates of other categories apart from the General category candidates to check their IPS eligibility for females and males if they want to appear for the exam.
UPSC provides a relaxation in the upper age limit for the reserved category candidates to give them an edge and simplify the recruitment process.
| Category | IPS Age Relaxation |
| Scheduled caste/Scheduled tribe | 5 years |
| Defense Services Personnel | 3 years |
| Other backward classes (OBC) | 3 years |
| Ex-servicemen (ECOs/SSCOs and Commissioned Officers) | 5 years |
| Deaf, low vision or blindness, hard of hearing, ex-servicemen or candidates with any other locomotor disability or muscle deformity | 10 years |
IPS Eligibility: Nationality
To be able to appear in the UPSC IPS exam, a candidate must be a citizen of India, failing which he/she will not be allowed to sit for the examination. Detailed requirements for the IPS eligibility for nationality have been given below. A UPSC exam candidate must be:
- An Indian citizen or
- A subject of Bhutan or
- Should be a citizen of Nepal or
- A Tibetan Refugee migrated to India to settle permanently before January 01, 1962, or
- A person of Indian origin (PIO) migrated from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Kenya, and Zaire.
IPS Physical Eligibility
As per the IPS eligibility physical requirements, a candidate who clears the UPSC exam must undergo a simple medical examination at the final stage. In the case of certain technical fields, candidates need to go through some specialized medical tests and scrutiny that might prove them to be eligible or not for the post and the job profile it entails.
Being majorly a field job, certain physical requirements for IPS need to be tested in a candidate. The IPS physical eligibility for male and female candidates has been given in the table below.
| Category | IPS Physical Requirements (Male) | Physical Requirements for IPS (Female) |
| IPS Height | 165 cm[For ST (except SC/ OBC) – 160 cm] | 150 cm [For ST (except SC/ OBC)- 145 cm] |
| Chest | Minimum 84 cm. Expansion 5 cm | Min 79 cm expansion 5 cm |
| IPS Eyesight Requirements | 6/6 or 6/9 distant vision for good eye | 6/12 or 6/9 for the worst eye. Near vision J 1 for good eye. J2 for worst eye |
Number of Attempts in IPS Exam
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Indian Police Service exam with an appropriate and set procedure. It follows designated IPS eligibility criteria concerning the qualifications, number of applicants, and the number of attempts for a candidate.
A candidate is allowed to appear for the UPSC IPS examination only up to an age after which he/she is declared ineligible for the same. Therefore there is a limit to the number of attempts for the IPS exam for all categories of candidates except the SC/ST candidates.
| Category | Maximum No. of Attempts |
| General | 6 |
| Physically Handicapped (General & EWS) | 9 |
| OBC | 9 |
| Physically Handicapped (OBC) | 9 |
| SC/ST | No Limit |
| Physically Handicapped (SC/ST) | No Limit |
Medical Requirements for IPS
As per the UPSC Medical test criteria, after candidates clear the Civil Services examination, they must appear for a medical test in which their height, weight, chest, eyesight, blood pressure, hearing, etc., will be checked. The medical requirements as per IPS eligibility criteria are stated below.
The detailed vision requirement for IPS officer is as follows:
| Criteria | Worse eye | Better eye (corrected vision) |
| Near vision | J2 | J1 |
| Distant vision | 6/12 or 6/9 | 6/6 or 6/9 |
| Corrections permitted |
Contact lenses, Spectacles, Refractive surgery including IOL, Lasik, ICL, etc. |
|
| Colour Vision | High grade | |
| Binocular Vision | Needed | |
| Presence of Squint | Not Permitted | |
Note: Myopia and Hypermyopia (including cylinder) should not be more than ∓ 4.00D.
Other IPS Medical Requirements
Apart from the above-mentioned requirements, candidates must also meet certain other IPS eligibility medical requirements.
| IPS Eligibility Criteria (Blood Pressure) | ||
| Systolic pressure | Diastolic pressure | |
| Under 25 years | 100 to 130 mm | < 90 mm |
| For candidates above 25 years | 110 to 140 mm | |
- Nasal – While speaking, the candidate should not stutter.
- Ear – Normal ear cavity and Good listening; 1000-4000 frequency hearing impairment should not be more than 30 decibels.
- High standard for the Colorblind test.
- Vision should be stereoscopic.
- No inherent night blindness.
- At the time of the medical test, ladies should not be pregnant.
