To be qualified to sit the IAS exams, you must first hold a bachelor’s degree, and this is just one of the qualifying requirements.
There are numerous more intricacies involved with the UPSC eligibility requirements; therefore, before enrolling for the IAS test online, you should thoroughly review the complete UPSC Eligibility Criteria 2022- as given in the official UPSC 2022 release.
To be eligible to take the UPSC exam, you must first ensure that you have the necessary educational requirements.
The educational requirements for appearing are not as stringent as they are for other exams such as the UGC NET and RBI Grade B.
By not steep, I mean that there is no requirement for a minimum passing grade on your degree certificate to be eligible for UPSC. Anyway, all that aside, let me go right to the point, starting with the UPSC exam nationality eligibility.
UPSC IAS Exam Eligibility: Nationality
To appear for the UPSC IAS & IPS exams you need to be a citizen of India, for all other services, you must be either:
- A citizen of India,
- Or a subject of Nepal,
- Or a subject of Bhutan,
- Or a refugee from Tibet that came to India before the 1st of January 1962 with the intention of settling in India permanently.
- Or an individual with Indian origin who has migrated from Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, East African countries of Uganda, Zambia, Zaire, Kenya, the united republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, & Vietnam, with the purpose of settling permanently in India. If you belong to categories b), c), d), and e), then you’d need a certificate issued by the govt. of India to be eligible. Also belonging to the b), c), d), and e). Categories will bar you from being eligible to be appointed to the Indian Foreign Services.
UPSC IAS Eligibility Criteria: Age Limit
Long story short – Gen: should not have touched age of 32 years, OBC: should not have touched age of 35 years, SC/ST: should not have touched age of 37 years, PwBD: should not have touched age of 42 years as of 01st August 2021.
The age limit criteria were last changed by UPSC in 2015. With that in mind, let’s look at the age requirements for each category.
If you are a general category candidate, you must be at least 21 years old and not have reached the age of 32 by August 1st of the examination year.
For example, to be eligible for the UPSC CSE in 2022, a candidate must have been born between August 2, 1990, and August 1, 2001.
UPSC IAS Eligibility Criteria: Minimum Educational Qualification
I have written the UPSC eligibility based on educational qualifications in detail below:
You must have proof of graduation from a centrally or state-recognized university to sit for the UPSC IAS test. This means you must have a bachelor’s degree certificate from any university established by an Act of the State and Central Legislatures of India, or any institute of education established by an Act of the Parliament of India, or one declared a deemed university under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act of 1956, or a qualification equivalent to it.
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