IES / ESE 2026: Exam Date, Syllabus, Pattern & Free Mocks

The Engineering Services Examination, still widely known as IES, is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission to recruit Group A gazetted engineering officers for the technical and managerial cadres of the Government of India. Officers serve in departments including Indian Railways, the Central Engineering Service, Military Engineer Services, the Border Roads Organisation, the Central Water Engineering Service and the Indian Ordnance Factories Service.

Recruitment covers four branches — Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. The examination runs across three stages totalling 1,300 marks: an objective Prelims of 500 marks, a conventional descriptive Mains of 600 marks, and a 200-mark personality test.

IES/ESE is the most prestigious engineering recruitment in India because it places engineers directly into Group A gazetted officer posts with policy and project authority — a position no private sector engineering role or PSU recruitment offers.

An ESE officer holds statutory and administrative authority over major public infrastructure — railway projects, defence works, border roads, water resources and ordnance production. The career progresses to Chief Engineer and Member-level positions in the respective services, with responsibility for national infrastructure programmes.

The status is comparable to that of a Civil Services officer within the technical domain, including protocol entitlements, official accommodation and vehicle. For engineering graduates who want authority over the projects they work on rather than a purely technical role, there is no alternative route.

• Group A gazetted officer entry at Pay Level 10
• Authority over national infrastructure projects and programmes
• Career path to Chief Engineer and Member-level positions
• Status, accommodation and entitlements comparable to civil services

Expected schedule for the 2026 cycle, based on the UPSC annual calendar.upsc.gov.in — Examination Calendar

The most recent IES / ESE cycle carried approximately Notified per cycle vacancies.

ESE vacancies are small in number and are published branch-wise across Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics and Telecommunication, and further by the services participating in that cycle. Not every service recruits every year, so branch-wise counts fluctuate considerably.

Vacancies are notified branch-wise and service-wise in the official notification.upsc.gov.in — Official Notification

To apply for UPSC ESE 2026 a candidate must hold a degree in Engineering from a recognised university or an equivalent qualification, and be between 21 and 30 years of age as on the cut-off date specified in the notification.

Educational Qualification

A degree in Engineering from a university incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India, or passed Sections A and B of the Institution of Engineers (India) examinations, or an M.Sc. degree or equivalent with Wireless Communication, Electronics, Radio Physics or Radio Engineering as a special subject, or a degree or diploma in Engineering from a recognised foreign university.

• Candidates in the final year of their engineering degree may apply provisionally, subject to producing proof of passing at the time of the personality test.
• Graduate membership of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers is accepted for the Electronics and Telecommunication branch.
• The Commission may admit candidates with other qualifications on a case-by-case basis as specified in the notification.

Age Limit

The age limit for IES / ESE is 21 to 30 years. Age is reckoned as on 1 January of the year of examination. The band is 21 to 30 years, with standard relaxations for reserved categories.

Nationality

• A citizen of India, or
• A subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or
• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka or East African countries with the intention of permanently settling in India.

UPSC ESE runs across 1,300 marks in three stages — a 500-mark objective Prelims of two papers, a 600-mark conventional descriptive Mains of two papers, and a 200-mark personality test. Only the Mains and interview count towards the final merit alongside the Prelims.

1. 1Online application on the UPSC portal, selecting an engineering branch.
2. 2Preliminary Examination — two objective papers totalling 500 marks.
3. 3Main Examination — two conventional descriptive papers totalling 600 marks.
4. 4Personality Test carrying 200 marks.
5. 5Final merit based on the aggregate of 1,300 marks.
6. 6Medical examination and allocation of service and department.

The ESE syllabus combines a broad General Studies and Engineering Aptitude paper common to all branches with deep discipline-specific content that appears in the Prelims objectively and again in the Mains as conventional descriptive questions.

An ESE officer is a Group A gazetted officer appointed at Pay Level 10 under the Seventh Pay Commission with a basic pay of ₹56,100 to ₹1,77,500, giving an approximate in-hand salary of ₹75,000 to ₹90,000 per month, plus official accommodation and vehicle entitlements.

Allowances and Benefits

• Dearness Allowance (DA) — revised twice a year
• House Rent Allowance (HRA) or official accommodation
• Transport Allowance (TA) and official vehicle as per entitlement
• Departmental and field allowances depending on posting
• Free medical treatment and CGHS coverage for the officer and family
• Pension under the National Pension System (NPS)
• Protocol entitlements as a Group A gazetted officer

The decisive IES/ESE strategy is to practise conventional written answers from the outset, because 600 of the 1,300 marks come from hand-written descriptive engineering papers that objective preparation does not develop at all.