UPSC & Civil Services · Government Exams

UPSC ESE Exam Pattern

Every figure here is from the ESE 2026 notification and the ESE 2025 cut-off sheet.

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UPSC ESE · checked 19 September 2026

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

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6Oct 2026

Next deadline

UPSC ESE: the facts that matter now

01
Notified 17 September 2025 with about 474 vacancies; prelims 8 February 2026, result 26 February; mains 21 June, result 24 July; interviews in…
2026 cycle
02
Notified 16 September 2026 with 480 vacancies — Civil 199, Mechanical 85, Electrical 72, Electronics and Telecommunication 118, of which 19 for…
2027 cycle
03
Union Public Service Commission — Engineering Services Examination for Group A engineering services in civil, mechanical, electrical, and…
Conducted by
04
Engineering degree in the discipline; age 21–30 on 1 January of the examination year (35 for the listed government servants)
Eligibility

Pattern

UPSC ESE — UPSC ESE exam pattern: prelims, conventional mains, interview and cut-offs

The Engineering Services Examination has three stages that all count: an objective preliminary examination of 500 marks, a conventional main examination of 600, and an interview of 200. The branch chosen at application — civil, mechanical, electrical, or electronics and telecommunication — fixes Paper II of the prelims and both mains papers.

Stage I — preliminary examination. Objective; one third of a mark deducted per wrong answer; marks count in the final merit.
Paper	Subject	Marks	Time	Minimum (2025)
I	General Studies and Engineering Aptitude	200	2 hours	15 per cent
II	Engineering discipline	300	3 hours	15 per cent

Stage II — main examination. Conventional, handwritten.
Paper	Subject	Marks	Time	Minimum (2025)
I	Engineering discipline	300	3 hours	20 per cent
II	Engineering discipline	300	3 hours	20 per cent

How the stages are used

Prelims to mains — On the prelims cut-off by branch and category, subject to the minimum in each paper.
Written cut-off — Prelims plus mains out of 1,100; about twice the vacancies are called to interview — 498 for general civil engineering candidates in 2025.
Final merit — Out of 1,300 by branch — 719 for general civil engineering candidates in 2025; services allotted by rank, category and preference.

The ten areas of Paper I, General Studies and Engineering Aptitude.
Area
Current issues of national and international importance in social, economic and industrial development
Engineering aptitude — logical reasoning and analytical ability
Engineering mathematics and numerical analysis
General principles of design, drawing and safety
Standards and quality practices in production, construction, maintenance and services
Basics of energy and environment
Basics of project management
Basics of material science and engineering
Information and communication technologies
Ethics and values in the engineering profession