UPSC ESE 2027 (IES 2027): Exam Date, Vacancy, Eligibility, Syllabus and Cutoff

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has notified approximately 480 vacancies for the Engineering Services Examination (ESE) 2027, also known as IES 2027. The application window closed on 6 October 2026 at 6:00 PM. The ESE 2027 Prelims will be held on 31 January 2027, followed by the Mains on 18 June 2027.

ESE recruits engineers for Group A and Group B services across four categories: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. Candidates who applied should now focus on Prelims preparation, as the next official step is the e-admit card in January 2027.

UPSC ESE 2027 Highlights

UPSC ESE Exam Date 2027

The UPSC ESE 2027 Prelims is on 31 January 2027 and the Mains is on 18 June 2027. UPSC has not yet fixed dates for the Personality Test or the final result. The ESE 2026 column shows how the previous cycle actually ran, which is the best guide to the later stages.

Note: The admit card date follows the rule in the ESE 2027 notice; the other expected dates follow the gaps seen in ESE 2026 and are not official. The notification, application, Prelims and Mains dates are fixed in the notice.

Key dates in the official UPSC ESE 2027 notification (Examination Notice No. 02/2027-ENGG)

UPSC ESE Notification and Vacancy 2027

UPSC issued the UPSC ESE 2027 notification (Examination Notice No. 02/2027-ENGG) on 16 September 2026 with approximately 480 vacancies. UPSC states that the number is provisional and may change.

Vacancy details as printed in the UPSC ESE 2027 notification

Vacancy Trend: ESE 2027 to ESE 2025

ESE 2027 vacancies are close to the ESE 2026 level. The ESE 2025 figure is the number in its notification; reports say IRMS posts were added to that cycle later, so it is not directly comparable. Vacancy numbers alone do not predict the ESE 2027 cutoff.

UPSC ESE Vacancies Branch-wise: 2025 to 2021

The ESE 2027 notification gives only the total, not a branch-wise split. UPSC's final cutoff documents do show how many vacancies were filled in each branch, which is the best guide to how the total is usually divided.

Civil had the most vacancies in every year from 2021 to 2025, and 45% of the total in ESE 2025. The final ESE 2025 total of 554 was more than double the 232 vacancies first notified, because posts were added during the cycle, so final vacancies can differ from the notified number.

UPSC ESE Vacancy 2027 for PwBD Candidates

The 19 PwBD vacancies are part of the approximately 480 total. Reservation for SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwBD candidates applies as fixed by the Government of India.

As per the notice, no ESE 2027 vacancies are identified for candidates with blindness, so they are advised not to apply. Low-vision candidates can apply only for services whose functional classification allows it, as listed in Annexure-I of the notice.

UPSC ESE Exam Fee 2027

The UPSC ESE exam fee for 2027 is ₹200. Female candidates and SC, ST and PwBD candidates do not pay any fee.

The fee was payable online through net banking, a Visa, Master or RuPay credit or debit card, or UPI. OBC and EWS candidates get no exemption and pay the full ₹200. Once paid, the fee is not refunded and cannot be carried over to another exam. ESE has charged ₹200 to fee-paying candidates in recent cycles, including ESE 2026, so the amount is unchanged for 2027.

Fee rules in the official UPSC ESE 2027 notification

UPSC ESE Registration 2027 (Closed)

The UPSC ESE 2027 registration ran from 16 September to 6 October 2026, 6:00 PM, on upsconline.nic.in. The window is now closed, and late applications are not accepted.

This year, the application had four parts on UPSC's online portal:

1. Account creation on the UPSC Online Application Portal
2. Universal Registration to get a Universal Registration Number (URN)
3. Common Application Form, which included live photograph capture
4. Examination-specific module for ESE 2027, where candidates chose one engineering category, uploaded documents and paid the fee

Candidates who applied should keep their URN and application number safe, as they are needed to download the e-admit card.

UPSC ESE 2027 Correction Window: Not Available

There is no correction window for UPSC ESE 2027. As per the notification, a submitted application cannot be edited, and it cannot be withdrawn either.

Candidates who spot an error in a submitted ESE 2027 form cannot fix it through the URN profile. Any certificate or detail claimed in the form must still be supported by valid documents when UPSC asks for them.

UPSC ESE Categories, Services and Posts 2027

Candidates applied for only one of four engineering categories. Services are allotted later on the basis of rank, service preferences, vacancies and medical fitness.

Counting the services listed against each category in this table, Mechanical has 12, Civil 10, and Electrical and Electronics & Telecommunication 9 each. Several services, such as IRMS and the Indian Skill Development Service, appear under more than one category, so these counts are not separate jobs.

UPSC ESE (IES) Eligibility Criteria 2027

To be eligible for ESE 2027, a candidate must be 21 to 30 years old on 1 January 2027, hold an engineering degree or an accepted equivalent, and meet UPSC's nationality conditions.

For a short summary of the age, qualification and fee rules announced this year, read our news report on UPSC ESE 2027 Eiigibility Criteria.

UPSC ESE Age Limit 2027

UPSC ESE Age Relaxation 2027

Ex-servicemen relaxation needs at least five years of military service as on 1 January 2027. SC, ST and OBC candidates who are also ex-servicemen or PwBD can combine both relaxations.

Certificates for reservation or relaxation must be in the prescribed format and held by the closing date, 6 October 2026. For ESE 2027, OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) and EWS certificates had to be based on income for FY 2025-26 and issued between 1 April 2026 and 6 October 2026. A category chosen in the application cannot be changed later.

UPSC ESE Educational Qualification 2027

Final-year students could apply provisionally. If they qualify for the Personality Test, they must upload proof of passing within a 10-day window that UPSC opens after the Mains result; otherwise they cannot attend the interview.

Degrees or certificates from the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (India) and the Aeronautical Society of India are not accepted where admission was taken after 31 May 2013. For Institution of Engineers (India) candidates who took admission after 31 May 2013, eligibility depends on a pending government decision following a Delhi High Court judgment.

UPSC ESE Nationality 2027

A candidate must be one of the following:

• A citizen of India
• A subject of Nepal or Bhutan
• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 to settle permanently
• A person of Indian origin who migrated to settle permanently in India from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam

Candidates in the non-Indian categories need a certificate of eligibility from the Government of India before an offer of appointment can be made.

Number of attempts: ESE has no fixed limit on the number of attempts. Candidates can appear as long as they are within the age limit.

UPSC ESE Selection Process 2027

ESE selection has three stages carrying 1,300 marks in total. The final merit list adds up the marks from all three stages.

As per the notice, Prelims marks count towards the final rank, and the Personality Test has no minimum qualifying marks. The notice also fixes how many candidates move between stages:

The Mains carries the most weight in the final total, so the written stages together decide about 85% of a candidate's rank.

UPSC ESE Exam Pattern 2027

ESE Prelims Exam Pattern 2027

ESE Mains Exam Pattern 2027

ESE Personality Test 2027

The Personality Test carries 200 marks. The board looks at qualities relevant to engineering services, such as leadership, initiative, intellectual curiosity, social traits, practical sense and integrity.

UPSC ESE Negative Marking 2027

Negative marking applies only to the objective Prelims papers, not to the conventional Mains papers.

Other Exam Rules (ESE 2027 Notice)

• Mains papers must be answered in English, and question papers are set in English only.
• Non-programmable calculators are allowed in the Mains, but not in the Prelims.
• Up to 5% of the maximum marks can be deducted for illegible handwriting in written papers.
• Marks are rounded off to two decimal places at every stage.

Tie-breaking Rules

If two candidates have the same final marks, UPSC ranks them in this order:

1. Higher total in the three engineering papers (Prelims Paper II and Mains Papers I and II) plus the Personality Test
2. Higher total in the three engineering papers alone
3. The older candidate
4. If still tied, at the Commission's discretion

UPSC ESE Syllabus 2027

The ESE 2027 syllabus has one common paper for all branches (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) and separate technical syllabi for each engineering category. The full syllabus is printed in the official notification.

General Studies and Engineering Aptitude (Prelims Paper I)

As per the notification, each topic below carries between 5% and 15% of the paper's 200 marks, which works out to 10 to 30 marks per topic.

The paper is set at the level expected of an engineering or science graduate, without special study. There is no practical exam in any subject.

Branch-wise Technical Syllabus (Prelims Paper II and Mains)

Candidates should prepare from the exact syllabus in the official notification, since each branch syllabus is split into two parts: Mains Paper I and Paper II are each set from one part, while Prelims Paper II covers both.

For a topic-by-topic breakdown of each branch, see our UPSC ESE Syllabus page.

UPSC ESE Admit Card 2027

The ESE 2027 notice states that the e-admit card will be issued on the last working day of the week before the exam. For the Prelims on Sunday, 31 January 2027, that is expected to be Friday, 22 January 2027. The same rule applied in ESE 2026, when the admit card came out on Friday, 30 January 2026, for the 8 February Prelims.

How to download the ESE 2027 admit card:

1. Visit upsconline.nic.in.
2. Open the e-admit card link for Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2027.
3. Log in with the requested details.
4. Download and print the admit card, and check the name, photograph, roll number, centre and timings.

ESE 2027 Exam Day Rules

• Entry to the venue closes 30 minutes before each session starts. No one is allowed in after that.
• Face authentication is compulsory for every candidate at the venue, along with ID verification and frisking.
• Carry the e-admit card and the photo ID given in the URN profile.
• Use a black ball pen only on the OMR sheet; pencils, ink pens and other colours are not allowed.
• Mobile phones (even switched off), smart watches, AI-enabled glasses, Bluetooth devices, pen drives and bags are banned. No safe-keeping is provided at the venue.
• Calculators are not allowed in the Prelims.

If the admit card has not arrived a week before the exam, contact UPSC's facilitation counter at 011-24041001 or 011-40303444.

UPSC ESE Exam Centres 2027

ESE 2027 Prelims will be held in 48 cities and the Mains in 24 cities. Centres are allotted on a first-apply-first-allot basis, and a centre is frozen once its capacity fills; Chennai, Dispur, Kolkata and Nagpur have no capacity ceiling. UPSC does not accept requests to change an allotted centre.

Prelims centres (48): Agartala, Agra, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Aligarh, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cuttack, Dehradun, Delhi, Dharwad, Dispur (Guwahati), Gangtok, Gaya, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Imphal, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Jorhat, Kochi, Kohima, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Panaji (Goa), Patna, Port Blair, Prayagraj, Raipur, Ranchi, Sambalpur, Shillong, Shimla, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Udaipur, Varanasi, Visakhapatnam.

ESE 2027 Prelims centres as listed in the official notification

Mains centres (24): Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cuttack, Dehradun, Delhi, Dispur (Guwahati), Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Prayagraj, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, Shimla, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam.

UPSC ESE Answer Key 2027

UPSC lets candidates question the Prelims answers through an online representation window. As per the ESE 2027 notification, representations can be submitted from the third day after the exam until 6:00 PM on the seventh day. Representations sent by email, post or any other mode are not accepted.

UPSC ESE Result 2027

UPSC declares ESE results stage by stage. The Prelims result decides who sits the Mains, and the Mains result decides who is called for the Personality Test.

Stage-wise updates for the current cycle, including the ESE 2026 Mains result and the final result when it comes, are on our UPSC ESE Result page.

How Many Candidates Reach the Interview

In ESE 2025, the 1,376 interview candidates were split as 646 Civil, 182 Mechanical, 237 Electrical and 311 Electronics & Telecommunication.

Marksheets for all candidates are uploaded on upsc.gov.in only after the final result, and stay online for 30 days.

UPSC ESE Cutoff

ESE 2027 Cutoff

The ESE 2027 cutoff will be released after the ESE 2027 final result in late 2027.

ESE 2026 Cutoff (Prelims, Mains and Final)

The ESE 2026 cutoff has not been released yet. UPSC publishes the cutoff for all three stages together, only after the final result. Since the ESE 2026 interviews end on 30 October 2026, the official ESE 2026 Prelims, Mains and final cutoffs will follow the final result. Any "ESE 2026 expected cutoff" seen online is an estimate, not UPSC data.

General Category Cutoff Trend, 2025 to 2021

Prelims cutoffs are out of 500 and final cutoffs out of 1,300. All figures are from UPSC's official cutoff documents.

Prelims cutoff (General, out of 500)

Final cutoff (General, out of 1,300)

General Prelims cutoffs rose in every branch from 2024 to 2025: Civil by 59 marks, Electronics & Telecommunication by 47, Mechanical by 21 and Electrical by 11. Even so, all four 2025 Prelims cutoffs stayed below their 2021 levels. Electronics & Telecommunication had the lowest General Prelims cutoff in every year from 2021 to 2025.

The final cutoff is the total marks of the last candidate recommended in each category, so it depends on that year's vacancies as well as on difficulty. Past cutoffs show the usual range; they do not predict the ESE 2027 cutoff. UPSC's official cutoff documents also list the Prelims, written and final cutoffs for EWS, OBC, SC and ST candidates in each branch.

UPSC ESE Salary 2027

Officers who join Group A services through ESE start at Pay Level 10 of the 7th Pay Commission matrix, usually as Assistant Executive Engineer or an equivalent post.

The in-hand salary depends on the current DA rate, the HRA class of the posting city, and the service. Group B posts filled through ESE follow the pay level given for each post in the notification. Pay rises with each promotion, and senior officers in engineering services can reach the higher administrative grades of their department.

IES Full Form and Difference Between IES and ESE

IES stands for Indian Engineering Services. IES and ESE are the same exam: UPSC's official name is the Engineering Services Examination (ESE), and the services it recruits for are often called the Indian Engineering Services. That is why "UPSC IES 2027" and "UPSC ESE 2027" refer to the same notification, dates and result.

ESE vs CSE: Key Differences

The better exam depends on the candidate's goal. ESE suits engineers who want a technical career in government, while CSE leads to administrative and policy roles.

ESE vs GATE: Key Differences

ESE asks for more than GATE in one respect: it adds a General Studies paper, two descriptive Mains papers and an interview to the technical syllabus. Many candidates prepare for both, since the core engineering subjects overlap. Details of the other exam are on our GATE Exam page.

FAQs on UPSC ESE 2027