Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Notification, Exam Dates, Admit Card, Exam Pattern, Counselling
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Exam - Dates, Registration, Eligibility, Syllabus, Exam Pattern
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 is a combined three-stage competitive examination (Prelims, Mains, and Personality test), called the ESE (Engineering Services Examination), is conducted by the UPSC for recruitment to the Indian Engineering Services. IES officers are mandated to manage and execute activities in diverse technical and managerial fields.
For Course(s)
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Conducting Body
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Eligibility Criteria
CANDIDATES TO ENSURE THEIR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE EXAMINATION:
The candidates applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfil all eligibility conditions for admission to the Examination. Their admission at all the stages of the examination will be purely provisional subject to satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions.
Mere issue of e‐Admission Certificate to the candidate will not imply that his / her candidature has been finally cleared by the Commission. Commission take up verification of eligibility conditions with reference to original documents only after the candidate has qualified for Personality Test.
Nationality:
- A Candidate must be either:
- A Citizen of India, or
- A Subject of Nepal, or
- A Subject of Bhutan, or
- A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before the 1st 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 of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or from Vietnam with the intention of permanently setting in India.
Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.
A Candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him / her by the Government of India.
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Important Dates
| Events | Start Date | Last Date |
|---|---|---|
| Application Form | 26/09/2025 | 16/10/2025 06:00 pm |
| Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Exam Date |
Offline Dates |
|
| Declaration of result | 26/02/2026 | - |
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Prospectus
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Application Form
Application Form Fee
Rs. 200/‐ (Rupees Two hundred only) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash or by using the net banking facility of State Bank of India or by using any Visa / Master / RuPay Credit / Debit Card.
Application Form Filling Instructions
- Students applying for the Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 have to fill up the application form on the official site.
- The student can submit the application only once. Multiple forms will be rejected.
- The submission is ONLINE only.
Requirements to be readied before you start filling up the Application Form of Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026:
- PC or a Laptop with Internet connectivity
- Qualification details
- Scanned copy of passport photograph and signature in JPG or JPEG format.
- Functional e-mail Id as all communication are made through email; Parents email id is recommended.
- Mobile number as all information is sent through SMS too. Parents phone number can be used.
- For online payments, usually a valid debit or credit card as well as Net Banking facility, UPI or PAYTM Service is a must.
- Printer is required for keeping hard copies; if there is no printer, one can save the printouts, transfer them on to a pen drive and get it printed from a cyber-cafe.
- It is recommended to download the information Bulletin Brochure and read it carefully so that you understand various requirements to fill up the form.
The Usual Steps in filling up the Online Application Form of the Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026:
Step-1: Students have to register for Online Application Form. A login and Password are created.
Step-2: Student has to complete the Application Form and its various sections
Step-3: Required documents in the form of Scanned Images of Candidate’s Photograph, Candidate’s Signature and Left Thumb Impression.
Step-4: Payments have to be made by Debit / Credit Card / Net Banking / UPI / PAYTM
Important Instructions about Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Application Process:
- All steps have to be completed before you can submit the form.
- Incomplete forms will be rejected.
Please keep visiting the Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 official website for the latest updates.
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Syllabus
Section‐I
Plan of Examination:
The examination shall be conducted according to the following plan:-
- Stage‐I: Engineering Services (Preliminary/Stage‐I) Examination (Objective Type Papers) for the selection of candidates for the Stage‐II: Engineering Services (Main/Stage‐II) Examination;
- Stage‐II: Engineering Services (Main/Stage‐II) Examination (Conventional Type Papers) and
- Stage‐III : Personality Test
The Engineering Services (Preliminary/Stage‐I) Examination will consist of two objective type (multiple choices) questions papers and carrying a maximum of 500 marks (Paper 1 – 200 Marks & Paper II – 300 Marks). Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary/Stage‐I Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main/Stage‐II Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main/Stage‐II Examination. The Marks obtained in Preliminary/Stage‐I Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main/Stage‐II Examination will be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main/Stage‐II Examination will be about six to seven time the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination.
Section‐II
Stage‐I (Preliminary / Stage‐I) Examination:‐
The Examination shall comprise of two papers.
| Subject | Duration | Maximum Marks |
| Category‐I Civil Engineering | ||
| Paper‐I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) | 2 hrs. | 200 |
| Paper‐II (Civil Engineering) | 3 hrs. | 300 |
| Total | 500 | |
| Category‐II Mechanical Engineering | ||
| Paper‐I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) | 2 hrs. | 200 |
| Paper‐II (Mechanical Engineering) | 3 hrs. | 300 |
| Total | 500 | |
| Category‐III Electrical Engineering | ||
| Paper‐I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) | 2 hrs. | 200 |
| Paper‐II (Electrical Engineering) | 3 hrs. | 300 |
| Total | 500 | |
| Category‐IV Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering | ||
| Paper‐I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) | 2 hrs. | 200 |
| Paper‐II (Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering) | 3 hrs. | 300 |
| Total | 500 |
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Exam Day Instructions
Offline Dates
- 08/02/2026
Examination Day Instructions
Before entering the Exam Centre
- Try to reach the exam centre one hour prior to the time advised in the admit card.
- Before leaving for the site, please have a hearty breakfast or light lunch depending on the session. Drink plenty of fluids; as in summers dehydration can set in affecting your performance in the exam.
- Have a cookie or a chocolate just before entering the centre; this prevents hypoglycaemia and thus helps you stay alert longer improving your results.
- If it is a busy centre, then don’t wait till last for the entry and security check.
- Centre will not allow you to enter after the stipulated time of closing the doors.
- Admission to the Exam Centre is with the Admit Card; no candidates shall be admitted to the test without the production of the Admit Card at the Test Centre.
- Usually no bags are allowed.
- No eatables are allowed.
- No communication equipment such as mobile phones / pager / wireless set, scanner, camera or any such electronic / digital gadget etc are allowed in the exam centre; carrying one will lead to disqualification.
After entering the Centre
- Once candidates enter the centre, they should locate their designated hall and seat.
- If mentioned, candidates will be hand frisked as well as photographed or video graphed before entering the centre
- After all the formalities, candidates should enter the allotted hall and take the designated seat.
- No candidate shall be allowed to leave the examination hall before the expiry of half of the time allotted for the respective paper.
- For Objective Type question papers, rough work is to be done in the space provided for this purpose. No rough work is allowed on the OMR Answer Sheet under any situation.
- Questions have to be answered on the answer sheet only.
- Copying, use of unfair means of any kind, talking, asking questions from other candidates or borrowing of material inside the Test Centre is strictly prohibited.
- The candidates are to return their OMR answer sheets and the question paper in full to the Centre Superintendent. Tearing or taking away of the question paper is not allowed failing which the candidates shall be disqualified from the entire Entrance Test.
- Smoking is not allowed.
- Misbehaviour of any kind can lead to the expulsion of the candidate.
- Caught copying helping in copying will mean cancellation of the answer sheet / cancellation of the candidature.
- Marking the answer sheet or question paper in any way will also lead to the cancellation of the exam for that candidate.
Engineering Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 Results
| Result Declaration | 26/02/2026 |
|---|
| Result URL | Check your result here |
|---|
Related Notifications View All
Loading...
