UPSC ESE Exam Date 2027 – Prelims on 31 January, Mains on 18 June (480 Vacancies)

Name of Update: UPSC ESE Exam Date 2027 (Engineering Services Examination, 2027)

Brief Information: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has published Notice No. 02/2027-ENGG. for the Engineering Services Examination (ESE), 2027. The Prelims (Stage-I) will be held on 31 January 2027 (Sunday) and the Main (Stage-II) exam on 18 June 2027. The notification invites applications for approximately 480 vacancies in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. If you are an engineering graduate looking for central government jobs, keep checking our latest jobs portal for regular updates. The online application window ran from 16 September 2026 to 6 October 2026 (6:00 PM) and is now closed.

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UPSC ESE Prelims Negative Marking

• Each question has four options.
• For every wrong answer, one-third (1/3) of the marks assigned to that question is deducted.
• Marking more than one answer is treated as a wrong answer, even if one of the answers is correct.
• There is no penalty for a question left blank.

The Prelims marks of candidates who qualify for the Main exam are counted in the final merit.

Calculator Rule

Battery-operated pocket calculators are permitted only for the conventional (Main) papers. They are not allowed in the objective-type Prelims papers.

Engineering Categories and Services

A candidate can apply for only one of the four categories. The notification lists the following examples of participating services/posts:

• Category I – Civil Engineering: Central Engineering Service, Central Engineering Service (Roads), Survey of India Group A, Central Water Engineering Service, Indian Defence Service of Engineers, Indian Railway Management Service (Civil).
• Category II – Mechanical Engineering: Central Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Service, Indian Naval Armament Service, Central Power Engineering Service, Indian Railway Management Service (Mechanical).
• Category III – Electrical Engineering: Central Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Service (Electrical), Indian Naval Material Management Service, Central Power Engineering Service, Indian Railway Management Service (Electrical).
• Category IV – Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering: Indian Telecommunications Service Group A, Indian Radio Regulatory Service Group A, Junior Telecom Officer Group B, Indian Railway Management Service (Signal and Telecommunication).

The category-wise and reservation-wise vacancy split is not given in the notification. Reservations apply for SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwBD candidates as fixed by the Government of India. Candidates are allotted services strictly by merit rank, their service preferences and the number of vacancies, subject to medical fitness.

UPSC ESE 2027 Syllabus Overview

Paper I (General Studies and Engineering Aptitude) is common to all candidates. It covers ten topic areas, and each topic carries roughly 5% to 15% of the paper:

• Current issues of national and international importance
• Engineering aptitude: logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Engineering mathematics and numerical analysis
• Design, drawing and safety principles
• Standards and quality practices
• Energy, environment and climate change
• Basics of project management
• Basics of material science and engineering
• ICT tools and applications in engineering
• Ethics and values in the engineering profession

Paper II of the Prelims covers the combined syllabus of Paper I and Paper II of the candidate’s chosen discipline. The detailed discipline-wise syllabus is in Section III of the official notification.

Important Instructions for the Exam Day

• Carry the e-Admit Card and the same photo ID entered in the URN profile (Aadhaar, Voter ID, PAN, Passport, Driving Licence or another government-issued photo ID).
• Reach the venue early for face authentication, identity verification and frisking. Entry closes 30 minutes before each session.
• Use a black ball pen only to write and mark answers on the OMR sheet. Pencil, ink pens and other colours are not permitted.
• Errors in the Roll Number or Test Booklet Series Code on the OMR sheet can lead to rejection of the answer sheet.
• Mobile phones, smart watches, AI-enabled glasses, Bluetooth devices, pen drives and similar devices are banned, even in switched-off mode. No safe-keeping arrangement is made at the venue.
• Do not carry a calculator into the Prelims exam hall.
• Candidature at all stages is provisional until UPSC verifies eligibility against original documents after the candidate qualifies for the Personality Test.

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UPSC ESE Exam Date 2027 FAQs