UPSC Exams 2026–27: Civil Services, CAPF, NDA and CDS Compared, with the 2027 Calendar and Preparation

UPSC at a glance

The Union Public Service Commission is the Commission for the Union under Article 315 of the Constitution of India. UPSC's own page on its constitutional provisions lists Articles 315 to 323. Together they say how the Commission is formed, how its members serve and what it does.

Each exam runs under rules notified by the ministry whose posts it fills: the Department of Personnel and Training for CSE, the Ministry of Home Affairs for CAPF, and the Ministry of Defence for NDA & NA and CDS. All four use one application portal, upsconline.nic.in, and one Universal Registration Number (URN), registered once in a lifetime for all the Commission's exams.

On GK24, Civil Services and CAPF (AC) sit under UPSC. NDA & NA and CDS, also conducted by UPSC, lead to the armed forces and sit under Defence. The figures below are from each exam's latest notice: CSE 2026, CAPF (ACs) 2026, NDA & NA (II) 2026 and CDS (II) 2026.

UPSC's 2027 programme also lists exams GK24 does not cover, such as the Engineering Services and Combined Medical Services examinations. The Indian Forest Service Prelims is held through the Civil Services Prelims.

Which UPSC exam should you take?

Your qualification narrows the choice first. Then comes your age, and then the career you want. The table applies the 2026 notices.

• Civil services: CSE is the only one of the four that leads to the IAS, IFS and IPS. Its three stages take about a year, and it limits attempts: 6 for General and EWS candidates, 9 for OBC, and unlimited for SC and ST within the age limit.
• Armed police: CAPF (AC) recruits officers for the five Central Armed Police Forces and adds physical tests. A man needs a height of 165 cm and must run 100 metres in 16 seconds; a woman needs 157 cm and 18 seconds.
• Armed forces: NDA & NA takes candidates straight after school, and CDS takes graduates. Both are held twice a year. In both, the SSB interview carries as many marks as the written exam.

Women can sit all four, with limits. CAPF (AC) is open to men and women alike. In NDA & NA (II) 2026, 24 of the 394 vacancies were for women. In CDS, women apply only for OTA's SSC (Women) course, which had 18 vacancies in CDS (II) 2026.

GK24 guidance: the age bands overlap, so many graduates aged about 21 to 24 can sit CSE, CAPF and CDS in the same year. The 2027 dates do not clash: CDS (I) on 11 April, the CSE Prelims on 23 May, CAPF on 4 July and CDS (II) on 19 September. One general studies preparation serves all three written exams.

How UPSC exams are structured

The four exams differ in length, but the Commission runs them on the same lines. Every objective paper has four options per question. A wrong answer costs one-third of that question's marks, two marked answers count as wrong, and a blank costs nothing. Descriptive papers appear only in the CSE Mains and CAPF Paper-II. The personality stage is the Commission's own interview for CSE and CAPF, and the SSB of the armed forces' selection boards for NDA & NA and CDS.

The CSE Prelims marks are not counted in the final merit. The PST/PET and the medical tests are qualifying only. In every exam an application cannot be withdrawn or corrected once submitted, and representations on questions are taken online from the third day after the exam to 6:00 PM on the seventh day.

Language matters for Hindi-medium candidates. The objective general studies and general knowledge papers of all four exams are printed in Hindi as well as English. CSE Mains Papers I to VII may be answered in English or in any Eighth Schedule language. The CAPF essay may be written in Hindi, but the rest of its Paper-II is in English only.

UPSC exam calendar 2027

UPSC's Programme of Examinations 2027, as on 20 May 2026, gives these dates for the four exams. The programme says the dates are liable to alteration if circumstances so warrant.

NDA & NA and CDS share a notice, a last date and an exam day in each half of the year. The Civil Services Mains follows the Prelims result. Of the two exams GK24 lists under UPSC, the next is the CSE Prelims on 23 May 2027.

Where the 2026 cycle stands

As on 29 October 2026, going by the Commission's notices and press notes:

General Studies and current affairs in UPSC exams

Each notice gives its general knowledge syllabus in a few lines. Set side by side, the same six areas recur.

The CDS question counts are GK24's reading of the CDS (II) 2026 paper, not an official break-up. The NDA weightages are the notice's approximate figures.

What recurs, as GK24 reads the papers:

• CSE rarely asks current affairs as a bare fact. A Ramsar site, a scheme or a Supreme Court judgment in the news becomes a question on geography, polity, the economy or environment.
• Polity and modern history carry weight in every paper, from the CSE Prelims to CDS.
• Science decides NDA. Physics, Chemistry and General Science carry about half of Part B.
• Security and human rights appear in both CAPF papers.

How GK24 maps to it (GK24 guidance):

GK24 does not cover CSAT, Mathematics, English or the CSE optional subjects. Plan those separately.

How to prepare for UPSC exams with GK24

This plan is GK24 guidance, not part of any notice. It assumes two to three hours a day for general studies.

Add what your exam alone needs:

• CSE: an hour a week of CSAT, because 33% in Paper-II is compulsory; Mains answer writing once the Prelims base is in place.
• CAPF (AC): one 300-word essay, one for-and-against answer and one précis every week; running practice for the PET.
• NDA & NA: Mathematics most days, since it carries 300 marks; Physics numericals; English for Part A.
• CDS: English for every academy and Elementary Mathematics for IMA, INA and AFA; SSB preparation alongside.

Work back from your exam date. From 24 September 2026, NDA & NA (I) and CDS (I) on 11 April 2027 are about 28 weeks away. The CSE Prelims on 23 May 2027 are about 34 weeks away, and CAPF on 4 July 2027 about 40. Cover at least 12 months of current affairs for CSE and CAPF, and 6 to 10 months for NDA and CDS.