The age limit for candidates belonging to the general category for IPS is 21 to 32 years old, and in short, this becomes the deciding factor for lakhs of aspirants regarding whether or not they can appear for the examination every year.

This age range exists because recruitment into the Indian Police Service is not done separately from other services. 

This particular service is recruited via the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Hence, the age limit applicable for IPS is the same age limit that applies for IAS, IFS, and other central services as well.

The age limit is also calculated based on the reference date that is used by UPSC. Further, as IPS is a physically demanding role, height and fitness requirements for IPS also exist.

IPS Age Limit 2026

The above values have been taken from the notification regarding the UPSC Civil Services Examination and have been calculated as of 1st August 2026, the fixed reference date for the exam in 2026.

Category	Minimum Age	Maximum Age	Number of Attempts
General / EWS	21 years	32 years	6
OBC	21 years	35 years	9
SC / ST	21 years	37 years	Unlimited, till age limit
General / EWS PwBD	21 years	42 years	9
OBC PwBD	21 years	45 years	9
SC / ST PwBD	21 years	47 years	Unlimited, till age limit

All of the above ceilings will be evaluated on the same day of the year, which is 1st August of the year in which the exam is conducted.

How Does UPSC Calculate Age?

Age is not considered based on the age of the candidate on the date of applying to UPSC as well as the date of writing the examination.

The cut-off date for the 2026 exam cycle is 1st August 2026. A general category candidate must be 21 years old and should not have completed 32 years on this date.

Practically, a candidate from the general category must have his/her date of birth between 2nd August 1994 and 1st August 2005. Anything beyond this period will make your online form disapproved automatically.

Category-Wise Age Relaxation

This category-wise age relaxation is for OBC, SC, ST, and physically handicapped candidates.

OBC Candidates

If OBC candidates are under the non-creamy layer, then they receive direct benefit of 3 years relaxation over the general age limit. This takes the upper limit from 32 to 35 years for them, and they get 9 attempts instead of 6.

SC and ST Candidates

The SC and ST candidates get a 5-year relaxation period; therefore, the maximum age becomes 37 years. Moreover, UPSC also removes the attempt limit for the candidates belonging to this category. 

This means an SC/ST candidate can continue appearing in the exam every year till he turns 37 years old.

Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD)

Benchmark Disability candidates are eligible for a 10-year relaxation period, which further adds to the existing relaxation period based on the social category of the candidate.

This is the reason why the numbers for PwBD are greater than the sum: General PwBD becomes 42 years (32 + 10), OBC PwBD becomes 45 years (32 + 3 + 10), and SC/ST PwBD becomes 47 years (32 + 5 + 10), with no attempt limitation.

Age Relaxation for Defence Personnel and Ex-Servicemen

Defence service and ex-defence personnel are eligible for an independent set of concessions apart from the social group concessions mentioned above, and these can even be clubbed with OBC or SC/ST concessions wherever applicable.

Group	Relaxation	Key Condition
Defence personnel disabled in operations	3 years	Disabled during hostilities with a foreign country or in a disturbed area, later released
Ex-servicemen, including ECOs and SSCOs	5 years	Minimum 5 years of military service as on 1st August 2026
Candidates domiciled in J&K, 1980 to 1989	5 years	Applies on top of the candidate’s regular category limit

An ex-serviceman who also belongs to the OBC category does not have to choose between the two benefits. The relaxations add up, so an OBC ex-serviceman can go as high as 40 years before the door closes.

IPS Physical Eligibility: Height, Chest and Fitness

However, age is just one part of the story where IPS is concerned. While IAS does not require anything apart from an ordinary medical test, IPS is a technical function that comes under the category of UPSC, and hence, has definite physical requirements.

Parameter	Male	Female
Minimum height, General / OBC / SC	165 cm	150 cm
Minimum height, ST and specified hill races	160 cm	145 cm
Minimum chest girth, fully expanded	84 cm	79 cm
Required chest expansion	5 cm	5 cm

UPSC requires 6/6 or 6/9 vision for the better eye and 6/12 or 6/9 vision for the weaker eye for distance vision, along with J1 and J2 for near vision. 

All candidates who are color blind, suffering from night blindness, or having a squint will be rejected during the medical test.

Educational Qualification For IPS

The requirement of qualifications is fairly simple and remains the same across all categories. The basic requirement for any person applying for the Civil Services Exam is that he should possess a graduate degree from a university that is recognised by UGC or its equivalent.

Those who are pursuing their final year degree course can take the preliminary exam but will need to have evidence of having cleared their degrees before appearing for the mains.

Conclusion

The IPS age limit will help you to know about your eligibility for the exam, so it is very important to know about your age limit along with relaxation in advance.

The physical standards of the candidate will include his height, chest size, and vision. The age and attempt criteria have not changed much in the last few years.

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