List of Services Under UPSC CSE: IAS, IPS, IFS & More
Updated 14 August 2026
One examination, twenty-three careers. The official Civil Services Examination 2026 notification lists exactly 23 services, and the list has been rationalised in recent years — several railway services were merged, others dropped out — so plenty of lists floating around online are simply outdated. Here is the current, verified position, and more importantly, how your rank actually converts into a service.
Three Tiers: All India Services, Group A, Group B
All India Services — IAS, IPS and the Indian Forest Service — are constituted under Article 312 of the Constitution. Officers are allotted a state cadre and serve both the state and the Union through their careers. Central Civil Services, Group A officers serve the Union government in a specific department — diplomacy, tax, audit, railways, defence accounts and so on. The Indian Foreign Service, despite its prestige, is technically a Central Service, not an All India Service. Group B services are Union Territory and secretariat services; entry grades are a step below Group A, though promotion can later take officers into the corresponding higher services.
The Current Service List (CSE 2026 Notification)
All India Services recruited through CSE
- Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
- Indian Police Service (IPS)
The third All India Service — the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) — is recruited through a separate examination (details below).
Central Civil Services, Group A
| Service | Where you serve |
|---|---|
| Indian Foreign Service (IFS) | Ministry of External Affairs; missions abroad |
| Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) | Office of the CAG of India |
| Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) | Union government accounts, Ministry of Finance |
| Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) | Ministry of Corporate Affairs |
| Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) | Defence accounts and audit |
| Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) | Cantonments and defence land |
| Indian Information Service (IIS) | Government media units (PIB, DD, AIR) |
| Indian Postal Service (IPoS) | India Post |
| Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service | P&T finance and accounts |
| Indian Railway Management Service (Traffic) | Indian Railways — operations and commercial |
| Indian Railway Management Service (Personnel) | Indian Railways — HR |
| Indian Railway Management Service (Accounts) | Indian Railways — finance |
| Indian Railway Protection Force Service | RPF — railway security |
| Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) | CBIC — GST and customs |
| Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) | CBDT — direct taxes |
| Indian Trade Service, Grade III | DGFT, Ministry of Commerce |
Group B services
- Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade)
- DANICS — Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service
- DANIPS — the corresponding Police Service
- Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS)
- Pondicherry Police Service (PONDIPS)
Note the rationalisation: the old Railway Traffic, Personnel and Accounts services were merged into the Indian Railway Management Service, which now appears as three sub-cadres in the CSE list, while IRMS (Technical) posts are filled through the Engineering Services Examination. Services such as the Indian Ordnance Factories Service no longer appear at all.
How Service Allocation Actually Works
Your final rank is built on 2,025 marks — 1,750 from the written Mains and 275 from the Personality Test. Allocation then runs on four inputs: rank, your service preferences, your category, and the vacancies reported by each service that year. Three rules from the notification deserve attention:
- You must mark preferences only for services you actually want; if you mark none, you are simply not considered for allocation.
- Preferences cannot be changed once submitted, so order them after real thought — a casually listed service can become your career.
- Candidates preferring IAS or IPS also indicate a home-cadre preference; final cadre allotment is done by DoPT under its Cadre Allocation Policy (track cseplus.nic.in).
Vacancies move every year. CSE 2025 reported 1,087 vacancies — IAS 180, IFS 55, IPS 150, Group A 507, Group B 195 — while the 2026 notification projects roughly 933. Always confirm the current year's figure at upsc.gov.in. One restriction worth knowing: a serving IAS or IFS officer recruited through an earlier attempt cannot appear again while remaining in that service.
Pay at Entry
All Group A services, IAS included, begin at Level 10 of the 7th CPC pay matrix — ₹56,100 basic in the Junior Time Scale, plus DA, HRA and other allowances. The 8th Pay Commission has been announced, so revised scales are awaited.
Indian Forest Service: Same Prelims, Separate Exam
Since 2013, IFoS aspirants sit the same Prelims as CSE candidates — you opt for one or both exams in the common application. But from there the paths split: UPSC declares a separate shortlist for the IFoS Main Examination, which has its own pattern built around two optional subjects (with science and engineering leanings), followed by a separate interview and merit list. If forests, wildlife and field postings appeal to you, treat IFoS as a deliberate second track from day one, not an afterthought.
