Engineering Services Examination (ESE)

Quick answer: The Engineering Services Examination (ESE), also called the Indian Engineering Services (IES) exam, is conducted by UPSC in three stages — Prelims, Mains and a Personality Test — to recruit engineers into Group A services of the Government of India. It is open to engineering graduates, generally aged 21–30 years (with category-based relaxations).

What is the ESE / IES exam?

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the ESE every year to recruit officers for the Indian Engineering Services across four disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. Selected candidates serve in engineering cadres of departments such as Railways, CPWD, Telecom and Defence.

Eligibility criteria

• Education: a Bachelor's degree in Engineering (or equivalent) from a recognised university.
• Age: generally 21–30 years, with relaxations for reserved categories as per UPSC rules.
• Nationality: Indian citizens (and certain other categories as notified by UPSC).

Exam pattern: three stages

Stage 1 — Preliminary examination (objective)

• Paper I: General Studies and Engineering Aptitude — current events, polity, economic and social development, environment, general science and engineering aptitude.
• Paper II: your chosen engineering discipline (Civil / Mechanical / Electrical / E&T).

Stage 2 — Main examination (conventional/descriptive)

Two descriptive papers on your chosen engineering discipline, totalling 600 marks. Only candidates who clear Prelims can appear.

Stage 3 — Personality Test

An interview of 200 marks. The final merit list is based on the combined marks of Prelims, Mains and the Personality Test.

Why aspirants choose ESE

ESE is regarded as one of the toughest engineering examinations in India because of its multi-stage format and depth of the technical syllabus. In return, it offers a prestigious Group A officer career with nationwide postings and public-sector responsibility.

Preparation pointers

• Master your discipline's core subjects first — both Prelims Paper II and the Mains papers draw from the same syllabus.
• Practise previous year papers to learn UPSC's question style and difficulty.
• Keep a steady current-affairs routine for GS Paper I.
• For descriptive Mains papers, practise writing full solutions, not just final answers.

For daily current affairs, topic-wise practice and mock tests, you can use the free resources on Pareeksha.