All Services Through UPSC CSE: Group A and B, With Starting Pay

The Civil Services Examination is one exam for 23 services. The CSE 2026 notice lists them in this order: the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service first, then 15 Group A services, then 5 Group B services. Your final rank and the order in which you list the services in your application decide which one you are given.

This guide is the overview: what the groups mean, where each service's pay starts, how many posts there were and how allocation works. For what each service does and where its officers train, read the deep dive on services beyond the IAS and IPS.

Three kinds of service

• All India Services. Article 312 of the Constitution lets Parliament, after a resolution of the Council of States, create services common to the Union and the states, and it treats the IAS and the IPS as services created under it. The All India Services Act, 1951 defines an All India Service as the IAS, the IPS or a service named in its section 2A. DoPT's 2026 cadre allocation policy covers three: the IAS, the IPS and the Indian Forest Service, which has its own exam. IAS and IPS officers belong to a state cadre, and the CSE Rules 2026 make them liable to serve anywhere in India or abroad, under the Central or a State Government.
• Central Group A services. These belong to the Union. The Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 divide the Union's civil services into Groups A, B, C and D, and appointments to Group A are made by the President. Those rules also list the Indian Foreign Service as a Group A service, although the CSE notice prints it next to the IAS and IPS without a group.
• Group B services. Five services for the Armed Forces Headquarters, Delhi and the Union Territories, and Puducherry. The same rules allow different grades of one service to sit in different groups, and the CSE Rules 2026 show this: the entry grade of DANICS, DANIPS and PONDIPS is Group B and their higher grades are Group A, while in the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service the Section Officer post is Group B and Deputy Director and above are Group A.

Every service and where its pay starts

Appendix II of the CSE Rules 2026 prints a pay table for each service. Every service in the first two parts of the list starts at Level 10. The Group B services start at Level 8 and move to Level 10 after four years: of approved service in four of them, and on meeting a four-year residence requirement in the Pondicherry Civil Service. How far each table goes differs from service to service.

These are basic pay figures. Dearness allowance and other allowances are paid on top and change over time, so we don't quote an in-hand salary. The IAS salary guide explains how basic pay grows within a level and on promotion.

How many posts each service had

The Government reports the vacancies for each service with UPSC's final result. For CSE 2025 they were:

The IAS figure has been steady: the Ministry of Personnel told Parliament in March 2026 that 180 candidates have been recruited to the IAS in every CSE year since 2012. For CSE 2026 the notice expected about 933 vacancies and said the number could change once the cadre controlling authorities confirmed it; UPSC's note on the prelims result of 18 June 2026 gives 1,016.

What each service does

Each card below names the ministry or body that runs the service and where its officers train, wherever an official page states it. The other services guide covers them in more depth, and the Group B services have a guide of their own.

How allocation works

1. You choose in advance. The application form asks you to list, in order, only the services you would accept. If you list none, you are not considered for any. The order cannot be changed after you submit it, with one exception the notice ties to the window after the mains result.
2. UPSC ranks, the Government allocates. UPSC ranks candidates on the written and interview marks together and recommends them. The CSE Rules 2026 then say the recommended candidates "shall be allocated services by the Government", keeping in view their ranks and the preferences they expressed.
3. Reserved categories can move up the list. SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwBD candidates recommended on general merit may be adjusted against reserved vacancies if that gets them a service higher in their order of preference.
4. Lists come out in rounds. DoPT posts the service allocation lists on its CSE-Plus portal in iterations. For CSE 2024 there have been five so far, the first on 5 August 2025 and the fifth on 2 July 2026.
5. Selection is not yet appointment. The Rules give no right to a service until the Government is satisfied about your character and antecedents, your certificates and your medical examination.
6. IAS and IPS add a cadre. If you are allotted either, you are also allotted a state cadre under the policy in force; see cadre allocation.

Before you fill in your order of services, read the guide to service preference, and for the two most-listed comparisons, IAS vs IPS and IAS vs IFS.