UPSC CAPF AC 2026: Notification, Vacancy, Syllabus, Cut Off, Result

UPSC CAPF AC (Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandants) Examination) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission to recruit for Assistant Commandant (Group A) in the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Sashastra Seema Bal. The CAPF AC 2026 notification declares 349 — BSF 108, CRPF 106, CISF 70, SSB 53 and ITBP 12. 10% of the total is earmarked for Ex-servicemen..

UPSC CAPF AC selection process

1. Written Examination (Paper-I objective, Paper-II descriptive)
2. Physical Standards Test, Physical Efficiency Test and Medical Standards Test
3. Interview / Personality Test

UPSC CAPF AC selection runs through the stages below, each of which must be cleared in sequence.

1. Written Examination (Paper-I objective, Paper-II descriptive)
2. Physical Standards Test, Physical Efficiency Test and Medical Standards Test
3. Interview / Personality Test

Exam pattern by stage

Document verification

UPSC verifies eligibility against original documents only after a candidate has qualified for the Interview or Personality Test. Until that point, admission to every stage is purely provisional — the issue of an e-Admit Card does not mean your candidature has been cleared. A candidate can therefore sit and clear a paper and still be found ineligible later.

Final merit

Merit is prepared from the marks that count for this examination, and posts are allotted by merit-cum-preference against the confirmed vacancies. Ties are broken by rules published by the Commission — typically the marks in the compulsory papers, and where those are equal, seniority in age.

UPSC CAPF AC exam pattern

Total marks

Written 450 marks (Paper-I 250 + Paper-II 200) + Interview 150 marks = 600 marks.

Negative marking

Yes — one third of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for each wrong answer in Paper-I. Paper-II is descriptive and carries no negative marking.

UPSC does not normalise marks

This is the single most common misconception carried over from SSC. UPSC conducts each paper in one sitting with one question paper, so there are no shifts to equate and no normalisation formula. A published UPSC cut off is a raw mark you could actually have scored on the paper — which is why the figures are clean numbers rather than five-decimal scores.

What is next for UPSC CAPF AC

The CAPF AC 2026 examination was held on 19 July 2026; the written result was declared on 25 August 2026, and qualified candidates were called for the Physical Standards Tests / Physical Efficiency Tests conducted by the nodal force, SSB, ahead of the Personality Test. The 2027 notification is due on 17 February 2027 for an examination on 4 July 2027.

CAPF AC Eligibility

UPSC CAPF AC eligibility requires the following. A Bachelor's degree from a university incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India, or an institution declared deemed university under the UGC Act 1956. Candidates awaiting their final year result may also apply, subject to producing proof before the Mains application. The age limit is 20 to 25 years as on 1 August 2026 — born between 2 August 2001 and 1 August 2006.

Educational qualification

A Bachelor's degree from a university incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India, or an institution declared deemed university under the UGC Act 1956. Candidates awaiting their final year result may also apply, subject to producing proof before the Mains application.

Age limit

20 to 25 years as on 1 August 2026 — born between 2 August 2001 and 1 August 2006.

Age relaxation

A candidate who belongs to SC, ST or OBC and is also a Civilian Central Government servant or Ex-serviceman is eligible for cumulative relaxation under both heads.

Number of attempts

No limit on attempts within the age window.

Nationality

A candidate must be a citizen of India, or fall within the other categories of nationality set out in the Examination Notice — which for most services include subjects of Nepal and Bhutan, Tibetan refugees who came to India before 1 January 1962, and persons of Indian origin who have migrated from certain countries with the intention of permanently settling in India.

CAPF AC Application Form

UPSC CAPF AC applications are submitted online at upsconline.nic.in. Since 2025 UPSC uses a four-module portal, and three of those modules can be completed before the notification is even published.

Important dates — CAPF AC 2026

Application fee

₹200. Female candidates and SC / ST candidates are exempted. No exemption for OBC or EWS.

The URN and the Common Application Form

UPSC issues every candidate a Universal Registration Number (URN), which is registered once in a lifetime and is common to every UPSC examination. The Application Number, by contrast, is generated per examination and changes each time. Keep both — UPSC asks for them in any future correspondence.

How to apply

1. Create an account on upsconline.nic.in.
2. Complete Universal Registration to generate your URN. This can be done at any time — you do not need to wait for a notification.
3. Fill the Common Application Form (CAF) with your personal details, qualification and category, and upload the supporting documents. A live photograph must be captured at this stage in addition to the uploaded photo.
4. Open the examination-specific module during the application window, choose your centre and options, pay the fee and submit.

UPSC advises using an Aadhaar card as the identity document, because it verifies automatically and avoids manual checks later.

Correcting your application

UPSC provides a one-time facility to update the URN profile. Changes made to the profile do not flow back into applications already submitted — they apply only to applications made after the profile is re-locked. This catches people out every cycle.

CAPF AC Vacancy

UPSC CAPF AC vacancies for CAPF AC 2026: 349 — BSF 108, CRPF 106, CISF 70, SSB 53 and ITBP 12. 10% of the total is earmarked for Ex-servicemen..

Posts covered

Assistant Commandant (Group A) in the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Sashastra Seema Bal.

Pay

Pay Level 10 of the 7th CPC Pay Matrix (₹56,100 basic), plus the allowances applicable to the force and posting.

How UPSC announces vacancies

UPSC publishes an approximate vacancy figure in the Examination Notice and states in the same paragraph that the number is liable to alteration. The final figure is settled once the cadre controlling authorities confirm their requirements, which is usually after the Main Examination. The number in the notice is therefore an indication, not a commitment.

Reservation

Vacancies are reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, the Economically Weaker Sections and Persons with Benchmark Disability as fixed by the Government. The notice sets out the category-wise break-up, including the sub-categories of disability against which each PwBD vacancy is identified.

CAPF AC Salary & Job Profile

UPSC CAPF AC posts carry Pay Level 10 of the 7th CPC Pay Matrix (₹56,100 basic), plus the allowances applicable to the force and posting, plus Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance and Transport Allowance.

Posts and pay

Assistant Commandant (Group A) in the Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Sashastra Seema Bal.

Allowances

Because HRA and Transport Allowance are city-linked, two officers on identical basic pay take home noticeably different amounts — a metro posting pays more in allowances than a district posting, though the district posting usually comes with official accommodation and a vehicle.

Career progression

Promotion follows time scales fixed for the service, moving through Junior Time Scale, Senior Time Scale, Junior Administrative Grade, Selection Grade and above. The pay matrix levels rather than the entry salary are what make these posts competitive over a career.