CAPF Assistant Commandant 2027: Dates, Notification and Apply

The CAPF assistant commandant exam is UPSC’s once-a-year written test for Group A officers in five Central Armed Police Forces. For 2027 the Commission has already printed three dates, taken from the annual calendar released on 20 May 2026:

• notification on 17 February 2027;
• last date to apply on 9 March 2027;
• written exam on 4 July 2027, a Sunday.

The calendar itself says those dates can still be moved.

The mix-up this September is simple. CAPF (ACs) 2026 has already been written, on 19 July 2026. Searching for an open 2026 form will not reopen it. This note keeps 2027 and 2026 apart, names the five forces that actually recruit through this exam and shows how apply, PET and medical actually run, without rewriting the paper pattern.

CAPF Assistant Commandant 2027 Dates at a Glance

The CAPF assistant commandant cycle for 2027 is a one-day written exam on 4 July 2027. The notification is due on 17 February 2027. The last date on the calendar is 9 March 2027. Vacancies, the exact closing time and the 1 August age cut-off will sit in that February notice, not in the calendar.

Paper I and Paper II, marks and the syllabus heads are on the CAPF syllabus note. The seven-force map, including the two that do not hire through this exam, is on the Central Armed Police Forces hub.

When Is the CAPF AC 2027 Notification?

The 2027 notification date on the calendar is 17 February 2027. That is a calendar date, not a live notice. As of September 2026, UPSC has not issued the 2027 advertisement, and it should not be treated as if the form is open.

The 2027 examination calendar (PDF, English, as on 20 May 2026) is the date authority for this page. Its last line is the one people skip: dates of notification, commencement and duration are liable to alteration if the circumstances so warrant. Plan around 4 July 2027. Do not print hall-ticket assumptions from a May 2026 PDF.

Two other calendar rows sit next to this exam and get mixed into the same search.

• CISF AC(EXE) LDCE-2027 is a limited departmental exam, notification 25.11.2026, last date 15.12.2026, paper on 14 March 2027. It is not the open CAPF AC graduate entry.
• CAPF (ACs) 2026 was a different year: notice on 20 February 2026, last date 12 March 2026 at 18:00, written test on 19 July 2026. The 2026 written result PDF was uploaded on 25 August 2026. That cycle is not the 2027 form.

If a coaching page still titles itself ‘CAPF AC 2026 apply’, close it. The year in the exam’s name is the year of the written paper, not the year you started preparing.

How Do You Apply for CAPF Assistant Commandant?

Apply only on the UPSC Online Application Portal. No other mode is allowed. The 2026 notice is the live working model until the 17 February 2027 notice says otherwise. It is wise to treat the February PDF as the document that can still change a centre or a closing time, and to treat everything below as last year’s process.

The portal has four cards. Three can be filled any time. The fourth opens only while that year’s notice is live.

1. Account Creation. Use a valid email and mobile. UPSC emails from @nic.in and @gov.in addresses, so keep those out of spam.
2. Universal Registration. This produces a Universal Registration Number (URN) that is meant to be registered once. Keep the URN for every later UPSC exam.
3. Common Application Form (CAF). Upload a photograph, capture a live photograph and upload three signatures one below the other on plain white paper in black ink. The 2026 notice strongly advised Aadhaar for verification.
4. Examination Specific module. This is the CAPF AC card, open only between notification and the last date. Force preference is chosen here and is not edited later.

The photo ID stored in the URN profile is the one you carry to the hall. In 2026 that ID had to be one of:

• Aadhaar Card;
• Voter Card (EPIC);
• PAN Card;
• Passport;
• Driving License;
• any other photo ID issued by the State or Central Government.

Once the CAPF application is submitted, it cannot be withdrawn, and fields cannot be edited. A one-time URN profile edit does not rewrite an application you have already sent. Incomplete or defective applications are rejected with no correspondence.

The 2026 fee was Rs 200. All female candidates and SC/ST candidates paid nothing. OBC and EWS candidates paid the full fee. Fee once paid was not refunded and could not be parked for another exam. Payment had to be one of:

• net banking of any bank;
• Visa, Master or RuPay credit or debit card;
• UPI.

Any other fee mode was treated as no fee.

Eligibility in 2026, which 2027 should reprint in its own words:

• Nationality. Indian citizens. Subjects of Nepal or Bhutan only with the Central Government’s written consent.
• Sex. Male and female candidates are both eligible for Assistant Commandant.
• Age. 20 years attained and 25 years not attained on 1 August 2026. Relaxations were 5 years for SC/ST, 3 years for OBC (with reservation) and 5 years for Civilian Central Government Servants or ex-servicemen, with government-service relaxation capped at 5 years. Cumulative relaxation applied where both a reserved category and government service applied. The 2027 notice will print a fresh 1 August 2027 window. Do not reuse the 2001 to 2006 birth dates.
• Education. A Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university, or an equivalent qualification. Candidates who had appeared, or intended to appear, in the qualifying exam in 2026 could still sit the written test, then had to upload proof of passing in a 15-day window after the written result. Appearing is not the same as skipping the degree certificate later.
• Re-appearance. A candidate finally selected as Assistant Commandant through an earlier CAPF (ACs) exam cannot sit a later one for the participating forces.
• NCC. An NCC ‘B’ or ‘C’ certificate is desirable only at the interview. It is not an entry ticket.

Force allocation is merit plus the preference order you type in the form. Both men and women fill the same preference list. Pick it as if it will not be edited, because it will not.

Government servants apply direct to the Commission and must tell their Head of Office in writing. If the employer writes to UPSC withholding permission, the application can be cancelled.

e-Admit cards in 2026 went up on the portal on the last working day of the week before the exam. Nothing came by post or email. Reporting was at least 30 minutes before each session, with mandatory face authentication and no late entry.

Which Forces Does CAPF AC Recruit For?

UPSC’s CAPF (ACs) exam recruits Assistant Commandants for five forces, not seven. The 2026 notice named them in this order:

• Border Security Force
• Central Reserve Police Force
• Central Industrial Security Force
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police
• Sashastra Seema Bal

The Ministry of Home Affairs lists seven Central Armed Police Forces on its CAPF page. The extra two are real CAPFs. They are not filled by this UPSC form.

Assam Rifles is the oldest of the seven and is listed by MHA with the others. Its officer intake is not this exam. The National Security Guard is the counter-terror force on the same MHA list; it takes personnel on deputation, not from a UPSC CAPF AC merit list. The Railway Protection Force is a central armed force people still file under ‘CAPF’ in conversation. It is a Railways force. Putting RPF on a CAPF AC preference list is not a choice the form offers.

So three names get dropped into the same search as ‘capf assistant commandant’ and none of them is a 2027 vacancy on this paper: Assam Rifles, NSG and RPF. Keep the MHA list of seven for GS notes. Keep the UPSC list of five for the application.

What Happens After the Written Test?

Before the PET numbers, I want to make sure the order is clear, because most explainers reverse medical and interview. The 2026 notice is: written first, PST/PET next, interview after PET, medical after the interview. Medical is not a gate before the UPSC board. A candidate who skips the interview is not sent to the hospital stage.

Paper I is objective, 250 marks, 2 hours. Paper II is conventional, 200 marks, 3 hours. Paper I is evaluated first; Paper II is read only if Paper I meets the Commission’s minimum. Wrong answers in the objective paper carry a penalty of one-third of the marks assigned to that question. The detailed paper split stays on the syllabus note. This page will not retell it.

Candidates who clear the written test are summoned for Physical Standards Tests and, if they meet the standards, the Physical Efficiency Test. PET is qualifying. It does not add marks to the merit list. In 2026 the events were:

A long jump that touches the starting or finishing line of the prescribed distance is a fail. Minimum height in 2026 was 165 cm for men and 157 cm for women. Men’s chest had to be 81 cm unexpanded with 5 cm expansion. Minimum weight was 50 kg for men and 46 kg for women, then the height-age chart. Height and chest are measured to one decimal. 164.9 cm against a 165 cm minimum is a disqualification, not a rounding discussion.

Before PST/PET, a woman candidate files a pregnancy self-declaration. If she is pregnant she is declared temporarily unfit, the vacancy is kept, and she is re-tested six weeks after confinement with a fitness certificate. Pregnancy is not a bar on attending the interview on the Commission’s schedule. Missing that interview cancels the candidature.

The Interview/Personality Test is 150 marks, conducted by UPSC, and only for candidates who qualify PST/PET. NCC certificates are weighed here, not at the written stage. Medical Standards Tests (Detailed Medical Examination, then Review Medical Examination if needed) run only for those who have appeared in the interview. An appeal against DME had to be made to the MHA appellate authority within 24 hours of the DME result. Unfit after medical means no appointment, even with a high written-plus-interview total.

Merit is written marks plus interview marks. PST, PET and medical are pass/fail. Tie-break in 2026 went: higher written total, then higher Paper I, then older candidate, then the Commission’s discretion.

Pay in the 2026 Rules was Level 10, Rs 56,100 to 1,77,500, for Assistant Commandant (junior scale). That figure is from the MHA Gazette of 20 February 2026. The 2027 Rules will confirm or replace it.

How Does 2027 Differ From CAPF AC 2026?

The two years share a name and a Commission. They do not share a form, a vacancy table or a hall ticket. CAPF (ACs) 2026 is the cycle that has already been written. CAPF (ACs) 2027 is the cycle on the calendar.

The 2026 examination notice is useful as a template for the papers, the PET, the fee and the four portal modules. It is not a 2027 vacancy list. The 349 figure was already marked liable to alteration in 2026. Inventing a 2027 total from that row is how bad PDFs get made.

What should not change unless the 2027 Rules say so:

• five participating forces;
• a one-day written test;
• PET as a qualifying filter;
• interview at 150 marks;
• medical after the board;
• online-only applications.

What must wait for 17 February 2027:

• the vacancy split across BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB;
• the exact last-date clock time;
• the printed 1 August 2027 date-of-birth window;
• centre list, helpdesk hours and any change to PET events.

Use the calendar to block July 2027. Use the February notice to press submit. That is the whole working distinction.

Frequently Asked Questions

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