Karnataka Police Constable 2026: Two Drives, Exams on 6 and 20 September

Karnataka State Police is running two separate Constable-level recruitment drives this cycle, and both exams land within two weeks of each other: Armed Police Civil/DIAR on 6 September, and KSRP/KSISF/IRB on 20 September. Between them that's 3,914 vacancies. If you applied to either, or both, here's what's actually different between them and how to use the next few weeks.

The Two Drives, Side by Side

Detail	Armed Police Civil/DIAR	KSRP / KSISF / IRB
Vacancies	1,600	2,314 (KSRP 1,455 + KSISF 364 + IRB 161)
Applications closed	22 July 2026	10 August 2026
Exam date	6 September 2026	20 September 2026
Pay scale	₹37,500–₹76,100	₹37,500–₹76,100
Qualification	PUC (12th) or equivalent	2nd PUC (12th) or equivalent

Same pay scale, same broad qualification bar, but different age windows and different downstream postings, which is where the real distinction between the two lies.

Age Limits Aren't the Same

Armed Police Civil/DIAR runs a base window of 18 to 38, with the effective ceiling by category laid out as: General up to 33, SC/ST/OBC up to 35, Forest Tribal candidates up to 38. KSRP/KSISF/IRB is tighter at 18 to 33, with a flat +5 year relaxation for SC/ST and for candidates from Karnataka's forest-resident communities. If you're on the older end of eligibility, check your specific category's ceiling against both drives before assuming you clear either one.

What the Postings Are Really Like

KSRP, KSISF, and IRB are all armed reserve and special force units, generally posted in battalion-style formations rather than local police stations, and the work leans toward law-and-order deployment, VIP security, and reserve duties across the state. Armed Police Civil/DIAR (the "Shastra" Police Constable stream) sits closer to conventional armed police postings tied to district units. Neither is a desk job, and both carry physical deployment expectations well beyond a typical Constable posting, so if you're weighing which to prioritize, think about which kind of posting you'd rather have rather than just going by whichever exam comes first.

Selection Process

Stage	Armed Police Civil/DIAR	KSRP / KSISF / IRB
1	Common Entrance Test (CET): General Studies, Mathematics, Reasoning	Written Exam: General Knowledge, Reasoning, Mathematics
2	Physical Endurance Test (PET)	Physical Endurance Test (PET)
3	Document Verification	Skill Test, which may include an interview or practical assessment

The written papers cover largely overlapping ground, so studying for one genuinely helps with the other if you've applied to both. The real fork is at Stage 3: KSRP/KSISF/IRB adds a skill or practical assessment beyond document verification, which Armed Police Civil/DIAR doesn't appear to require.

Countdown: 11 Days and 25 Days

Armed Police Civil/DIAR's written exam is 11 days out from now, KSRP/KSISF/IRB's is 25. If you're targeting both, don't split your written prep evenly; put the bulk of your remaining subject revision toward 6 September first, since that clock runs out sooner, then use the gap between the two exams to shift into PET-specific training and, for KSRP/KSISF/IRB, prep for whatever skill assessment your specific stream requires. Physical training deserves to start now regardless of which exam you're closer to. PET is where most Karnataka police recruitments lose candidates, not the written paper, and fitness built over weeks doesn't compress into the final few days.

For more on why PET tends to be the real bottleneck in state police recruitment, see our Telangana Police TSLPRB guide. For other current openings in the state, browse our Karnataka jobs hub or the Police Jobs hub.