Age Limits and Age Relaxation for Government Jobs

Unless the advertisement says otherwise, your age is your age on the closing date for applications - not on the day you apply or the day of the test. For PPSC's competitive and combined competitive examinations it is reckoned on 1 January of the year the examination is held instead.

Your date of birth is taken from your matriculation certificate. At PPSC, if your O-level or equivalent certificate does not show a date of birth, a school leaving certificate or your CNIC is used.

Subtract your date of birth from the closing date - years, months and days. PPSC adds one day to the result, on the reasoning that a child born on 1 January is one year old on 31 December. Its own example:

• Closing date: 7 February 1998
• Date of birth: 15 August 1970
• Age on the closing date: 27 years, 5 months and 24 days

Then compare that with the post's limits. At PPSC a candidate underage or overage by even one day is not eligible.

Relaxation raises the upper age limit for some candidates. It applies only where the advertisement or the relevant rules provide it, and only to the extent they state. Examples from PPSC's published rules:

• When the department grants it, PPSC applies a general relaxation of the upper age limit of 5 years for men and 8 years for women, and it appears in the advertisement.
• For officials serving the Punjab Government - and federal government officials domiciled in Punjab - with at least four years' service, the upper age limit is 35 years.
• Continuous service on contract or ad-hoc basis under the Punjab Government is deducted from the candidate's age, with conditions set out by PPSC.
• Service in semi-government bodies and local bodies does not earn this concession at PPSC.

Other commissions have their own rules. FPSC's online form has an age-relaxation entry for candidates to claim one; the categories and the years allowed are those set out in the advertisement and FPSC's instructions.

1. Note the closing date and the post's lower and upper age limits.
2. Work out your age on the closing date from your matriculation certificate.
3. If you are over the limit, look for a relaxation that names your situation in the advertisement - and the document that proves it.
4. If none applies, do not apply: the fee is not refunded.

Rules differ between commissions, departments and testing services, and they are revised. The advertisement for the post and the instructions of the body running the recruitment are always final - where they and this guide differ, follow them.