UPSC & Civil Services · Government Exams

UPSC IFoS Exam Pattern

Every figure here is from the 2026 notification and the 2025 cut-off sheet.

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UPSC IFoS · checked 19 September 2026

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

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19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

UPSC IFoS: the facts that matter now

01
Notified 14 January 2026 (revised 6 February); prelims 24 May, screening result 15 June; mains from 22 November 2026, seven days
2026 cycle
02
Union Public Service Commission — Indian Forest Service Examination 2026, screened through the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination
Conducted by
03
About 80 — UR 33, OBC 21, SC 12, EWS 8, ST 6; IFoS 2025 recommended 148
Vacancies
04
Bachelor’s degree with at least one of animal husbandry and veterinary science, botany, chemistry, geology, mathematics, physics, statistics or…
Eligibility

Pattern

UPSC IFoS — UPSC IFoS exam pattern 2026: screening, mains papers, optionals and interview

The Indian Forest Service Examination shares its preliminary stage with the Civil Services Examination and then diverges: a mains of six conventional papers in which two science or engineering optionals carry 800 of 1,400 marks, a 300-mark interview, and a walking test before appointment.

Screening — the CSE prelims. Objective; one third of a mark deducted per wrong answer.
Paper	Questions	Marks	Time	How it is used
General Studies Paper I	100	200	2 hours	IFoS cut-off — 105.34 for general candidates in 2025
General Studies Paper II (CSAT)	80	200	2 hours	Qualifying at 33 per cent

IFoS main examination — six papers, 1,400 marks, three hours each, English medium; 5 per cent minimum in each paper.
Paper	Subject	Marks
I	General English	300
II	General Knowledge	300
III	Optional 1, paper 1	200
IV	Optional 1, paper 2	200
V	Optional 2, paper 1	200
VI	Optional 2, paper 2	200

Optional subjects and barred combinations

The list — Agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal husbandry and veterinary science, botany, chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering, forestry, geology, mathematics, mechanical engineering, physics, statistics, zoology.
Not allowed together — Agriculture with agricultural engineering or with animal husbandry and veterinary science; chemistry with chemical engineering; mathematics with statistics; and only one engineering subject among agricultural, chemical, civil and mechanical engineering.

Personality test and final merit.
Item	Detail
Interview	300 marks; about twice the vacancies called on mains marks
Final merit	Mains 1,400 + interview 300 = 1,700
2025 final cut-off	General 925, EWS 883, OBC 873, SC 830, ST 836
After recommendation	Walking test — 25 km (men) or 14 km (women) in four hours — and medical examination

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