UPSC IFS Exam Pattern

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UPSC IFS Exam Pattern

The UPSC IFS provides a separate exam pattern for each stage. The preliminary examination, or first stage, consists of two objective-type papers: Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and General Studies. This is just a screening test the candidates who qualify for the preliminary examination are only allowed to move on to the next round. The Indian Forest Service Main examination, which is the second step, the mains examination is divided into a written test and an interview, the written test consists of six papers that will be essay-type questions on subjects including general English, general knowledge, and optional subjects that the applicants can choose from.

For the Preliminary exam:

  • Mode of exam: Offline
  • Medium of exam: English and Hindi
  • Number of papers: 2
  • Type of questions: Objective type
  • Duration of exam: 2 hours (each paper)
  • Total marks: 400
  • Negative marking: 1/3rd of the allotted marks will be deducted for each incorrect answer.
Papers Topics Total marks
Paper I General English 200 marks
Paper II General Knowledge 200 marks

For the Main exam:

  • Mode of exam: Offline
  • Medium of exam: English
  • Number of papers: 4
  • Duration of exam: 3 hours (each paper)
  • Type of questions: Descriptive type
  • Total marks: 1000
Papers Topics Total marks
Paper I General English 300 marks
Paper II General Knowledge 300 marks
Paper III, Paper IV, Paper V & Paper VI Any two subjects selected from the list of optional subjects. Each subject will have 2 papers. 400 (200 marks for each subject)

UPSC General Studies Exam Analysis [Paper 1]

Before taking the UPSC IFS 2023 exam, candidates should be aware of the UPSC IFS 2022 exam's difficulty level.

Subject Difficulty Level
Geography Moderate to Difficult
Environment Moderate to Difficult
Science and Tech Moderate to Difficult
Economics and Govt. Schemes Easy to Moderate
History Moderate
Polity Easy to Moderate
Current Affairs & Sports Moderate

Top Coaching Institutes for UPSC IFS 2024

To help you choose the best institute, we have prepared a list of the top 5 IFS coaching institutes in India. These institutes provide high-quality coaching and can assist you in developing a strategy for scoring well on the exam.

  • Kautilya IAS
  • Yojna IAS
  • Plutus IAS Academy
  • The Hinduzone
  • Evolution Educare Pvt. Ltd

Both the prelims paper will consist of objective-type questions only.
There will be negative markings for incorrect answers in prelims and no negative markings in the main exam.
No, the candidates have the option to choose their optional subject in the main examination.

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