UPSC IFoS Exam Pattern 2026: Check Prelims & Mains Pattern
UPSC IFS 2026 is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission annually to recruit forest officials and staffs. IFoS is a national-level examination with 3 stages: Prelims, Main Exam, and Personality Test. The prelims exam is only qualifying while the Mains Exam and Personality Test marks are considered for the final selection of the candidates in the services. The prelims exam of UPSC CSE and UPSC IFoS is the same. Before preparing for the IFoS exam, candidates must be acquainted with the exam pattern. Below is the detailed exam pattern of the IFoS exam.
UPSC IFS 2026 Exam Pattern
Indian Forest Service Exam 2026 Exam Pattern consists of 3 stages:
- Prelims
- Mains
- Interview
UPSC IFoS Prelims Exam Pattern 2026
| Paper | Duration | Number of Questions | Max Marks | Negative Marking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I: General Studies | 2 Hours | 100 | 200 | 0.66 Marks | |
| Paper II: CSAT | 2 Hours | 80 | 200 | 0.83 Marks | |
| Total Marks | 400 | ||||
Important Points for UPSC IFoS Prelims 2026
- Mode of Papers: Offline
- Exam paper language: Hindi & English
- Total Papers: 2
- Both the papers are objective and will have multiple-choice questions of 1 mark each.
- All the questions will have 4 options. Candidates must select only one response for each question and mark it in the Answer Sheet.
- Candidates can only use a Black ballpoint pen to mark the answer sheet.
- Minimum qualifying cutoff marks for Paper II: CSAT are fixed at 33% (ie. 66 marks) and CSAT is only qualifying. It means the marks of CSAT are not added for the Prelims cutoff. Only Paper I marks are considered for the Prelims cutoff.
- Marks obtained in the Prelims are not counted for determining their final order of merit.
- After qualifying for the IFoS Prelims exam, the candidates will be admitted to the Main/Stage-II Examination which will be about twelve to thirteen times the approximate number of vacancies to be filled.
UPSC IFoS Main Exam Pattern 2026
| Paper | Duration | Number of Questions to Attempt | Max Marks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I: General English | 3 Hours | 5 | 300 | |
| Paper II: General Knowledge | 3 Hours | 5 | 300 | |
| Paper III: Optional 1 | 3 Hours | 5 | 200 | |
| Paper IV: Optional 1 | 3 Hours | 5 | 200 | |
| Paper V: Optional 2 | 3 Hours | 5 | 200 | |
| Paper VI: Optional 2 | 3 Hours | 5 | 200 | |
| Total Marks | 1400 | |||
Important Points for UPSC IFoS Mains 2026
- Mode of Papers: Offline
- Exam paper language: English
- Answer Sheet language: English
- Total Papers: 6
- Candidates have to select 2 Optional Papers and each subject will have two Papers, with 200 marks for each Paper.
- All the papers will be subjective.
- Minimum qualifying marks for each Paper: 5% (i.e. Paper I and II: 15 marks, Paper III, IV, V, and VI: 10 marks)
- Marks obtained in the Main exams are added and a cutoff list is prepared for the candidates out of marks.
- After qualifying the IFoS Main exam, the candidates will be called for the Personality Test and it will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled.
UPSC IFoS 2026 Personality Test
- The Personality Test will be of 300 marks (no minimum qualifying marks).
- In the Personality Test, there will be different elements that will influence the selection of the candidates. These are judgment ability, tolerance, mindfulness, ethics, and many more. The Interview Board will test the applicant’s character and not simply information.
- Marks obtained in the Main exam and Personality tests will be added. For the final cutoff marks will be given from 1700 marks.
- Then a ranking list will be created for the candidates.
- Candidates will be allotted to the various services considering their ranks in the examination and their preference for the various services/posts.
UPSC IFS 2026 Syllabus
UPSC Indian Forest Service Exam 2026 Syllabus and list of optional subjects from which each candidate must choose 2 subjects and certain combinations are not allowed by the UPSC as given in the following tabular.
| List of Optional Subjects | Forbidden Subject Combinations |
|---|---|
|
|
UPSC IFS Exam Pattern 2026 FAQs
Ques. Who conducts the UPSC IFoS Exams?
Ans. The Indian Forest Service (IFoS) exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. The official notification of the UPSC IFoS 2026 exam has been issued for almost 150 vacant posts.
Ques. How many stages are there in the UPSC IFoS Exam?
Ans. UPSC IFoS 2026 consists of three stages including Prelims, Mains, and Interview. The prelims exam is objective while the mains examination is descriptive.
Ques. What is the weightage of the UPSC IFoS 2026 Interview round?
Ans. Post the Mains exam, the qualified candidates will be invited for the interview round. The interview is for a total of 300 marks and the interview round will be followed by a physical test.
Ques. Is there any age limit for appearing in the UPSC IFoS examination?
Ans. Yes, the minimum age limit for appearing in the UPSC IFoS examination is 21 years and the maximum age limit is 32 years.
Ques. When will I have to select the optional subject for the Main exam?
Ans. The optional subject will be selected in the initial phase only when you will fill out the online application form for the exam.
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