(Notification) UPSC : Indian Forest Service (Preliminary) Examination, 2026 through CS(P) Examination, 2026

No. 13/04/2025-E.IB: The Union Public Service Commission will hold a Screening Test for selection to Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, 2026 through Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2026 which will be held on 24th May, 2026, in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in the Gazette of India dated the 04th February, 2026.

Educational Qualifications:

A candidate must hold a Bachelor's degree with at least one of the subjects namely Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Forestry or in Engineering of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.

Age Limit:

(a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on 1st August, 2026, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1994 and not later than 1st August, 2005.
(b) The upper age limit prescribed above will be relaxable:-
(i) upto a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
(ii) upto a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.
(iii) upto a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof:
(iv) upto a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2024 and have been released;

Number of Attempts:

Every candidate appearing at the Examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six attempts at the examination.

Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates who are otherwise eligible.

Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are otherwise eligible, shall be nine.

Provided further that a person with benchmark disability will get as many attempts as are available to other candidates who do not belong to person with benchmark disability of his or her community, subject to the condition that a person with benchmark disability belonging to the General and EWS Category shall be eligible for nine attempts.. The relaxation will be available to the persons with benchmark disability who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

(Ebook) Download IFoS Previous Year Papers e-Book

Exam Centers :

(A1) The Preliminary Examination will be held at the following Centres:

Sl.No.	CENTRE	Sl.No.	CENTRE	Sl.No.	CENTRE
1	AGARTALA	30	GURUGRAM	59	PATNA
2	AGRA	31	GWALIOR	60	SRI VIJAYA PURAM (PORT BLAIR)
3	AHMEDABAD	32	HYDERABAD	61	PRAYAGRAJ (ALLAHABAD)
4	AIZAWL	33	IMPHAL	62	PUDUCHERRY
5	AJMER	34	INDORE	63	PUNE
6	ALIGARH	35	ITANAGAR	64	RAIPUR
7	ALMORA (UTTARAKHAND)	36	JABALPUR	65	RAJKOT
8	ANANTHAPURAMU	37	JAIPUR	66	RANCHI
9	CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR [AURANGABAD (MAHARASHTRA)]	38	JAMMU	67	SAMBALPUR
10	BAREILLY	39	JODHPUR	68	SHILLONG
11	BENGALURU	40	JORHAT	69	SHIMLA
12	BHOPAL	41	KANPUR	70	SILIGURI
13	BHUBANESWAR	42	KARGIL	71	SRINAGAR
14	BILASPUR (CHHATTISGARH)	43	KOCHI	72	SRINAGAR (UTTARAKHAND)
15	CHANDIGARH	44	KOHIMA	73	SURAT
16	CHENNAI	45	KOLKATA	74	THANE
17	COIMBATORE	46	KOZHIKODE (CALICUT)	75	THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
18	CUTTACK	47	LEH	76	TIRUCHIRAPALLI
19	DEHRADUN	48	LUCKNOW	77	TIRUPATI
20	DELHI	49	LUDHIANA	78	UDAIPUR
21	DHARAMSHALA (HIMACHAL PRADESH)	50	MADURAI	79	VARANASI
22	DHARWAR	51	MANDI (HIMACHALPRAD ESH)	80	VELLORE
23	DISPUR	52	MEERUT	81	VIJAYAWADA
24	FARIDABAD	53	MUMBAI	82	VISAKHAPATNAM
25	GANGTOK	54	MYSURU	83	HANUMAKONDA(WARANGAL URBAN)
26	GAUTAM BUDDH NAGAR	55	NAGPUR
27	GAYA	56	NASIK
28	GHAZIABAD	57	NAVI MUMBAI
29	GORAKHPUR	58	PANAJI (GOA)

(A2) The Main Examination will be held at the following Centres:

Sl. No.	CENTRE	Sl. No.	CENTRE	Sl. No.	CENTRE
1.	BHOPAL	5.	HYDERABAD	9.	PORT BLAIR
2.	CHENNAI	6.	KOLKATA	10.	SHIMLA
3.	DELHI	7.	LUCKNOW
4.	DISPUR (GUWAHATI)	8.	NAGPUR

Medical and Physical Standards:

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to Indian Forest Service Examination, 2026 as per regulations given in Appendix-III of the rules for the Indian Forest Service Examination, 2026 published in Gazette of India dated 04th February, 2026.

Plan of Examination:

The Indian Forest Service Examination will consist of two successive stages (vide Appendix I Section-I below).

(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination; and

(ii) Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the Indian Forest Service.

Applications are now invited for the Preliminary Examination only. Candidates who will be declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination will have to apply again and submit on-line Detailed Application Form-I [DAF-I] along with scanned documents/certificates in support of date of birth, category {viz. SC/ST/OBC(without OBC Annexure)/EWS [Economically Weaker Sections] (with EWS Annexure)/PwBD/Ex-Serviceman} and educational qualification with required Examination Fee.

Exam Syllabus:

NOTE : Candidates are advised to go through the Syllabus published in this Section for the Preliminary Examination and the Main Examination.

Part A-Preliminary Examination:

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Current events of national and international importance
History of India and Indian National Movement
Indian and World Geography- Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Economic and Social Development- Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization.
General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Comprehension
Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
Decision making and problem solving
General mental ability
Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)

Main Examination:

The standard of papers in General English and General Knowledge will be such as may be expected of a Science or Engineering graduate of an Indian University.
There will be no practical examination in any of the subjects.

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Application Fee:

Candidates applying (excepting Female/SC/ST/PwBD candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination are required to pay a fee of Rs.100/- (Rupees One Hundred only) either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India or by using Visa/Master/RuPay Credit/Debit card.

How to Apply:

Candidates are required to apply online by using the website https://upsconline.nic.in.Candidates are advised to go through the General instructions, Profile/Module wise instructions and instructions for uploading of documents before proceeding to fill up the form. A candidate who is willing to apply for Indian Forest Service Examination shall be required to submit the requisite information and supporting documents towards various claims, such as date of birth, educational qualification, etc. as may be sought by the Commission alongwith the Universal Registration Number (URN), Common Application Form (CAF) and the fourth module i.e. Examination Specific module (including fees and centre etc.). Failure to provide the required information/documents alongwith the Common Application Form (CAF) will entail cancellation of candidature for the examination.

NOTE 1:- The Commission provides a one-time facility for candidates to update or modify their Universal Registration Number (URN) profile. Please note that any changes made to the URN Profile will not be reflected in applications already submitted. The updated information will apply only to applications submitted after the candidate has made the necessary changes and successfully re-locked the URN Profile.

NOTE 2 - Live Photo Capture for filling up of Common Application Form (CAF) Applicants are required to upload their photograph and also capture their live photograph while filling up the Common Application Form (CAF). Applicants must ensure that the uploaded photograph and the live photograph captured are clear as per instructions given on “Instructions and FAQs > Instruction for filling the form > Photos and Signature” available on the Commission’s website https://upsconline.nic.in.

NOTE 3:- Uploading of Signature

Applicants are required to sign three times (one below the other) on a plain white paper using black ink and upload the same while filling up the Common Application Form (CAF). The uploaded signatures should be clear and legible. The Candidates are advised to refer to the instruction for uploading the signature available under “Instructions and FAQs” on the website of the Commission with the URL: https://upsconline.nic.in.

2.1 Candidate should have details of one Photo ID Card viz. Aadhaar Card/Voter Card (EPIC) /PAN Card/ Passport/Driving Licence/Any other Photo ID Card issued by the State/Central Government. The details of this Photo ID Card will have to be provided by the candidate while filling up the Universal Registration Number (URN) Profile. The candidates will have to upload a scanned copy of the Photo ID whose details have been provided in the online application by him/her. This Photo ID Card will be used for all future referencing and the candidate is advised to carry this Photo ID Card while appearing for Examination/Personality Test.

2.2 Withdrawal of Application: The candidates will not be allowed to withdraw their applications after submission of the same.