UPSC IFS 2025: Prelims and Mains Exam Pattern and Syllabus

UPSC has released the notification for the Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2025 through the official website. The selection process consists of Prelims, Mains, and Interview. In this article, candidates can check the UPSC IFS Syllabus 2025.

UPSC IFS Syllabus 2025

UPSC Indian Forest Service (IFS) Exam Syllabus Overview

Preliminary Examination Syllabus:

1. General Studies Paper-I:
   • Current Events (National & International)
   • History of India
   • Indian Polity
   • Economic and Social Development
   • General Science
   • Environment and Ecology
2. General Studies Paper-II:
   • Comprehension
   • Logical Reasoning
   • Decision Making
   • Basic Numeracy

Main Examination Syllabus:

• General English and General Knowledge
• Optional subjects (choose any two): Agriculture, Botany, Forestry, Zoology, Geology, Physics, etc.

Scheme of UPSC IFS

Preliminary Examination

The preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks. This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only.

The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.

The marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.

General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.

Main Examination

All the question papers for the examination will be of conventional (essay) type.

All question papers must be answered in English. Question papers will be set in English only.

The duration of each of the papers will be three hours.

The Commission has the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all the papers of the examination

Written examination consisting of the following papers

• Paper I—General English
• Paper-II—General Knowledge
• Papers III, IV, V, and VI. —Any two subjects to be selected from the list of the optional subjects. Each subject will have two papers.

Interview for Personality Test- Maximum Marks: 300

List of optional subjects for Mains Written Exam

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UPSC IFS Syllabus: Part A-Preliminary Examination

Paper I 

• 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.

Current Affairs Notes for Paper I preparation.

Paper-II

• 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)

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UPSC IFS Syllabus: Part B-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.

General English

Candidates will be required to write an essay in English. Other questions will be designed to test their understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. Passages will usually be set for summary or precis.

Improve your Vocabulary Skills

General Knowledge

General Knowledge including knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific subject. The paper will also include questions on Indian Polity including the political system and the Constitution of India, History of India, and Geography of nature which the candidate should be able to answer without special study.

Optional Subjects

The total number of questions in the question papers of optional subjects will be eight. All questions will carry equal marks. Each paper will be divided into two parts, viz. Part A and Part B, each part containing four questions. Out of eight questions, five questions are to be attempted. One question in each part will be compulsory. Candidates will be required to answer three more questions out of the remaining six questions, taking at least one question from each Part. In this way, at least two questions will be attempted from each Part i.e., one compulsory question plus one more.

UPSC Indian Forest Service (IFS) Exam Pattern 2025

The IFS Exam consists of two stages:

1. Preliminary Examination (Objective Type):
   • Two papers: General Studies I & II
   • Total Marks: 400
   • Negative Marking: Yes
   • Qualifying Marks for GS Paper II: 33%
2. Main Examination (Written and Interview):
   • Written Examination: 6 Papers
   • Personality Test: 300 Marks

Main Examination Papers:

• General English (300 Marks)
• General Knowledge (300 Marks)
• Two Optional Subjects (each with two papers of 200 Marks)

UPSC Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2025: Salary Structure

The salary of an Indian Forest Service Officer is as per the 7th Pay Commission:

• Pay Scale: Rs. 56,100 – 2,25,000 (Level 10 – Level 17)
• Allowances:
  • Dearness Allowance
  • House Rent Allowance
  • Travel Allowance
  • Medical Benefits

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