Indian Forest Service (Preliminary) Examination

The Indian Forest Service is the premier forest service of India. The IFS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Administrative Service & the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 under the All India Services Act, 1951.

After completing professional training in forestry and related subjects at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in Dehradun, followed by a Foundation Course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Indian Forest Service probationers undergo one year of practical training within their allotted cadre.

After completing the four-year probation period from the Year of Allotment, successful officers are appointed to the Senior Time Scale. At this stage, they can be assigned roles such as Divisional Forest Officers or Deputy Conservators of Forests overseeing Forest Divisions.

Indian Forest Service (Preliminary) Examination, 2025 through CS(P) Examination 2025

Notification 22/01/2025

Exam day  25/05/2025

Duration One Day

Eligibility

Age: A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of

32 years on August 1, 2025, i.e. he must have been born not earlier than August 2,

1993 and not later than August 1, 2004.

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

Education: 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.

Exam Pattern: The Indian Forest Service Examination consists of two successive stages:

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

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

candidates for the Indian Forest Service.

The preliminary exam will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks.

Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission, to the Main Examination.

Imp: Since there may be common candidates for Civil Services Examination and the Indian Forest Service Examination, after the common Screening Test done through Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, separate lists will be prepared for the candidates eligible to appear in the Civil Service (Main) Examination and Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies Paper-II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) examination as determined by the Commission on the number of vacancies to be filled through the Civil Services Examination and Indian Forest Service Examination.

The Main Examination will consist of written examination and an interview test. The written examination will consist of 6 papers of conventional essay type.

Paper I—General English 300 Marks

Paper II—General Knowledge 300 Marks

Papers III, IV, V and VI.—Any two subjects to be selected from the list of the optional subjects

mentioned below. Each subject will have two papers — 200 marks for each paper.

List of optional subjects :

(i) Agriculture

(ii) Agricultural Engineering

(iii) Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science

(iv) Botany

(v) Chemistry

(vi) Chemical Engineering

(vii) Civil Engineering

(viii) Forestry

(ix) Geology

(x) Mathematics

(xi) Mechanical Engineering

(xii) Physics

(xiii) Statistics

(xiv) Zoology

Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an interview for a Personality Test.

The interview will carry 300 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks). Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking.

There will be penalty (Negative Marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers.