UPSC IFS Answer Key 2026: IFoS Prelims Key, Representations

The IFoS 2026 Prelims answer key is the key of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination held on 24 May 2026, and UPSC will put it on upsc.gov.in, with the screening-test marks and cut-offs, only after the final results of both the Indian Forest Service and Civil Services Examinations 2026. Before that, the IFoS 2026 notice let appeared candidates make representations on the questions and on the answer key of the CS (Preliminary) papers. The Mains papers of 22 to 29 November 2026 are of conventional (essay) type, not multiple choice.

How did representations on the IFoS 2026 Prelims key work?

• Window: five days, "from the 3rd day of the Examination Date to 6:00 p.m. of the 7th day". UPSC's QPRep notice illustrates it with an exam on 1 March and representations from 4 March to 8 March (till 6:00 p.m.).
• Where: upsconline.nic.in, under the header Examinations > Representations on Question Paper.
• Not accepted: representations by email, post, hand or any other mode, or anything after the five days. UPSC does not correspond with candidates about them.

The rule was different last cycle. The IFoS 2025 notice gave seven days from the day after the exam, through upsconline.gov.in/miscellaneous/QPRep/, and covered only the questions asked in the papers.

Can you raise representations on the IFoS Mains papers?

The IFoS 2026 notice covers representations "on the questions asked in the Papers of the Examination". UPSC's QPRep notice adds that for a multi-day examination, the date of the last paper is the reckoning date for representations on all its papers. The IFoS Mains 2026 time table ends with the Geology and Statistics papers on 29 November 2026.

How to score yourself on the Prelims key

The Prelims has two objective papers of 200 marks each, 400 marks in all. Every question has four alternatives. For each wrong answer, one-third of the marks assigned to that question is deducted; marking more than one answer counts as wrong even if one is right, and a blank costs nothing. So for each paper, add the marks for correct answers and subtract one-third of the marks of every wrong answer.

The two papers count differently. General Studies Paper-II is qualifying at 33%. The IFoS Mains list is then drawn on the General Studies Paper-I total, against a qualifying mark the Commission fixes from the vacancies of both the Civil Services and Indian Forest Service Examinations, and separate lists are prepared for each Mains. The rules admit about twelve to thirteen times the vacancies to the Mains; in practice UPSC shortlisted 1046 candidates for 80 vacancies in 2026 (about 13 times) and 2116 for 150 vacancies in 2025 (about 14 times). Prelims marks do not count towards the final order of merit.

What happens after the key?

• No marks sheets are supplied for the Prelims, which is only a screening test.
• The 15 June 2026 Prelims result notice says marks, cut-off marks and answer keys of the screening test go up only after the entire IFoS 2026 and CSE 2026 process is over.
• The Mains has six papers worth 1400 marks: General English and General Knowledge (300 each) and two optional subjects of two papers each (200 per paper). Each paper lasts three hours, and the Commission may fix qualifying marks in any or all papers.
• In the IFoS 2025 cycle, the Mains result notice promised marks sheets of all candidates within 15 days of the final result, online for 30 days. The final result came on 8 May 2026 and the marks of recommended candidates were uploaded on 14 May 2026.

IFS answer key: past cycles