Inviting Applications for FRC 16 – SFG ( Residential ) – Starting on 18th December

Dear Friends,

We are now inviting applications for SFG – Residential – a prelims focussed offline only residential program for Civil Services Prelims Examination 2027 as a part of Cohort 16 at Tapasya Center for Learning.

What is SFG Residential ?

SFG (Residential) is a prelims focussed program commencing spanning over 20-22 weeks – where we select a group of focussed students who have trouble clearing prelims before and work towards preparing them for the examination.

The SFG (R) program consists of regular tests, prelims intensive classes for GS, CSAT and Current Affairs — along with All India Simulators.

Why SFG?

Forum was created with the idea of aiding those who need help — and have not been able to figure out the examination on their own. Right from the very first batch pf MGP ( Offline ) where we invited students who had never gotten an Interview call to join us – and we assured them of an Interview call – we had 86 people join us — with 74 of them getting their first Interview call.

The next year, out of odd 300 students who joined us, we were able to help our students secure Rank 1,3,5 10,11 . This was done quietly without a Youtube launch video – but only through a small network of people who knew us. ForumIAS Academy was NOT built around the idea of catering to tens of thousands of students and providing low effort – low quality content – but to cater to only those who really needed it.

While MGP continued to be the core program for Mains guidance ( 65% of Top 10 & Top 20 rankers in CSE 2026 have been part of Mains Guidance Program ), we wanted to solve another problem – how to help people clear prelims?

Solving the Prelims Problem

Clearing the prelims was never a tough nut for the serious aspirant.  You did not have to know all the answers. You just had to know the basics better than others and not make silly mistakes. However, with the advent of lightweight coaching, millions of students jumped into preparation spending years without studying, binge watching Youtube videos, not writing one single mains. Subsequently, a no of people lacking a robust foundation found it difficult to clear prelims. We decided to solve the prelims problem through SFG – Select Focus Group.

With SFG we built a solution for bright-and-hard-working-but-can’t-clear-prelims

1. Beyond quality coaching ( which itself is a benchmark for having good selections ), the key criteria for selection is (a) Discipline (b) Hard Work – Lots of it (c) Good Peer / Horizontal Learning (d) Good Guidance.
2. We realized that if these students who had no idea of competition – ( they had been binge watching youtube videos for years – thinking they are “preparing for UPSC” whereas all they did was train aspiring teachers on YouTube with million minutes viewership to build their careers ) – if they were introduced to the core followership of ForumIAS ( we built ForumIAS for Interview preparation first – the first seminars were for Interview, then for Mains and then for Prelims) – they would be able to benchmark themselves and immediately pick themselves up.
3. In SFG we started holding tests at 7AM – ( because with a 5th attempt candidate , if you call them at 10AM – they have already succumbed to the negativity – of their own failures, and now negativity of internet / reddit – and will not be able to come!) and released ranklists the same day.
4. We enabled candidates to clear their first Prelims. Some of the remarkable ones, we remember are
   1. Minal Karanwal, IAS AIR 35 – first popular topper from SFG ( part of foundation course )
   2. Ishita Kishore, IAS AIR 1 – 1st Rank 1 from SFG ( part of MGP too ), 3rd attempt, first mains and rank!
   3. Smriti Mishra, IAS AIR 4 – 3rd attempt , 1st time cleared prelims and got Rank 4 ( SFG, Ethics+, MGP )
   4. Shah Margi, IAS – AIR 4, first time cleared prelims with SFG – got Rank 4
   5. Natasha Goyal, IPS – AIR 175 – cleared first prelims with SFG in 5th attempt and got selected
   6. Monika Srivastava, IAS, IAS Rank 16 – IIT Guwahati, sharp kid, had no clue of exam difficulty, did SFG cleared with +46 marks above cut off when cut off was 92 but missed cut off when cut off was 76 and 88. ( proof link )
   7. Maurvie Tiwari, IPS AIR 90 – cleared prelims first time and was a top performed in SFG – offline ( watch her speak here, here, here and here )

Then why SFG – FRC?

Post Covid, the demography of Rajinder Nagar changed. While in the pre-covid era every library would have produced at least half a dozen people in final list – post covid – the number of people clearing prelims itself from a library / reading hall was very less. The students who came to ORN were fed on the Internet – had watched too many videos, consumed so many opinions, consumer reviews ( read the difference between consumer review and sibling advice ) and could hardly sit for 6-8 hours at a stretch. With the internet noise thanks to youtube/ TG/ RDT – it is nearly impossible for a candidate to believe in any program or course and sustain doing it for a long period.

But success, dear friends, is usually a result of doing something doggedly for a sustained period of time even in the absence of initial outcomes.

SFG FRC was primarily built for students who had school level discipline, had all the intentions of studying and said they were at their wit’s ends why they were not able to clear prelims despite working hard.

The ideas was to be old school  – get a bunch of students who have school level discipline – who never cleared prelims – and train them to clear the exam – one step at a time. You can hear some of them here

The first list of SFG ( FRC ) selected candidates – first batch is publicly available and you can see do your own research and due diligence over how they have performed. You can check the first name and the last name in the list too. ( Not all the candidates joined as it was the very first batch )

SFG ( FRC )It banks of three pillars on the academic front

1. Rigorous training – the hallmark of ForumIAS Academy ( please note – we got our first rank 1,3,5,7,10,11 etc. out of only 300 students – without Youtube presence )
2. Right Guidance – right inputs at the right time, with experienced mentors – who not only have relevant exam experience, but have seen students of all kinds – and  do not make the mistake of narrow sightedness
3. Horizontal Learning – Peer- to-peer learning is at the core of ForumIAS. We have no shame in admitting that a lot of learning about acing the exam will be done outside the classroom – as happens in life!

What will the course consist of ?

1. SFG – Residential / Level 1
2. SFG Level 2 – All India
3. Prelims Classes – upto 6 hours
4. CSAT Workshop sessions
5. Current Affairs classes for prelims
6. All India Simulators

What is the eligibility criteria?

1. Candidate must have attempted at least 2 prelims before and should not in the mode of let-me-try-this.
2. Candidates must have at least 2 attempts left at Civil Services.
3. Candidate must not have any bodily / mental ailments that forbid him from sitting long hours at studies.

How do you select Candidates?

1. We try to have diversity in the all India crowd that we select.  We select candidates on the basis of past academic performance, past course enrolments with ForumIAS, Alumni reference, Mentor Recommendation, regional and lingual variations.
2. 40% of seats are reserved for women and hostels have been created in that proportion.
3. 2 Seats are reserves for each state. We encourage students from North East and Far South to apply. For low representation states it is easier to get through than from high representation states.

Do you follow the practice of selecting candidates who have missed by a margin or Mains appeared to increase your selection count?

We are fairly confident why we say “We Build Officers”. ( And every year we get at least a dozen students who tell us we’ve made a difference ) We do not select candidates who have just missed by a margin or someone who has appeared for Mains. We look for potential and fundamentals – not from UPSC achievements. Some of our toppers have scored as low as 37 marks in previous attempts, but we have helped them score a 110+. Forget FRC, you can see Monika’s jump from not clearing prelims to getting 146 in CSE 2025 ( proof link ) from day SFG.

We are not betting on winning horse. We aim to make the horses with us win. This year – despite being a difficult paper, our students – who did not clear prelims before from FRC have scored as high as 120+, 111 and more than 30-40 students with 110+ score.

I have read Internet feedback about FRC / Tapasya. They are not good. Should I join?

We recommend that you speak to a real person who has been to FRC and take a decision accordingly. Every 3 months, a student is required to pay an entrance fee for the next phase and students are given multiple withdrawal opportunities. There is a common practice for most people to themselves not move out and stay in campus for over a year, but ask others not to join. We feel you should be able to differentiate between a consumer feedback and advice they have for themselves.

In case you are not able to speak to a real person whom you can hold accountable later, it is recommended that you visit the campus yourself and decide for yourself.

 It is advisable to believe everything negative written about FRC and not come, or come with lower expectations than to assume it to be false and come with wrong expectations.

Having said that there are two clarifications we would like to make ( lest we appear like folks who made no attempt to dispel your doubts )

1. There have been no known incidents of women safety in the campus. Several boys and girls who have family members in the services stay at the campus.
2. We vouch for the academic results from the campus and clarify that  (1) 70%+ of Top 100 FRC 8 Students cleared Prelims for the first time – 90% of whom cleared it for the first time (2)  More than half the students of FRC 8 wrote their first Mains (3) Every 3rd candidate in the campus wrote the Mains, even if we count those who remained absent from classes and tests.
3. So far only 1 batch of FRC has completed the exam cycle of pre, mains and final result. Our second batch ( pre+mains ) of FRC has just written the Mains ( September 2026 ) . So we only had PCM  batches in 2024 and 2026. Because of govt regulations, we had to drop the 2025 batch in residential mode as we were building the campus as per revised govt norms for coaching institutes.
4. We have placed a print media Ad stating (1) for CCPA  scrutiny for the same so that you are assured of academic performance because your time is more important than your money.

How to apply? ( Tranch 1 )

1. Tranche 1:  Applications are open from October 10th till October 20th. You can apply for FRC#16 by paying a registration fee of Rs 800+ GST. Click here to pay
2. We will be sharing the QCA-cum-Application form with you within 72 hours of registration or October 15th whichever is later. You will be required to take a print out of the QCA, write the answers in your own handwriting and submit the same within 3 days of receiving the QCA.
3. We will be going through each of the applications and you will receive a confirmation of your selection within 5 working days of QCA submission.
4. Trance 1 Admission Registrations will close on October 20th.
5. You will be required to confirm your seat within 3 days of receiving the admission confirmation, failing which your seat will be allocated to the next candidate.

About Tranche 2 Admissions

1. We shall a second tranche of admissions once we are  done with Tranche 1.  A print media advertisement will be placed for the same. The registration cost for Tranche 2 will be Rs. 1000+ GST to partially offset the cost of print media advertisement.
2. It is advisable that candidates apply for Tranche 1 since seats availability in Tranche 2 will depend on no of applications for Tranche 1 and no of candidates who accept admission offer. It is also likely to be more selective.

Important Dates

Admission Notification : October 12, 2026
Registrations for Tranche 1 : October 12th till October 20th.
e-Dispatch of QCA from ForumIAS Academy : Within 72 hours of registration or October 15th – whichever is later.
Submission of filled QCA Booklet : within 3 days of receiving the QCA Booklet
Declaration and intimation of your selection : within 5 working days of receipt of your QCA booklet. 
>Fee Payment : Seat Reserve within 3 days of acceptance of admission

Fee Structure

Fee structure shall be provided by October 15th, 8PM.