Inviting Applications for FRC 16 – SFG ( Residential ) for Prelims 2027 – Starting on 15th December

Dear Friends,

We are now inviting applications for SFG – Residential – an 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 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 the first self help community for Civil Services preparation. The professional Academy was created later with the idea of aiding those who need help and the right guidance — 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 work with our students to secure Rank 1,3,5 10,11 . This was done quietly with word of mouth – only through a small network of people who knew us. ForumIAS Academy was NOT built around the idea of catering to tens of thousands or lakhs of students and providing low effort – low quality content – but to cater to only those who had tried everything and those things did not work out for them.

While MGP continues 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 conventionally 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 the-studious-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. The program ensures this. Our Youtube SFG  guidance sessions until 2026 was always done 1-2 weeks after course commencement so that impulsive students do not join the course simply by watching a video and feel trapped. SFG guidance sessions are designed to guide the serious aspirant, and sessions help build officers ( see proof ). They often do not provide course details .
2. We realized that a number of hard working students are not able to clear prelims itself because they are caught like a frog in the well – not exposed to good learning ecosystem and good ideas. If the same students were introduced to the core ForumIAS learning ecosystem, the horizontal learning itself would be an eye opener for them. We felt there are 4 problems with the frog-in-the-well-candidate here –  (a) their only exposure to UPSC coaching and preparation was unstructured YouTube / TG courses for years – (b) they think that edtech salesman from ‘X’ who first reached them  and sold them a discounted product in 2nd year of college is the “real coaching” – not aware that they may discover “genuine coachings” only after 2-3 attempts are exhausted,  (c) they think they are “preparing for UPSC” because they have full knowledge about which teacher or topper is doing what (c) all they have done is train aspiring teachers who have not cleared prelims to become teachers on YouTube with million minutes viewership and build the teacher’s career ) . We had built ForumIAS platform for Interview preparation  – the first seminars were for Interview, then for Mains and then for Prelims, so we always had the good learning ecosystem – where every 2nd selected candidates would have benefitted from ForumIAS.
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. The goal was to establish the linkage between hard work and performance – since multiple years of failure had convinced that hard work was not what was needed for clearing prelims. Once this was established, our newly inducted students started working hard and pulled themselves out of failure into success.
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 ) – proof video
   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 ) – proof video
   4. Shah Margi, IAS – AIR 4, first time cleared prelims with SFG – got Rank 4 – proof video
   5. Natasha Goyal, IPS – AIR 175 – cleared first prelims with SFG in 5th attempt and got selected – proof video
   6. Monika Srivastava, IAS, IAS Rank 16 – hard working, but exhausted 4 attempts because of lack of guidance, 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  | proof of missing prelim to final selection )
   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 learning environment and ecosystem at 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 – were full of distrust, 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 and were willing to move into a distraction free zone and schedule for success in Civils.

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 ) candidates whose applications were accepted  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 )  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 – only word of mouth )
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 of only their own experience.
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/her from sitting for 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 ( proof link for current FRC  ), mentor recommendation, regional and lingual variations.
2. 40% of seats are reserved for women. Hostels capacity has been duly created in that proportion.
3. 2 Seats are reserved for each state. We encourage students from North East and Far South to apply. ( Please check this page for this claim – in 2 years, the highest rank from North East will be from FRC. We are already working on it, and we are beginning to see results )
4. For low representation states ( Kerela, Arunachal etc )  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. See this, this and this. )

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 for previous UPSC achievements. So it could happen that a Mains appeared candidate may not be accepted, but a prelims failed candidate with higher potential and 3 failed attempts may be accepted and be put in a TOP group.

Some of our toppers have scored as low as 30 marks in previous attempts, but have scored  110+ after FRC. Forget FRC, you can see Monika’s progress from not clearing prelims to getting 146 in CSE 2025 ( proof link ) from regular SFG.

We are not betting on the winning horse -for every student mentioned in this video, when we met them had failed prelims. 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 people who has been to FRC and take a decision accordingly. To ensure no one is forcefully in the program and anyone who is not benefitting from the program , we do the following

(a)  every 3 months we provide opportunity for students to withdraw based on their ability to benefit from the course
(b) we require students to pay an entrance fee for progressing to the next phase. The purpose is to make it easy for them to exit if they are not finding it useful or have any doubts. One would not continue if one did not find value or benefits.
(c) provide concessions on courses if they leave the campus ( proof from previous exit notice ) and do it online or from Delhi instead – if they are not able to benefit from it.

At this point, we would also like to state that it commonly seen that most people themselves do not move out and stay in campus, paying fee every 3 months –  for over a year sometimes 1.5 years, but ask others not to join because of hostel/ logistics issues. We feel you should be able to differentiate between a consumer feedback they have for you ( for which they do not have answerability ) and actions and advice they have for themselves ( and their own siblings and family members – for whom they are answerable later )

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 apply, or apply with lower expectations than to assume it to be false and come with wrong expectations.

Having said that there are few 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 including Rajasthan Police and administration.
2. We vouch for the academic results from the campus and clarify that (1) 70%+ of Top 100 FRC 8 Students cleared Prelims  – 90% of whom cleared it for the first time (2) More than half the students of FRC 8 wrote their 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. If you read internet rumors contrary to this, question them, or better ignore them.
4. We have placed a print media Ad stating (1) for CCPA  scrutiny for the same so that you are assured of academic performance  from our programs because your time is more important than anything else.

At ForumIAS, we are committed to be the most student friendly, result oriented academy for civil services.

How to apply? ( Tranche 1 )

1. Tranche 1:  Applications are open from October 12th till October 20th October 25th. You can apply for FRC#16 by paying a non-refundable and non-adjustable registration fee of Rs 800+ GST. Click here to pay and register.
2. Registration for Tranche 1 was earlier open until 20 October, but the deadline has now been extended to 25 October.
3. We will be sharing the QCA-cum-Application form with you within 72 hours of registration. You will be required to take a print out of the QCA, write the answers in your own handwriting and submit the scanned pdf same within 3 days of receiving the QCA.
4. We will be going through each of the applications and you will receive a confirmation of your selection or rejection within 5 working days of QCA submission.
5. Tranche 1 Admission Registrations will close on October 25th and results for
6. 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 Entrance 2 Admissions

1. We shall may have a second tranche of admissions once we are  done with tranche 1.  A print media advertisement will be placed for the same to reach out to those outside email list. 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 interested candidates apply for entrance 1 since seats availability in entrance 2 will depend on no of applications for entrance 1 and number of candidates who have accepted admission offer. It is also likely to be more selective.

Important Dates

Admission Notification : October 12, 2026
Application/ registration Link – https://academy.forumias.com/events
Registrations for Entrance 1 : October 12th till October 25th.
e-Dispatch of QCA from ForumIAS Academy : Within 72 hours of registration or October 15th – whichever is later.
Submission of filled QCA Booklet : within 24 hours of receiving the QCA Booklet
Declaration and intimation of your selection : Tranche-1 results will be declared by 1st Nov. 2026. 
Fee Payment : Seat Reserve within 3 days of acceptance of admission
Program commencement: December 15th, 2026

Fee Structure

Academic Fee: Click Here
Hostel Fee: Click Here