[Official] ForumIAS SFG 2021 - Level 1 Details and Important Updates
Important Update : LIVE Session for SFG 2021 - Level 1 General Discussion and Way Forward - 19th January 2021 at 4:00 PM. (Click Here)
To check the instructions on how to write SFG 2021 - Test 1 :
Important Dates:
Date of Entrance Test 2 - 3rd January 2021 (10:00 AM to 11:00 AM)
End Date Registration for Entrance Test 2 – 2nd January 2021 | 5 PM
Please click on the link for instructions regarding attempting the Entrance test.
Result of Entrance Test 2 –4th January 2021
Commencement Date of SFG Level 1 – 7th January 2021
Syllabus of SFG Entrance Test - Candidates can expect 30 questions equally distributed across History, Polity, Economy, Environment and Geography. Further 15 questions will from Current Affairs of October, November and December months and 5 questions from CSAT.
SFG Level 1 Calendar: https://go.forumias.com/sfg21-calender
SFG – How it works
- Select Focus Group (SFG) is a small group of students who are selected by ForumIAS every year for coaching them to clear the UPSC Prelims Examination. Every single candidate selected and retained consistently in the group with Top ranks has cleared the Prelims examination in the past.
- 100 Students will be selected for the Select Focus Group, through the SFG Entrance Test, who will be required to report at 7 AM every day 6 days a week to write an hour-long test based on a pre-planned syllabus, followed by a discussion on the same.
- Candidates who are unable to make it to the SFG, will be maintained in a Reserve List, who can also write the tests. Candidates who couldn't clear the cutoff and are unable to make it into both SFG and RLG can register for the 2nd Entrance Test
- Tests are conducted daily and results are provided within 8 hours of test with Name and Rank list for candidates and parents to evaluate their daily performance. On the basis of rankles, about 50% of bottom performing students from SFG are migrated to the reserve list on a weekly basis, and an equal number of students from reserve list (RLG) are moved into SFG.
- The decision of the management in this regard is final and not subject to dispute. Please note that this migration is done not keeping in mind the overall merit list but moving away bottom 50% from SFG and picking up an equal number of people from RLG.
- Thus those who may be getting more than RLG students, but are bottom 50 in SFG will be moved to RLG.
- Every month, the bottom 20% or so non-performing students are eliminated from the program to maintain the quality of competition.
- All candidates writing the CSE 2021 are eligible to apply for the entrance test.
This year we introduce some changes as to how we conduct the SFG exam. Please note that changes that we bring are always in response to the examination pattern, the student feedback and our own learning with respect to how to best enable a serious candidate to clear the exam
Covid 19 Update:Keeping in mind the Covid situation, SFG – 1 entrance Test and the SFG program will be conducted in the online mode only for the year 2021. SFG – Level 2 may be conducted offline as per government guidelines and this decision will be taken at a later date.
This year SFG will be conducted in two levels as below:
SFG Level 1 (Foundation)
The SFG Level 1 is for beginners, freshers, first-timers, or simply those who have not cleared the Prelims examination ever before. The objective of the SFG Level 1 Program is three things
- Students know the basic books and basic concepts back and forth
- Students complete coverage of the syllabus through self-study
- Students are thorough with previous years papers
- Students develop the discipline and time management skills that are needed to clear the exam
The SFG Level 1 Tests will have book based / text-based / notes-based tests. By the end of SFG Level 1, you can expect that your coverage of the syllabus is complete, and you have done previous years questions well.
SFG Level 2 (Advanced)
SFG Level 2 is for people who have completed the reading and revision of the basic books and are now ready to take on the exam. The objective of the SFG Level 2 is as below
- Developing problem-solving skills for solving analytical, conceptual and thought based questions.
- Developing skills to solve questions based on the application of the reading that they have done for Level 1
- Mastering the art of handling questions from unknown areas and applying concepts from their wider reading which is relevant for the Civil Services Prelims Examination.
- Developing time management skills, and being through with the syllabus
- Providing a reliable, time-bound framework for revision just before the examination.
Current Affairs:
SFG Level 1 will provide coverage of current affairs from January 2020 to November 2020.
SFG Level 2 will have complete current affairs relevant for the Prelims examination 2021 integrated into the course.
CSAT:
CSAT tests will be integrated with SFG Level 2. There will be no CSAT tests in SFG level 1.
Application Procedure
- Admission to the SFG and RLG are based on the rank of the candidate in the merit list of the SFG Entrance Test. Students can apply for the program by registering for the Entrance Test by paying a fee of Rs. 500+ GST. Candidates can register by visitinghttp://academy.forumias.com
- The candidate must appear for the entrance test on the designated date and time, subsequent to which he/she will be admitted to the Select Group or the Reserve List.
- The candidate must pay the monthly fee as per the group he/she is allocated.
Note: Admissions to the SFG / RLG Group will only be on the basis of merit position of the candidate in the entrance test. Entrance Test will be held on 23rd December 2020. Candidates must register for the SFG Entrance Test by visiting the website http://academy.forumias.com before12 PM, December 22nd.
No admission will be granted to the candidate without appearing for the Entrance Test.
Fee Structure and Details:
- The course duration is of about two months and fees is charged on a monthly basis. Fees for the full duration of the program cannot be paid at one go.
For students selected in SFG- Rs. 1300 + GST (18%) per month. For Payment,Click Here.
For students selected in RLG- Rs. 1900 + GST (18%) per month. For Payment,Click Here.
- Fees are to be paid once the candidate is selected for the program. A fee of Rs. 118 is to be paid additionally for the I-Card by all students.
Wishing you Success,
Always
ForumIAS Academy
Hi would we have video discussion? Or something like discussion via chat/forums?
@ForumIAS-Academy I would like to thank forum for conducting the test smoothly. It was a nice experience. :) Cheating is inevitable in an online process, but those who are cheating are cheating themselves. Todays test was an eye opener and also marks the start of the prelims season :) Thank you for your efforts.
Thank you for the encouragement. Imagine a bunch of passionate people sitting behind a computer screen right from a developer to Quiz Maker to a teacher reading your comments. We have to keep things viable.
We always have a choice of doing it or not doing it. We can sit and grumble people will cheat, this will go wrong , that person will abuse.
Some person will hold the whole fourmias academy and even the community hostage because he has paid 500 rupees and now owns us. This gives him the right to say anything or use any adjectives against us.
We try to step back as much as we can.
In the end we decide to have a positive mindset and a positive bias for action.
Hence we do it.
Words are powerful. They can make or break us.
@ForumIAS-Academy one could deem it harsh but do care to point out what word & which part of it sounds abusive in light of recent happenings . in matters of setting the bar these comments up and down should give the forum a reflection of their own standards. perhaps my harshness stems from a understanding to a issue which seems to me could have been completely avoided given institute collects 500rs for a qualifier exam .after saying all this i apolosize for my harsh words but do look into people grievance with a open mind.
We have your grievance in mind. We can resolve grievances.
Man, we will re-invent the whole thing if you suggest a superior system . We will give up everything and build things from scratch. We like to do it.
But the design of an aeroplane cannot be decided by popular vote, or it wont fly.
We dumped a whole databased of 5lakhs users ( on discuss.forumias.com ) , so that we could build a more positive community.
And we are committed to it at all costs, come what may.
Please do not assign adjectives, as we would not assign one to you either.
Please read elaborate documentation here
Peace!
@Rakshanda @ABHISHEK_VINKARE Some people from the previous entrance test have already paid the fees.
Well that's unfortunate. What's to be done now?
People selected from June 25th Test have to do nothing with respect to the second Test Today. Unless they could not make it decided to write todays test afresh by registering afresh.
So now it is quite clear that unfair means were used during today's test and there is no guarantee that this won’t happen after 15th of July in the daily tests.
Four remedial suggestions for the Forum IAS team :-
1) Eliminate the distinction between SFG and RLG .
2)Do away with the transfer of bottom 50% from SFG to RLG (for online mode) so students shall be less fascinated for cheating.
3)Do away with the elimination of bottom 10% students.
4) Uniform fee structure
Lastly this SFG programme is indeed a praiseworthy initiative and Forum IAS team deserves acknowledgement for their efforts.
@ForumIAS-Academy Today's test was really nice, I am expecting that questions will get better as we grow through this program, Please don't get bog down by the people who are criticizing as it was pretty obvious that people are definitely going to cheat in an online exam but it's pretty obvious that those bunch of people wont't be able to keep up that spirit even for a month. Moreover I feel more than money SFG/RLF is a self improvement program to get disciplined meanwhile brushing up your knowledge.
Kudos! to @ForumIAS-Academy team for working so hard to accommodate such large number of people in this test.
pranavjain1007785,
Everyone please listen, 2360 Rs for RLG and 1500 rs for SFG is not happening.
I am not at all in favor of this fee scenario. Please you guys, refrain from payment.
Economics is about supply demand, we the consumers need to unite in this fight against tyranny.
You can get daily dosage of questions from anywhere and I am only asking forumias to reduce the payment amount,
Last year for offline it was 1800 and 1200, and for online it should be even less because they have no printing cost. Only a pdf needs to be created.
This is extortion guys, please speak up.
@ForumIAS-Academy would we have to pay for the test for both the months of July-August and August-September ?
Considering that this is a online only test leading to huge reduction in printing cost shouldn't the fee be reduced ? I would agree that there would web infra, faculty and other associated cost involved but still it doesnt make sense to keep the fees same as offline SFG and charge for two months.
As per the current schedule, Test 41 is on 2nd Sept and there are only three tests after that which have been extended till 12th september. If at all you are going to charge for two months, then this seems to be a concious effort on your part. Further, there are no full lenght tests included in the program. To strech the program for two months and just so that we pay for the two months sounds extemely unfair to me.
This a genuine question which many of us would have. Please do consider clarifying it.
Everyone please listen, 2360 Rs for RLG and 1500 rs for SFG is not happening.
I am not at all in favor of this fee scenario. Please you guys, refrain from payment.
Economics is about supply demand, we the consumers need to unite in this fight against tyranny.You can get daily dosage of questions from anywhere and I am only asking forumias to reduce the payment amount,
Last year for offline it was 1800 and 1200, and for online it should be even less because they have no printing cost. Only a pdf needs to be created.
This is extortion guys, please speak up.
Non serious guys will drink booze for the money, but will protest against tyranny.
Have been part of this program. Cleared Prelims just because of this. Followed insights, 10pm and all that, but i cracked the exam finally because of it.
I am working with a coaching now in part time capacity, and I can see how coaching have been struggling to pay rents and maintain salaries of employees.
Especially coachings with physical centers are doomed if they don't survive this year. Good luck to you guys.
I was expecting that forum will disappear from Karol Bagh, but you guys have held up against all odds.
And don't listen to such guys who have not even conducted a college fest to know how much it costs to run an event, leave alone a program.
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