[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
On the contrary, don't you think 5-10 questions in a daily sfg test will give us sufficient practice and improve the confidence level?
Yeah of course. Including CSAT ques in test is a good idea. But, while calculating scores for the purpose of ranklist, we can request that the csat questions not be counted.
This is because, we will get to know where we stand in the particular subject, and our high (or low) scores will not be due to Csat ques. Also, in the actual examination, its our GS scores which determine cut off.
But again, Including CSAT ques in daily SFG test is a good initiative, and gets us into the practice mode. :)
BASSICK,On the contrary, don't you think 5-10 questions in a daily sfg test will give us sufficient practice and improve the confidence level?
Yeah of course. Including CSAT ques in test is a good idea. But, while calculating scores for the purpose of ranklist, we can request that the csat questions not be counted.
This is because, we will get to know where we stand in the particular subject, and our high (or low) scores will not be due to Csat ques. Also, in the actual examination, its our GS scores which determine cut off.
But again, Including CSAT ques in daily SFG test is a good initiative, and gets us into the practice mode. :)
@vikas_87643@K_H_Abhishek @Neyawn
Friends! Your concern is genuine regarding CSAT question's marks inclusion in the daily Rank List. But if they eliminate such questions the whole purpose of inclusion of question of CSAT defeated as people don't consider them seriously and left them unattempted. As I personally never attempt a single UPSC CSAT reding comprehension questions but here in this entrance I have attempted which takes me to the SFG Group list.
So better is that SFG 2.0 team also do the same with these 5-10 questions as UPSC do.
Like on weekly/monthly basis include these marks in a separate list and set 1/3rd is cutoff to enter into SFG list.
I too support the non-inclusion of CSAT in the SFG papers. Agreed that CSAT does play an important role, i feel it would not be helpful here. the people who are good at CSAT will get a false sense of achievement when their ranks would improve due to CSAT scores while those who are good at GS would not be able to judge their CSAT performance due to their rank improvement because of GS. i feel separate modules would be better for GS and CSAT.
I think having CSAT questions daily is a good idea. It gives us daily practice, which we tend to neglect otherwise. I don't think those 5-6 questions affect ranking much. One other request is to consider having a few FLT's towards the end, as it would give completion to the programme and benefit us a great deal@Neyawn
BASSICK,
I too support the non-inclusion of CSAT in the SFG papers. Agreed that CSAT does play an important role, i feel it would not be helpful here. the people who are good at CSAT will get a false sense of achievement when their ranks would improve due to CSAT scores while those who are good at GS would not be able to judge their CSAT performance due to their rank improvement because of GS. i feel separate modules would be better for GS and CSAT.
+120
IASbabuji,
please provide the schedule @forumias
Hello my dear friends, from reading all the above arguments in favour of and against inclusion of CSAT in daily SFG tests, I would like to share my thoughts on it.
First of all, I did SFG batch-1 in Dec. 2019. Talking to@Neyawn sir, we realised the importance of CSAT in Prelims. Sir told us that there were many bright students from 2019 sfg batch, who were scoring 110/120+ in Upsc Prelims but failed to clear CSAT!
So,its my STRONG opinion to INCLUDE CSAT IN DAILY SFG TESTS.Those who are comfortable with csat can solve it easily and those who are not comfortable in CSAT can do well by practising daily.
And the rest about whether csat score to be included in daily rankings or not should be decided by the Institution.
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