APPSC Forest Beat Officer Syllabus, Exam Pattern

2026 scheme, one level only, online (CBRT). If the exam runs in more than one session, marks are normalised.

Merit is on the 200 marks of Papers I and II. A wrong answer costs one third of the marks for that question. The essay only has to be passed.

In 2025 the screening test was a single 150-mark OMR paper, half General Studies and Mental Ability and half General Science and Mathematics, and the main exam used the same three papers as above.

Paper I: science in everyday life, current events of India and Andhra Pradesh, Indian history with a focus on AP and the national movement, geography of India and AP, polity, economy and rural development, reasoning, sustainable development, and disaster management (cyclones, floods, tsunami, drought and man-made disasters).

Paper II, science half (50 marks): energy sources including nuclear energy; life processes, respiration, circulation, excretion and the nervous system; reproduction, heredity and evolution; metals, non-metals and carbon compounds; pollution and conservation; the solar system and satellites. One unit is on ethnobotany and lists about 40 medicinal plants by common and botanical name, from ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) and tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) to arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) and sandal (Santalum album).

Paper II, maths half (50 marks): arithmetic, algebra up to quadratics, basic trigonometry and heights and distances, geometry, mensuration, and elementary statistics.

Full list in the 2026 notification annexure.

Education: a pass in Intermediate or an equivalent exam, held on the date of the detailed notification.

Age: in the 2025 cycle the limit was 18 to 30 years as on 1 July 2025, with 5 years more for SC, ST, BC and EWS candidates and 10 years for SC/ST carried-forward vacancies. Some general age concessions of the AP service rules, including the one for defence personnel and NCC instructors, did not apply. The 2026 detailed notification will fix the reference date.

Physical standards (as in the 2025 notification):

Height is relaxed by 5 cm for Scheduled Tribes and for Gurkha, Nepalese, Assamese, Naga, Sikkimese, Bhutanese and similar hill communities. If the ST quota still cannot be filled, the floor drops to 158 cm and 78.8 cm chest. Normal eyesight is required. There is no reservation for persons with benchmark disabilities in this post.

1. Written exam (one CBRT exam in 2026).
2. Candidates are called in a 1:2 ratio to the vacancies for the walking test and a medical board, both arranged by the Forest Department with APPSC. In 2025 the medical board sat at Rajamahendravaram. The walk carries no marks.
3. Computer Proficiency Test: 60 minutes, 100 marks, practical. You must score 40 (OC), 35 (BC) or 30 (SC/ST).
4. Final merit on written marks plus NCC bonus: 5 for a C certificate, 3 for B, 1 for A.

The 2025 notification set the minimum aggregate at 40% for OC, EWS and ex-servicemen, 35% for BCs and 30% for SC/ST. The post is a district cadre, and the district preference is taken at certificate verification.

Forest Beat Officer: ₹25,220 to ₹80,910 (2026 and 2025 notifications). In the 2025 cycle the Assistant Beat Officer scale was ₹23,120 to ₹74,770.

Register once through One Time Profile Registration (OTPR) and apply with that ID on the APPSC application portal. In 2025 the fee was ₹250 processing plus ₹80 exam fee; SC, ST, BC, ex-servicemen, white ration card families of AP and unemployed youth were spared the ₹80, but candidates from other states paid both. The 2026 fee and the full rules are in the detailed notification due on 16 October 2026.

The exam date will come as a web note on the Examination Calendar page.

Keys appear on the Keys page and results on the Results page. For the 2025 cycle, the screening result came out on 9 October 2025. The main exam initial keys were posted on 17 February 2026; by mid-October 2026 no final result for that cycle was on the Results page.

• Paper II is school science and maths. Class 9 and 10 AP textbooks cover most of it.
• Learn the ethnobotany table by heart; it is a closed list of plant names.
• Write a few timed essays on forest and environment themes in the language you will choose.
• Start walking practice early. Twenty-five km in four hours is a steady 6.25 km an hour.
• The 2025 screening paper with final key shows the level of questions.

• APPSC recruitment notifications
• Brief Notification 18/2026, Forest Beat Officer
• Notification 06/2025, FBO and ABO
• Main exam schedule of February 2026
• OTPR and online application
• Hall tickets
• Question papers and keys
• Results

Is there a screening test in 2026?

No. The 2026 notification has one computer-based exam whatever the number of applicants.

Is Assistant Beat Officer included this time?

No. Notification 18/2026 is for Forest Beat Officer only, 23 posts.

Can a graduate apply?

Yes. Intermediate is the minimum, so a degree holder qualifies.

Does the walking test count towards merit?

No. It is pass or fail.

When is the exam?

Not announced as of 16 October 2026. Watch the Examination Calendar page after applications close on 5 November.