The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is a coveted service in the UPSC civil services. Entry into the IFS is your window to a career in the foreign service. You can be a diplomat representing India in various other countries and international arenas, and even rise to be an ambassador of the country. However, it is not easy to get into this service. Just clearing the civil services exam is not enough for this service as you require a high rank here. On top of that, there are very few vacancies for the IFS each year. On average, only about 35 successful candidates are chosen for the Indian Foreign Service. This article tries to throw some light on the last rank needed for the IFS in the UPSC exam.
Anmol Sher Singh Bedi, who secured the all India rank of 2 in the UPSC civil services exam 2016 had opted for the IFS instead of the IAS. So, what rank should you secure in the UPSC exam to get selected for the foreign service? We give you a table that showcases the last rank secured by candidates for the IFS across all categories.
Indian Foreign Service – Category-Wise Last Rank to get IFS
The table below mentions the last rank of candidates from 2007 to 2018. Marks of a few last ranks are also given:
| Year | General | OBC | SC | ST | ||||
| Rank | Marks | Rank | Marks | Rank | Marks | Rank | Marks | |
| 2018 | 134 | 1011 | 450 | 968 | 468 | 965 | 603 | 942 |
| 2017 | 152 | 1042 | 602 | 996 | 717 | 982 | 616 | 995 |
| 2016 | 208 | 1021 | 615 | 988 | 740 | 970 | 922 | 954 |
| 2015 | 157 | 917 | 624 | 870 | 727 | 852 | – | – |
| 2014 | 114 | 950 | 567 | 898 | 756 | 880 | 926 | 858 |
| 2013 | 141 | 830 | 448 | 793 | 621 | 780 | 824 | 756 |
| 2012 | 134 | 1006 | 328 | 966 | 659 | 936 | – | – |
| 2011 | 162 | 360 | 571 | 620 | ||||
| 2010 | 140 | 283 | 514 | 676 | ||||
| 2009 | 108 | 285 | 246 | 570 | ||||
| 2008 | 103 | 257 | 417 | 586 | ||||
| 2007 | 92 | 150 | 321 | 347 | ||||
Next, we give you another table which shows the number of vacancies in the foreign service as given by the UPSC:
| Year | No. of Vacancies | ||||
| General | OBC | SC | ST | Total | |
| 2019 | – | – | – | – | 24 |
| 2018 | – | – | – | – | 30 |
| 2017 | – | – | – | – | 44 |
| 2016 | – | – | – | – | 45 |
| 2015 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 45 | |
| 2014 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 32 |
| 2013 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 32 |
| 2012 | 16 | 9 | 5 | – | 30 |
| 2011 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 40 |
| 2010 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 35 |
As you can see there are very few vacancies for the Indian Foreign Service as compared to the other services. So, you need a good rank to be eligible for selection into this service.
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