APPSC Forest Beat Officer Syllabus 2026: Essay, 200 Marks, Walking Test

Posts and the 5 November close are on the recruitment page. The lists below are the annexure to brief 18/2026. Height and walk distance are only in the 16 October detailed PDF.

Scheme

G.O.Ms.No.3, G.A. (Ser-A), 4 January 2019. Single-level CBRT, no screening. Negative marking one-third on the objective papers.

Essay

One question, 45 minutes, 50 marks. Theme: forests and environment. Pick the language you can write continuously in. A 200 on the objectives with an unreadable essay is not the selection the annexure describes. Practise one handwritten page a week: fire season, reserved forest versus protected area, human-wildlife conflict, or a named Andhra Pradesh sanctuary. Do not memorise a Delhi-centric essay that never names an AP forest.

Paper I

Intermediate standard, not a specialist science paper.

1. General science and everyday S&T, as expected of an Intermediate holder who has not specialised.
2. Current events of national importance and Andhra Pradesh.
3. History of India, social, economic, cultural and political, with AP and the national movement.
4. Geography of India with focus on Andhra Pradesh.
5. Indian polity and economy: political system, rural development, planning, reforms.
6. Mental ability: reasoning and inferences.
7. Sustainable development and environmental protection.
8. Disaster management: concepts and the India / AP vulnerability profile; earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, flood, drought; man-made disasters and mitigation.

Paper II

General science, 50 marks.

Energy. Renewable: solar cooker, water heater and cell; wind; hydro including tides; geothermal; wood; biogas; hydrogen; alcohol. Non-renewable: coal, petroleum, natural gas; combustion and fuel efficiency; fusion and fission; chain reaction; reactor safety; hazards; Mangal (fuelless) turbine, principle and uses.

Living world. Nutrition modes; photosynthesis; Amoeba and grasshopper; human gut; plant and animal respiration; aerobic and anaerobic; skin, gills, trachea, lungs (earthworm, fishes, grasshopper, human); human respiratory system.

Transport and excretion. Water, minerals and food in plants; human blood, clotting, groups, transfusion, heart, vessels, lymph; excretion in Amoeba, earthworm and human; osmoregulation; nervous system and hormones; reflex.

Reproduction, heredity, evolution. Asexual (fission, budding, regeneration, cutting, grafting, layering, parthenogenesis); sexual reproduction in plants; human reproductive system and development; heredity and variation; chromosomes, DNA (elementary), genes, sex determination; elementary evolution.

Metals and non-metals. Ores, extraction of iron and aluminium, activity series, corrosion, steel, stainless, brass, magnalium, gold alloys. Hydrogen, ammonia (reactions only), sulphur and SO2, sulphuric acid (reactions only).

Carbon compounds. Oxygen-containing groups; alcohols; formaldehyde, acetone, acetic acid; polymers; soaps and detergents.

Environment. Land, water, air, noise, waste; biodegradable versus not; ecosystem balance; rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, forest and land conservation, public awareness; greenhouse, global warming, ozone, acid rain.

Ethnobotany. Morphological study and classification by use and life span. Botanical names and medicinal use of the printed lists, including (seasonal) Celastrus paniculatus, Withania somnifera, Zingiber officinale, Curcuma longa, Allium sativum, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Mimosa pudica, Glycine max, Asparagus racemosus, Rauvolfia serpentina, Plantago ovata, Cuminum cyminum, Foeniculum vulgare, Trachyspermum ammi, Origanum majorana, Ocimum sanctum, Acorus calamus, Adhatoda vasica, Tinospora cordifolia, Cissus quadrangularis, Bryophyllum, Phyllanthus niruri, Dioscorea pentaphylla, Ricinus communis; and (perennial) Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellirica, Phyllanthus emblica, Vitex negundo, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachta indica, Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia catechu, Pongamia pinnata, Murraya koenigii, Bauhinia variegata, Ficus religiosa, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Cassia fistula, Punica granatum, Santalum album, Strychnos nux-vomica, Thespesia populnea, Terminalia arjuna, Eucalyptus, Aegle marmelos, Achyranthes aspera, Eclipta alba, Nerium oleander. The annexure spellings are uneven. Learn the botanical name as printed.

Universe and space. Solar system, earth, stars, galaxies; spacecraft; satellites for communication, weather, remote sensing and defence.

General mathematics, 50 marks. Number system; unitary method (time and distance, work, percentages, SI CI, profit and loss, ratio); primes, divisibility, HCF, LCM, Euclidean algorithm, logs to base 10. Algebra: factors, remainder theorem, quadratics (real roots), two-variable linear equations and inequalities, sets, indices. Trigonometry: sin cos tan at 0, 30, 45, 60, 90; identities; heights and distances. Geometry: lines, triangles, congruence, similarity, parallelogram, circle, loci. Mensuration: plane areas, field book, cuboid, cone, cylinder, sphere. Statistics: collection, polygons, histograms, bars, pie, mean median mode.

Walk and CPT

Walking test and Medical Board: Forest Department, APPSC concurrence. Call 1:2 of vacancies, Rules 22 and 22A. For 23 posts that is about 46 names. Distances and height: 16 October detailed PDF only. This page will not invent 25 km.

CPT annexure: 60 minutes, 100 marks, qualifying 40 / 35 / 30, same office-automation practical as other APPSC Grade-III posts. Confirm in the detailed notice whether it is required at offer.

How to prepare

Paper II science is class 10 depth with an ethnobotany list most Intermediate students never revised. Make flashcards of the printed botanical names. Mathematics is SSC; start this week if you are rusty.

Paper I needs Andhra Pradesh current events and disaster profile (cyclone and flood), not only national headlines.

Walk on the 16 October standard, three times a week, from now. The 1:2 list is short.

A full 200-question objective mock is on the practice page.

Ethnobotany as printed

The science half of Paper II is class 10 depth until the plant table. The annexure wants morphological study and classification by use and life span, then botanical names and medicinal use of two printed lists.

Seasonal list as printed: Celastrus paniculatus, Withania somnifera, Zingiber officinale, Curcuma longa, Allium sativum, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Mimosa pudica, Glycine max, Asparagus racemosus, Rauvolfia serpentina, Plantago ovata, Cuminum cyminum, Foeniculum vulgare, Trachyspermum ammi, Origanum majorana, Ocimum sanctum, Acorus calamus, Adhatoda vasica, Tinospora cordifolia, Cissus quadrangularis, Bryophyllum, Phyllanthus niruri, Dioscorea pentaphylla, Ricinus communis.

Perennial list as printed: Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellirica, Phyllanthus emblica, Vitex negundo, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachta indica, Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia catechu, Pongamia pinnata, Murraya koenigii, Bauhinia variegata, Ficus religiosa, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Cassia fistula, Punica granatum, Santalum album, Strychnos nux-vomica, Thespesia populnea, Terminalia arjuna, Eucalyptus, Aegle marmelos, Achyranthes aspera, Eclipta alba, Nerium oleander.

The annexure spellings are uneven. Learn the botanical name as printed. Tulsi is Ocimum sanctum on this paper. Neem is Azadirachta indica. Arjuna is Terminalia arjuna. Sandal is Santalum album. A blog that swaps a synonym onto the list is not the annexure.

The rest of science is energy (renewable and non-renewable, fusion and fission, reactor safety, Mangal fuelless turbine), living world, transport and excretion, reproduction and heredity, metals and carbon compounds, pollution and greenhouse, and a short space block. That is SSC, not a forestry degree.

Mathematics at SSC speed

Fifty marks: number system; unitary method (time and distance, work, percentages, SI CI, profit and loss, ratio); primes, divisibility, HCF, LCM, Euclidean algorithm, logs to base 10; algebra (factors, remainder theorem, quadratics with real roots, two-variable linear equations and inequalities, sets, indices); trigonometry (sin, cos, tan at 0, 30, 45, 60, 90; identities; heights and distances); geometry (lines, triangles, congruence, similarity, parallelogram, circle, loci); mensuration (plane areas, field book, cuboid, cone, cylinder, sphere); statistics (collection, polygons, histograms, bars, pie, mean, median, mode).

If you last sat this in 2018, start this week. Paper I will not hide a zero in mensuration. Negative marking is one-third. A blank is safer than a guess you do not own.

The essay remains a qualifying 50-mark page on forests and environment. Merit is 200. The walk and Medical Board still sit after the written result, at 1:2, distances only in the 16 October detailed PDF. This page will not invent 25 km.

CPT is annexed: 60 minutes, 100 marks, qualifying 40 / 35 / 30. Confirm in the detailed notice whether it is required at offer. Ignore the annexure only if the 16 October PDF drops it.

Paper I still needs Andhra Pradesh current events and the state disaster profile (cyclone and flood). An all-India environment essay that never names an AP sanctuary is the wrong qualifying page.

This notification is 18/2026. Forest Range Officer (16) and Forest Section Officer (17) are other essential rows. Endowments EO (23) is a bachelor's degree and the Act. Group-I (07) is 166 posts and a January OMR. Do not mix the schemes.

Apply 16 October to 5 November 2026, 11:59 pm. Intermediate on 16 October. Pay Rs 25,220 to 80,910 as printed. Confirm fee, age, height and walk distance in the 16 October detailed PDF on psc.ap.gov.in.

Vacancies and the apply path are on the recruitment page.

If you have already submitted 18/2026, open the 16 October detailed PDF tonight and write the height and walk rows on paper. Then walk three times this week on that standard. A 200 on the objectives with a failed walk is not a selection the annexure describes.