Full Forms: UPSC, IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, LBSNAA, DAF and More

UPSC CSE stands for Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination: UPSC is the Union Public Service Commission, and CSE is the Civil Services Examination it holds every year. Among the services it fills, IAS is the Indian Administrative Service, IPS the Indian Police Service, IFS the Indian Foreign Service and IRS the Indian Revenue Service. This page gives the full forms of those and the other short forms you meet while preparing, exactly as official documents print them, with the document named beside each one.

A short form appears here only if an official document prints it with its full form. One familiar abbreviation, CSAT, does not appear in the notice at all; the last section explains where its full form is printed.

The Commission and the exam

Short form	Full form	Where it is printed
UPSC	Union Public Service Commission	PIB release by UPSC, February 2026
CSE	Civil Services Examination	PIB release by UPSC, February 2026
IFoS	Indian Forest Service, as in the IFoS Examination	PIB release by UPSC, February 2026
QPRep	Online Question Paper Representation Portal	CSE 2026 notice
QCAB	Question Paper-cum-Answer book	UPSC's instructions for CSE 2025
DoPT	Department of Personnel & Training	PIB release, Ministry of Personnel, 2015

The Civil Services prelims also serves as the preliminary stage of the Indian Forest Service exam: UPSC lists it as the Indian Forest Service (Preliminary) Examination held through the CS(P) Examination. The services filled through the CSE are covered in what UPSC CSE is.

The services

Short form	Full form	Where it is printed
IAS	Indian Administrative Service	CSE 2026 notice
IFS	Indian Foreign Service	CSE 2026 notice
IPS	Indian Police Service	PIB release, Ministry of Home Affairs, August 2021; CSE 2026 notice
IRS	Indian Revenue Service. The CSE notice lists two: Customs & Indirect Taxes, and Income Tax.	PIB release, Ministry of Finance, April 2026; CSE 2026 notice
IA&AS	Indian Audit and Accounts Service	National Academy of Audit and Accounts (CAG)
IRMS	Indian Railway Management Service. The CSE notice lists three: Traffic, Personnel and Accounts.	PIB release, Ministry of Railways, February 2023; CSE 2026 notice
IIS	Indian Information Service	PIB release, Vice President's Secretariat, June 2024
AFHQ	Armed Forces Headquarters, as in the AFHQ Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer's Grade)	CSE 2026 notice
DANICS	Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service	CSE 2026 notice
DANIPS	Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service	CSE 2026 notice
PONDICS	Pondicherry Civil Service	CSE 2026 notice
PONDIPS	Pondicherry Police Service	CSE 2026 notice

Do not confuse IFS and IFoS. In the CSE notice, IFS is the Indian Foreign Service, filled through the Civil Services Examination. UPSC writes the Indian Forest Service as IFoS. The notice names its other services in full; the guide to the other services lists all 23.

Applying and the categories

Short form	Full form	Where it is printed
URN	Universal Registration Number	CSE 2026 notice
CAF	Common Application Form	CSE 2026 notice
OTR	One Time Registration	CSE 2024 and 2025 notices
OAF	Online Application Form	UPSC's instructions for CSE 2025
DAF	Detailed Application Form (DAF-I and DAF-II)	CSE 2024 notice
FC	Foundation Course	CSE 2026 notice
GL	General	CSE 2026 notice
EWS	Economically Weaker Sections	CSE 2026 notice
OBC	Other Backward Classes	CSE 2026 notice
SC	Scheduled Castes	CSE 2026 notice
ST	Scheduled Tribes	CSE 2026 notice
PwBD	Persons with Benchmark Disability	CSE 2026 notice
RPwD Act	The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016	CSE 2026 notice
ECO, SSCO	Emergency Commissioned Officer, Short Service Commissioned Officer	CSE 2026 notice

OTR, DAF and the new portal

The application terms changed recently. The CSE 2024 notice asked you to register once on the One Time Registration (OTR) platform, then to fill Detailed Application Form-I (DAF-I) after clearing the prelims and DAF-II, with your service preferences, before the interview. In the CSE 2025 notice the online form had four parts, the third of them the DAF. A PIB release by UPSC in February 2026 says a new online application portal replaced the OTR module on 28 May 2025. The CSE 2026 notice accordingly uses a Universal Registration Number (URN) and a Common Application Form (CAF), with windows to update it after the prelims and after the mains. See the application guide.

Training academies

Short form	Full form	Where it is printed
LBSNAA	Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie	LBSNAA website
SVPNPA	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy	SVPNPA website
NADT	National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur	PIB release, Ministry of Finance, April 2026
NAAA	National Academy of Audit and Accounts, Shimla	NAAA website (CAG)

LBSNAA's website describes it as an attached office of the Department of Personnel & Training that runs a common Foundation Course for entrants to the All India Services, the Indian Foreign Service and the Group ‘A’ services. SVPNPA trains officers of the Indian Police Service. The LBSNAA and IAS training guide covers the courses.

What about CSAT?

UPSC's notice does not use the abbreviation CSAT. It calls the second prelims paper General Studies Paper-II, a qualifying paper in which you need 33%. UPSC's press release of 27 May 2026, issued through PIB, gives the full form: it calls the same paper the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) [Paper-II]. The CSAT syllabus guide covers the paper itself.