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Label Element Value
Risk Return Abstract rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Document Type dei_DocumentType Other
Document Period End Date dei_DocumentPeriodEndDate Nov. 06, 2015
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName First Trust Series Fund
Central Index Key dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0001497778
Amendment Flag dei_AmendmentFlag false
Document Creation Date dei_DocumentCreationDate Nov. 06, 2015
Document Effective Date dei_DocumentEffectiveDate Nov. 06, 2015
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Nov. 06, 2015
First Trust Series Fund  
Risk Return Abstract rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading

SUMMARY INFORMATION
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The investment objective of the First Trust AQA(R) Equity Fund (the "Fund") is to seek capital appreciation.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Fund or in other First Trust Advisors L.P. mutual funds. More information about these and other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is available from your financial advisor and in "Share Classes" on page 12 of this prospectus, "Investment in Fund Shares" on page 15 of this prospectus and "Purchase and Redemption of Fund Shares" on page 34 of the Fund's statement of additional information ("SAI").
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text] rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

SHAREHOLDER FEES

(fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance.
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

EXAMPLE
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or do not redeem your shares at the end of a period. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's annual operating expenses remain at current levels until November 9, 2016. Following such date, the example assumes that the pre-waiver expense ratios provided above are applied. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in equity securities (specifically, common stocks) of U.S. companies. The Advisor typically selects common stocks for investment by the Fund using information produced by a proprietary quantitative methodology developed by the Fund's sub-advisor called the Automated Quantitative Analysis ("AQA(R)") program. In general, the stocks chosen for investment by the Fund are those considered by AQA(R) to be the most undervalued at the time the portfolio was selected based on a set of pre-determined proprietary screens and evaluations.

The AQA(R) program provides a framework for making fact-based investment choices from relevant, publicly available information in an effort to capitalize on discrepancies between value and price. The AQA(R) program calculates value using publicly available financial information from the most recent 32 quarters for every company in the AQA(R) universe, which starts with every company included in the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 or S&P SmallCap 600 indices, but excludes the securities of banks and insurance companies. Companies are further screened for trading volume and to exclude companies with a market capitalization of less than $100 million or a share price of less than five dollars, as well as to manage diversification limits under the Investment Company Act of 1940 Act (the "1940 Act"). The AQA(R) program calculates the value of individual companies and compares those measures of value with the current stock prices. The discrepancy between the calculated value and the current stock price determines the relative under or over valuation of each stock, and then stocks are ranked according to this discrepancy.

The analysis of the AQA(R) program attempts to duplicate the recognition of value by the market. Within AQA(R), it takes approximately three years for a security in the program's top ten to be moved by the market from undervalued to fair value. The goal of AQA(R) is to accelerate the process of value recognition. The value recognition process is a series of measurements of historical balance sheet and income statement items and their trends, as well as ratios comprised of two or more of these items and their trends over time. Each company is, in this way, measured internally back eight years on a quarterly basis, and in turn is measured against each of the companies in the AQA(R) universe. Each of these measurements is weighted based on its correlation to price movements over time to arrive at a value recognition process which parallels that existing historically in the stock market. However, the process of value recognition in the market currently takes place over an approximately 30-month period. The AQA(R) program reproduces this recognition process in approximately 60 seconds.

The AQA(R) tool does not provide a forward view of balance sheet and income statement performance. It focuses on a company's past financial performance; only publicly filed financial information, outstanding shares and dividend information are used in the calculation of value. The AQA(R) program does not incorporate other information regarding the companies, including historical stock prices, company products, material news events affecting the company, industry or markets in general, or other material information that may be released subsequent to the most recent publicly-filed financial statements.

The Fund's portfolio will be adjusted on a weekly basis to reflect the updated recommendations of the AQA(R) program. The portfolio managers may, in their discretion, exclude from the Fund's holdings or cause the Fund to sell securities recommended by the AQA(R) program, but will not cause the Fund to purchase securities not recommended by the AQA(R) program. In general, the portfolio managers will cause the Fund to purchase the stock of a company the first time it enters the AQA(R) program's top ten. The portfolio managers will cause the Fund to sell a company's stock if (1) the stock is considered overvalued by the AQA(R) program and has been held for at least a year and a day and (2) the stock has been held by the Fund for a period of time equal to the average holding period for the AQA(R) universe over the trailing ten years (which currently is 30 months) or (3) the stock's issuer has been acquired by another company.
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading

PRINCIPAL RISKS
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objective will be achieved.

Equity Securities Risk. Because the Fund invests in equity securities, the value of the Fund's shares will fluctuate with changes in the value of these equity securities. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons, including changes in investors' perceptions of the financial condition of an issuer or the general condition of the relevant stock market, such as market volatility, or when political or economic events affecting the issuers occur. In addition, common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase.

Liquidity Risk. The Fund invests in equity securities that may have limited liquidity despite being listed on a securities exchange. Equity securities that are less liquid or that trade less can be more difficult or more costly to buy, or to sell, compared to other more liquid or active investments. This liquidity risk is a factor of the trading volume of a particular security, as well as the size and liquidity of the market for such security. The prices at which the equity securities are held in the Fund will be adversely affected if trading markets for the equity securities are limited or absent.

Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security owned by the Fund or shares of the Fund in general may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of the Fund could decline in value or underperform other investments.

Model Risk. The Fund relies heavily on a proprietary quantitative model that uses information and data supplied by third parties. When the model and data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon expose the Fund to potential risks.

New Fund Risk. The Fund currently has fewer assets than larger funds, and like other relatively new funds, large inflows and outflows may impact the Fund's market exposure for limited periods of time. This impact may be positive or negative, depending on the direction of market movement during the period affected. Also, during the initial invest-up period, the Fund may depart from its principal investment strategies and invest a larger amount or all of its assets in cash equivalents or it may hold cash.

Smaller Companies Risk. The Fund invests in small and/or mid capitalization companies. Such companies may be more vulnerable to adverse general market or economic developments, and their securities may be less liquid and may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies as a result of several factors, including limited trading volumes, products or financial resources, management inexperience and less publicly available information. Accordingly, such companies are generally subject to greater market risk than larger, more established companies.

Value Investing Risk. The Fund focuses its investments on securities that the proprietary quantitative model on which the Fund is based considers to be undervalued or inexpensive relative to other investments. These types of securities may present risks in addition to the general risks associated with investing in them. These securities are selected on the basis of an issuer's business and economic fundamentals or a security's current credit profile, relative to current market practice. Disciplined adherence to a "value" investment mandate during period in which that style is "out of favor" can result in significant underperformance relative to overall market indices and other managed investment vehicles that pursue growth style investments and/or flexible style mandates.
Performance Table Heading rr_PerformanceTableHeading

PERFORMANCE
Performance Table Narrative rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock

The Fund has not yet commenced operations and, therefore, does not have a performance history. Once available, the Fund's performance information will give some indication of the risks of an investment in the Fund by comparing the Fund's performance with a broad measure of market performance, and will be accessible on the Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
First Trust Series Fund | Class A  
Risk Return Abstract rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice 5.50%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none [1]
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Exchange Fee rr_ExchangeFee none
Management Fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 0.25%
Other Expenses rr_Component1OtherExpensesOverAssets 1.19% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.44%
Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.84%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.60%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 704
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 1,196
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 704
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 $ 1,196
First Trust Series Fund | Class C  
Risk Return Abstract rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice 1.00% [1]
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Exchange Fee rr_ExchangeFee none
Management Fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets 1.00%
Other Expenses rr_Component1OtherExpensesOverAssets 1.19% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 3.19%
Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.84%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 2.35%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 338
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 909
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 238
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 $ 909
First Trust Series Fund | Class I  
Risk Return Abstract rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) rr_MaximumSalesChargeImposedOnPurchasesOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOfferingPrice none
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested Dividends rr_MaximumSalesChargeOnReinvestedDividendsAndDistributionsOverOther none
Exchange Fee rr_ExchangeFee none
Management Fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 1.00%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none
Other Expenses rr_Component1OtherExpensesOverAssets 1.19% [2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 2.19%
Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.84%) [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 1.35%
Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 137
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 607
Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear01 137
Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleNoRedemptionYear03 $ 607
[1] For Class A shares purchased at net asset value without a sales charge because the purchase amount exceeded $1 million, where the financial intermediary did not waive the sales commission, a contingent deferred sales charge ("CDSC") of 1% is imposed on any redemption within 12 months of purchase. The CDSC on Class C shares applies only to redemptions within 12 months of purchase.
[2] Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
[3] The Fund's investment advisor and sub-advisor have agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse Fund expenses so that the Total Annual Operating Expenses of the Fund (excluding 12b-1 distribution and service fees, interest expense, brokerage commissions and other trading expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes and extraordinary expenses) do not exceed 1.35% of the Fund's average daily net assets of any class of Fund shares per year (the "Expense Cap") at least through November 9, 2016. Expenses reimbursed and fees waived under such agreement are subject to recovery by the Fund's investment advisor and sub-advisor for up to three years from the date the fee was waived or expense was incurred, but no reimbursement payment will be made by the Fund if it results in the Fund exceeding an expense ratio equal to the Expense Cap in place at the time the expenses were reimbursed or fees waived by the Fund's investment advisor and sub-advisor. The agreement may be terminated by the Trust on behalf of the Fund at any time and by the Fund's advisor, subject to the Board of Trustees' approval, only after November 9, 2016 upon 60 days' written notice.