The UPSC conducts the CDS Exam (Combined Defence Service) twice a year to recruit for Commissioned Officer positions in the Navy, Air Force, and Indian Army. In February and November, the CDS Exam 2023 was held for the recruitment of 345 jobs. The CDS Exam Admit Card was made available on the official website. For better preparation, future candidates can download past years’ CDS exam papers.
What is CDS Exam?
The Union Public Service Commission organizes the Combined Defence Services to select commissioned officers for the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Officers Training Academy (OTA), Indian Naval Academy (INA), and Indian Air Force Academy (AFA).
The CDS test is given twice a year. The CDS written test and the SSB interview are the two stages of the exam.
CDS Exam: Highlights
Here are the key points of the CDS Exam:
- Duration of Exam – Two hours (for one paper
- Application Fee – INR 200/-
- Exam Purpose – Recruitment of Commissioned Officers in IMA, INA, OTA, and AFA
- Vacancies – 341
- Official Website – https://www.upsc.gov.in/
CDS Notification
The UPSC official website has published the CDS notification for the CDS test. The number of positions, exam format, syllabus, and selection have all been disclosed in the official CDS notification. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the exam process by reading the official notification.
UPSC CDS Exam Important Dates
- Application Begin: 21/12/2022
- Last Date of Apply Online: 12/01/2023 Till 06:00 PM
- Fee Payment Last Date: 12/01/2023
- Exam Date: 16/04/2023
- Admit Card Available: March 2023
CDS Exam Eligibility Criteria
Before applying for the CDS Exam, all applicants must examine the CDS eligibility requirements. Check out the following content to learn more:
CDS Eligibility Criteria: Nationality
All the important details, including the eligibility criteria, are mentioned by the authorities in the CDS notification.
The nationality requirements of CDS are listed below.
- A Citizen of India,
- A subject of Bhutan or Nepal
- A Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1962 intending to permanently settle in India,
- A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, and Ethiopia or Vietnam intending to permanently settle in India.
CDS Exam Eligibility Criteria: Age Limit and Marital Status
Female candidates can only apply for OTA, according to CDS norms, however, male candidates can apply for any CDS Examination post as long as they meet the other eligibility requirements.
The age restriction and requisite marital status are listed below.
- CDS Age Limit – 19 – 24 Years
- Marital Status – Unmarried
CDS Exam Educational Qualification
As previously stated, candidates taking the CDS exam must have completed their graduation or, at the very least, be taking the degree’s final exam. It’s vital to remember that CDS admit cards are only given out to candidates who meet all of the requirements.
- Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) – Graduation from a recognized university
- Indian Naval Academy (INA) – An engineering degree from a recognized university/institute
- Air Force Academy (AFA) – Bachelor of Engineering or Graduation (with Physics and Mathematics at Class 12)
CDS Eligibility Criteria: Other Physical Standards
- CDS Heights Standards
The minimum acceptable height for male candidates is 157.5 cm. (157 cm for the Navy and 162.5 cm for Air Force) and that for female candidates is 152 cm. - Visual Standards
A. Male
Vision (corrected) better eye 6/6 and worse eye 6/12
Myopia of not more than minus 3.5 D
Manifest hypermetropia should be less than plus 3.5 D including Astigmatism
B. Female
Vision(corrected) better eye 6/6, worse eye 6/12
Myopia of not more than minus 5.5 D
Manifest hypermetropia should be less than plus 3.5 D including Astigmatism.
CDS Exam 2023 Exam Pattern and Syllabus
CDS Exam Pattern For IMA, IAF, INA & NA
| Subjects | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| English | 100 | 2 hours |
| General Knowledge | 100 | 2 hours |
| Elementary Mathematics | 100 | 2 hours |
Exam Pattern for Officers Training Academy (OTA)
| Subjects | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| English | 100 | 2 hours |
| General Knowledge | 100 | 2 hours |
UPSC CDS Vacancies Details Total 341 Post
| Post Name | Total Post | CDS I Age Limit | UPSC CDS Eligibility |
| Indian Military Academy( IMA) | 100 | 02/01/1999 to 01/01/2004 | Passed / Appearing Bachelor Degree in Any Stream at Any Recognized University. |
| Indian Naval Academy (INA) | 22 | 02/01/1999 to 01/01/2004 | Passed / Appearing Bachelor Degree in Engineering at Any Recognized University. |
| Air Force | 32 | 02/01/1999 to 01/01/2004 | Bachelor’s Degree in Any Stream with Physics, Mathematics in 10+2 Level OR Bachelor Degree in Engineering |
| Officers Training Academy (OTA) + OTA Women |
170 + 17 |
02/01/1998 to 01/01/2004 | Passed / Appearing Bachelor Degree in Any Stream at Any Recognized University. |
UPSC CDS Important Links
Apply Online Click Here (Part- 1)
General Knowledge Preparation Highlights
- The total marks of this paper are 100 marks consisting of 120 questions.
- Candidates will get 2 hours to complete this paper.
- Each question carries 0.83 marks.
- For each wrong answer, there will a deduction of -0.27 marks.
- Questions will be asked in both English and Hindi.
General Knowledge Syllabus
| Economics | Physics | Current Affairs |
| Chemistry | Science & Technology | History and Culture |
| Geography | Environment and Biodiversity | Polity and Governance |
| Biology | Miscellaneous | Defence-related |
Expected Number of Questions
| Topics | Number of Questions | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
| History | 23 – 18 | Moderate |
| Geography | 15 – 17 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Polity | 13 – 17 | Moderate |
| Economy | 12 – 14 | Moderate |
| Current Affairs | 20 – 23 | Easy to Moderate |
| Physics | 8 – 10 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Chemistry | 8 – 10 | Moderate |
| Biology | 9 – 10 | Moderate |
| Defence News | 9 – 11 | Moderate |
| Miscellaneous GK | 15 – 17 | Easy to Moderate |
Elementary Mathematics Preparation Highlights
- CDS is a one-day Exam. The mathematics paper will be scheduled on the same day as the CDS Exam along with the English and General Knowledge paper.
- This paper consists of 100 questions.
- The duration of this paper is 2 hours.
- The marking scheme of each question is 1 mark for each correct attempt and -0.33 for each wrong attempt.
- There will be no deduction of marks for unattempted questions.
Elementary Mathematics Syllabus
| Natural numbers | Integers | Rational and Real Number |
| H.C.F. and L.C.M. | Factorization Theorem | Algebra |
| Elementary Number Theory | Decimal fractions | Unitary method |
| Time and Work | Percentages | Simple and Compound Interest |
| Ratio and Proportion | Variations | Profit and Loss |
| Time and distance | Trigonometry | Fundamental Operations (BODMAS) |
| Geometry | Mensuration | Statistics |
Expected Number of Questions
| Topics | Level of difficulty | Number of Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Number System | Easy | 20 |
| Mensuration | Moderate | 13 – 15 |
| Geometry | Moderate to Difficult | 11 – 15 |
| Time, Speed and Distance | Moderate | 6 |
| Simple Interest/ Compound interest | Easy | 2 – 5 |
| Trigonometry | Moderate | 12 |
| Algebra | Moderate to Difficult | 7 – 10 |
| Percentage | Easy-Moderate | 2 – 4 |
| Mixture | Moderate | 1 |
| Time and Work | Moderate | 5 |
| Ratio and Proportion | Moderate | 2 |
| Profit and Loss | Moderate | 1 |
| DI and DS | Moderate | 3 |
| Statistics | Easy | 8 |
English Preparation Highlights
- The total marks of this paper are 100 marks.
- This paper consists of 120 objective types of questions.
- Each question will have four options and one of them will be the correct answer.
- Each question bears +0.83 marks and there will be a deduction of -0.27 for every wrong answer.
- The conducting board has been given 2 hours to complete this paper.
English Syllabus
| Antonyms and Synonyms | Sentence improvement | Error Correction |
| Fill in the Blanks | Word substitution | Ordering of sentences |
| Spotting Errors | Cloze tests | Ordering of words in a sentence |
| Idioms and Phrase | Reported Speech | Active and Passive Voice |
Expected Number of Questions in English
| Topics | Expected Number of Questions | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence Improvement | 20 – 25 | Moderate |
| Ordering of words in a sentence | 12 – 18 | Easy |
| Ordering of sentences in b/w first and last sentence | 10 – 15 | Easy |
| Fill in the blanks | 5 – 10 | Easy |
| Selecting Words/ Cloze Test | 18 – 23 | Easy-Moderate |
| Spotting Errors | 20 – 25 | Easy |
| Reading Comprehension | 15 – 20 (4-6 passages) | Moderate |
| Synonyms | 8 – 10 | Moderate |
| Antonyms | 7 – 10 | Moderate |
| One Word Substitution | 1 – 4 | Moderate |
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