Combined Defence Services Examination

The Combined Defence Services Examination (abbreviated as CDS Exam) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment of Commissioned Officers in the Indian Military Academy, Officers Training Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Indian Air Force Academy. The Notification for the examination is usually released in the months of December and May, and the examinations are conducted in April and September respectively. Only unmarried graduates are eligible to sit for the exam. Examination is conducted twice a year. Successful candidates are admitted into the respective Academies after an interview conducted by the Services Selection Board (SSB).

Age Limit

Indian Military Academy	19–24 years
Air Force Academy	19–24 years
Naval Academy	19–24 years
Officers Training Academy	19–25 years

Educational Qualifications

CDS Exam Educational Qualifications is given below.

For I.M.A. and Officers’ Training Academy	Degree from a recognized University or equivalent
For Indian Naval Academy	Degree in Engineering from a recognized University or equivalent
For Air Force Academy	Degree of a recognized University (with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level) or Bachelor of Engineering

Physical Standards

Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards criteria given in the official advertisement by the UPSC.

Union Public Service Commission has set the eligibility criteria For Combined Defence Services. Before applying to the CDS exam Candidate must check the eligibility criteria. The basic physical standard for a candidate is:

1. The candidate should be physically as well as mentally fit.
2. Permanent tattoos on the body are prohibited.
3. No hernia anywhere on the body.
4. No hearing impairment, deformities/disabilities in-ears vestibule-cochlear system.
5. There is no active congenital venereal disease.

Here are the requirements for the Height and Weight standards to qualify for CDS exam:

Height and Weight Standards (Males)
Height in Centimetres (Without shoes)	Weight in Kgs.
	18 years	20 years	22 years	24 years
152	44*	46	47	48
155	46	48	49	50
157	47	49	50	51
160	48	50	51	52
162	50	52	53	54
165	52	53	55	56
168	53	55	57	58
170	55	57	58	59
173	57	59	60	61
175	59	61	62	62
178	61	62	63	64
180	63	64	65	66
183	65	67	67	68
185	67	69	70	71
188	70	71	72	74
190	72	73	74	76
193	74	76	77	78
195	77	78	79	81

Scheme of Examination

CDS Exam Pattern

Stages of exam	Written exam and SSB Interview
Mode of exam	Offline / Pen and paper based
Subjects	1- English 120 questions 2- General Knowledge 120 questions 3- Elementary Mathematics 100 questions
Exam duration	2 hours for each paper
Number of questions	340 MCQs for – IMA, INA and AFA 240 MCQs for – OTA
Language of paper	English & Hindi

Union Public Service Commission will release the admit card of CDS 2/2021 any time soon in online mode at upsconline.nic.in. Since the exam is slated to be conducted on November 14, 2021 in offline mode. After downloading CDS 2/2021 admit card candidates should check for any discrepancy and if found then immediately report it to the exam conducting authorities to get it rectified.

Indian Military Academy / Air Force Academy / Naval Academy

All the papers are of objective type.

Subject	Marks
English	100
General Knowledge	100
Elementary maths	100
Total	300

Officers' Training Academy

Each paper contains objective type questions.

Subject	Marks
English	100
General Knowledge	100
Total	200

Intelligence and Personality Test

The SSB interview process consists of a two-stage Selection process – stage I and stage II. Only those candidates who successfully clear the stage I SSB interview are permitted to appear for stage II.

(a) Stage I comprises Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests are Picture Perception* Description Test (PP&DT). The candidates will be shortlisted based on the combination of performance in the OIR Test and PP&DT.

(b) Stage II Comprises Interview, Group Testing Officer Tasks, Psychology Tests, and the Conference. These tests are conducted over 4 days. The details of these tests are given on the Indian Army career portal.

The personality of a candidate is assessed by three different assessors viz. The Interviewing Officer (IO), Group Testing Officer (GTO), and the Psychologist. There is no separate weightage for each test. The marks are allotted by assessors only after taking into consideration the performance of the candidate holistically in all the tests.

Test/ Interview by Air Force Selection Board

All candidates who apply for the Air Force through more than one source will be tested/interviewed at the Air Force Selection Boards only once for Air Force. Common candidates who fail in Computer Pilot Selection System (CPSS) and/ or Pilot Aptitude Battery tests as an NCC or Airmen candidate will be called again for OLQ testing for Army/Navy/OTA only if it is found that they have applied through CDS Exam.

CDS I 2020 Vacancy

Academy	Total Vacancies
IMA	100
AFA	32
INA	45
OTA (Men)	225
OTA (Women)	16
Total	418

CDS II 2020 Vacancy

CDS 2 2020 Total number of vacancies are given below.

Academy	Total Vacancies
IMA	100
AFA	32
INA	26
OTA (Men)	170
OTA (Women)	17
Total	344

CDS I 2021 Vacancy

CDS 1 2021 Total number of vacancies are given below.

Academy	Total Vacancies
IMA	100
AFA	32
INA	26
OTA (Men)	169
OTA (Women)	17
Total	345

See also

• List of Public service commissions in India