The Combined Defence Services Examination (abbreviated as CDS Exam) is conducted by the

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission ( ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exam ...

for recruitment of Commissioned Officers in the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

, Officers Training Academy,

Indian Naval Academy The Indian Naval Academy (INA or INA Ezhimala) is the defence service training establishment for officer cadre of the Indian Naval Service and the Indian Coast Guard, located in Ezhimala, Kannur district, Kerala. Situated between Ezhimala h ...

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 Services Selection Board (SSB) is an organization that assesses the candidates for becoming officers into the Indian Armed Forces. The board evaluates the suitability of the candidate for becoming an officer using a standardized protocol of eval ...

(SSB).

Age Limit

Educational Qualifications

CDS Exam Educational Qualifications is given below.

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: # The candidate should be physically as well as mentally fit. # Permanent tattoos on the body are prohibited. # No hernia anywhere on the body. # No hearing impairment, deformities/disabilities in-ears vestibule-cochlear system. # There is no active congenital venereal disease. Here are the requirements for the Height and Weight standards to qualify for CDS exam:

Scheme of Examination

CDS Exam Pattern

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.

Officers' Training Academy

Each paper contains objective type questions.

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

CDS II 2020 Vacancy

CDS 2 2020 Total number of vacancies are given below.

CDS I 2021 Vacancy

CDS 1 2021 Total number of vacancies are given below.

References

{{Indian military academies and colleges Union Public Service Commission Standardised tests in India Military education and training in India Year of establishment missing