CDS Exam Dates, Fees, Eligibility & Notification

CDS Exams Notification and News

The UPSC publishes the notification on their official website in October and August. There are around 400 vacancies every time. The applicants should keep in mind that the number of openings is temporary. It can get altered at any stage by the SSB.

The CDS 2 2021 notification got released recently on 4th August 2021.

Applicants can download the CDS notification from the official website. It is preferable to go through this official notification . The applicant will understand the exam process before sitting for the exam.

CDS 1 2021 Events	Important Dates
Notification and starting of the application process	28th October 2020
Last date for the application process	17th November 2020 (6 pm)
Application withdrawal	24th November – 30th November 2020 (6 pm)

CDS 2 2021 Events	Important Dates
Notification and starting of the application process	4th August 2021
Last date for the application process	24th August 2021 (6 pm)
Application withdrawal	31st August – 6th September 2021 (6 pm)

 

The CDS notification can be download using the following steps :

1. Search for the official website of UPSC.
2. Select the “What’s New” section.
3. Under that, look for the CDS 2 2021 notification link and select it.
4. The CDS 2 2021 notification comes on the computer screen.
5. The applicant should download the notification PDF.

 

CDS Exams date

The application form of CDS get released on the official website. CDS application form consists of 2 parts. One part is that the applicants need to create their ID registration. The second part is that the applicants need to submit their application fees online.

CDS Exam Events	Important Dates for CDS 1 Exam	Important Dates for CDS 2 Exam
Admit Card	7th January 2021	3weeks before the CDS exams
Exam date	7th February 2021	14th November 2021
Result date	23rd March 2021	December 2021
SSB interview	Will get informed	Will get informed

 

Subject Papers	Exam time table
English language	9 am – 11 am
General Knowledge	12 pm – 2 pm
Elementary Mathematics	3 pm – 5 pm

 

CDS Exams Application Fee

The fee for the application form for the General Category students is INR 200/-

The reserved category applicants are not required to pay the application fees.

Both online and offline mode of transaction is available for the students. The student can complete the process using Credit Card or Debit Card or Net Banking. The applicant can also deposit cash to any SBI bank branch.

Category	CDS Application fee
General	200/-
SC/ST/Females	Not required

 

CDS Exams Eligibility Criteria

Educational Qualifications –

The educational qualifications differ for various positions.

1. For IMA and OTA, the applicant should be a graduate.
2. In case of INA, the aspirant should hold an engineering degree.
3. Then for AFA, the candidate should hold an engineering degree. He should also have Physics and Math at 10+2 or should be a B.Tech graduate.
4. The applicants in the first choice category should have their provisional certificates.
5. The applicants who are sitting for their finals can also apply for the exam. They should not have backlog in any examination. They have to show their passing degree at the beginning of their course.

Nationality –

1. Firstly, the applicant should be a native Indian or can be a citizen of Nepal or Bhutan.
2. Also, the aspirant can also be a Tibetan migrant who came to India before 1st January 1962.
3. Furthermore, they can also be an Indian person who resettled from outside India.
4. Lastly, they should have a certificate provided by the Government of India. But, this certificate is not compulsory for the Gorkha residents of Nepal.

Age Limit –

The lowest age limit for the CDS Exams is 19 years.

The age limit also has an essential role in the CDS examination.

Designations	Age limits	Born within
IMA	19 – 24	2nd July 1998 – 1st July 2003
INA	19 – 24	2nd July 1998 – 1st July 2003
AFA	20 – 24	2nd July 1998 – 1st July 2002
OTA (men and women)	19 – 25	2nd July 1997 – 1st July 2003

 

Gender and Marital Status Requirements

Gender and Marital Status are also very much necessary.

Designations	Gender	Marital Status
IMA	Male	Unmarried
INA	Male	Unmarried
AFA	Male	Unmarried
OTA	Male	Married / Unmarried
OTA	Female	Unmarried

 

The applicants whose age is less than 25 years old should remain unmarried. Marriage is not allowed during the training session. Married individuals above 25 years of age get permission to apply.

During the training session, they cannot have any married living quarters. They also cannot live with their family out of the property.

 

CDS Vacancies

The UPSC has published the CDS vacancy details along with the official notification.

The applicants can read the CDS vacancy details. It will help them to understand the hiring process.

Below are the details for CDS 1 Vacancy and CDS 2 Vacancy according to the designations.

For CDS 1 2021 Vacancies

Designations	Course	NCC Vacancies	Total Vacancies
IMA, Dehradun	152nd DE course starting from January 2022	13	100
INA, Ezhimala	Executive Branch (General Service) / Hydro course beginning from January 2022	6	26
AFA, Hyderabad	Training Course (Pre–flying) starting from January 2022	3	32
OTA, Chennai	115th SSC (Non-Technical) Course for Men beginning from April 2022	Nil	170
OTA, Chennai	29th SSC (Non-Technical) Course for Women initiating from April 2022	Nil	17
Total		22	345

 

For CDS 2 2021 Vacancies

Designations	Course	NCC Vacancies	Total Vacancies
IMA, Dehradun	153rd DE course starting from July 2022	13	100
INA, Ezhimala	Executive Branch (General Service) / Hydro course beginning from July 2022	3	22
AFA, Hyderabad	Training Course (Pre–flying) starting from July 2022	3	32
OTA, Chennai	116th SSC (Non-Technical) Course for Men beginning from October 2022	Nil	169
OTA, Chennai	30th SSC (Non-Technical) Course for Women starting from October 2022	Nil	16
Total		19	339

 

CDS Salary

After getting appointed, a Lieutenant will get INR 56,100 – 1,77,500/- per month. Throughout the training session, other applicants get a fixed salary of INR 56,100/- per month. From Lieutenant to Brigadier, one gets a proper military service salary of INR 15,500/- each month. The applicants can get an idea about the CDS salary structure from the table below.

Positions	Level	Salary	Promotion after
Lieutenant	Level 10	INR 56,100 – 1,77,500	Promotion after the training gets completed
Captain	Level 10 B	INR 61,300 – 1,93,900	After two years of service
Major	Level 11	INR 69,400 – 2,07,200	After six years of service
Lieutenant Colonel	Level 12 A	INR 1,21,200 – 2,12,400	After thirteen years of service
Colonel	Level 13	INR 1,30,600 – 2,15,900	After fifteen years of service
Brigadier	Level 13 A	INR 1,39,600 – 2,17,600	After twenty-three years of service
Major General	Level 14	INR 1,44,200 – 2,18,200	After twenty-five years of service
Lieutenant General	Level 15	INR 1,82,200 – 2,24,100	After twenty-eight years of service
HAG + Scale	Level 16	INR 2,05,400 – 2,24,400	After twenty-six years of service
VCOAS/ Lieutenant General / Army Cdr	Level 17	INR 2,25,000 (allotted)	No limitations
COAS	Level 18	INR 2,25,000 (allotted)	No limitations

 

CDS Syllabus

Applicants can download the previous year’s papers for better knowledge. The CDS Exams get organized based on the questions from three sections. Those are General Knowledge, Elementary Math, and English Language. All the appeared applicants can later see their results on the official website of UPSC. Some candidates get selected for SSB interviews. These successful applicants are then designated into the particular post by the SSB. A total of 6,552 applicants gets shortlisted for SSB interviews. The question paper gets divided into three sections. They are General Knowledge, Mathematics, and the English language. The applicants should be well aware of the subjects as well as the topics for the examination.

Subject Papers	Topics
General Knowledge	–        Current events of 4-5 months from the examination date.-        History-        Physical Science-        Biological Science-        Geography-        Political Science
English language	–         Basic Grammar-         Synonyms-         Antonyms-         Comprehension Solving-         Error Spotting-         Para Jumbles
Elementary Mathematics	–         Natural numbers-         Integers-         Percentages-         Rational and Real numbers-         Time and work-         Time and distance-         Profit and loss-         Ratio and proportion-         Prime and composite numbers-         Simple and compound interest-         HCF and LCM-         Euclidean algorithm-         Geometry-         Logarithms-         Trigonometry-         Statistics-         Mensuration

 

CDS Exam Pattern

The CDS 2021 examination pattern gets classified into two parts.

1. Theoretical Examination
2. Intelligence and Personality Examination.

The examination pattern for OTA is different from IMA, INA, and AFA. CDS examination pattern for IMA, INA, and AFA IMA, INA, and AFA has three subjects. The total marks of the subjects are 300.

Subject Papers	Marks	Time scale
General Knowledge	100	2 hours
English	100	2 hours
Elementary Mathematics	100	2 hours

 

CDS examination pattern for OTA

OTA has two subjects. The total marks of the subjects are 200.

The total time scale is 4 hours.

Subject Papers	Marks	Time scale
GK	100	2 hours
English	100	2 hours

 

1. The applicant gets negative marking in case of incorrect answers.
2. The quality of the papers in the case of Elementary Mathematics will be of 10^th class level.
3. The quality of the papers in other subjects will be of a graduate level.
4. The examination papers are set in two languages. English and Hindi.
5. It consists of only MCQs.

 

CDS Exam Admit Card

The CDS admit card got released on the official website of UPSC. The admit card always gets released three weeks before the examination. The applicants have to visit the https://upsconline.nic.in/ site. Next, The applicant should log in to their account with their Roll No and Registration No.

Then the applicant gets advised to go through the admit card. The applicant has to check that the information is correct or not. After that, the applicant can download the admit card. They had to bring it to the exam center. Or else, the applicant would not get permitted to appear for the examination.

If the applicants find any difficulty in the Admit Card, then they will not get permission to sit in the exam.

 

CDS Exam Result

The CDS Exams Result gets declared on the official website in two stages. Firstly, Theoretical exam and Lastly, Final selection. The committee first publishes the result of the theoretical examination. Then they publish the final result. The result shows the roll numbers and names of candidates in PDF format. These candidates are then interviewed by the SSB.

The applicants who sat for the examination get qualified to see the result.

The CDS Exams Results can get checked using the following steps :

1. Firstly, select the official website of UPSC.
2. Then, select the “Results” link under the “Navigation” section.
3. Under that, look for the “UPSC CDS II Result” link and select it.
4. Then, Fill in the necessary details such as Registration Number and Date of Birth.
5. Select the “Submit” button.
6. Lastly, Check the Result status with your Roll Number and Name.

Cut-off is the least score needed to appear in these examinations. The CDS Exams Cut-off score gets released after the CDS Exams Result.

Academics	Theoretical examination	Final examination
IMA	120 – 130	245 – 255
INA	105 – 120	233 – 245
AFA	145 – 150	268 – 270
OTA (Men)	73 – 85	162 – 170
OTA (Women)	74 – 85	164 – 170

 

How to apply for CDS Exam?

• At first, the applicant should visit the official website.
• Then, select the Online Application for Various Examinations of UPSC.
• After that, the applicant selects the Part-I category.
• Then click on the Combined Defense Services Examination section.
• The applicant should go through the instructions from Part-I.
• Then they should click on the ‘Yes’ button.
• The application form comes on the computer screen.
• Next, the applicant has to fill in the contact details and personal information.
• Based on the age and notification, the applicant should select their desirable institute.
• After that, the Registration ID gets created.
• Then, the applicant should complete the Part-II Application form next.
• The applicant should pay the application fees.
• Then they can select their preferable examination center.
• Next, the applicant should upload the scanned copy of their signature and photograph. This will be in the mentioned file size and dimensions.
• After that, the applicant should click on the “Submit” button.
• Lastly, the application form should get printed by the applicant.

 

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FAQ’s

Q. What are the ways to get selected for the CDS Exams?

The CDS selection procedure gets divided into two processes.

Firstly, The Theoretical Exam and Lastly, The SSB Interview.

Q. Is it essential to get eligible for CDS I before CDS II?

No. CDS-I and CDS-II are similar examinations that get organized every year. Hence, the applicant has to get eligible once to get considered for hiring.

Q. Is there any physical examination for CDS Exams?

Yes. There is a physical examination as well as medical examination in CDS.

Q. Are the CDS 2 2021 Admit Cards published?

No. The CDS 2 2021 Admit Card will get published on the official website of UPSC. It will be three weeks before the CDS 2 examination.

Q. When does the CDS 2 2021 notification gets published?

CDS 2 2021 notification got published on 4^th August by UPSC.

Q. What is the pattern of CDS theoretical examination?

The theoretical examination of CDS gets carried out offline.

Besides, the exam paper consists of three categories. They are English, Elementary Mathematics, and GK.

The total exam score is 300. Also, the examination pattern is distinguishing for different courses.

Q. In how many shifts do the CDS Exams gets carried out?

CDS examination will get carried out in three shifts. Firstly, the English paper will be from 9.00 am to 11.00 am. Secondly, GK will be from 12.00 pm to 2.00 pm. Lastly, Elementary Mathematics will be from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm.

Q. Does UPSC release the CDS Exams answer key?

Yes. UPSC releases the CDS Exams answer key after the examination ends.

Q. What is the educational requirement necessary for the CDS Exams?

The educational qualification needed is Graduation.

Q. Can girls get registered for the CDS Exams?

Girls can get registered for OTA.