Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS)

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released the admit card of CDS 2020 on January 09, 2020 at its official website. Earlier UPSC has released CDS application form and notification on October 30. The last date to fill the application form was November 19, 2019. CDS is conducted for candidates who wish to pursue their career as commissioned officers in Navy, Air Force and Army after graduation or candidates appearing in their final year. CDS exam is conducted twice a year in February and November. CDS 1 2020 written exam will be conducted on February 2, 2020. The application form of CDS 2 will be released on August 5, 2020, along with the notification. Candidates will be able to fill the application form till August 25. CDS 2 will be conducted on November 8, 2020. Candidates who are between 20 to 24 years to be eligible for CDS. There are two stages in CDS exam written exam followed by SSB interview. Candidates who qualify written exam are eligible for Services Selection Board (SSB) Interview which includes Personality cum Psychometric tests and Intelligence interview. The selected candidates will undergo training programmes as per their merit and preference for Army, Navy and Air Force jobs. The training of selected candidates will be done at Indian Military Academy (IMA Dehradun), Indian Naval Academy (INA Ezhimala), Air Force Academy (Hyderabad), and Officers’ Training Academy (OTA Chennai). This training course will begin in January 2021. 

Candidates must check the eligibility criteria like age limit,  educational qualification, marital status to be eligible for CDS exam. 

Nationality

Candidates applying for CDS must be 

• an Indian citizen, or
• a Tibetan refugee (before January 1962), or
• a subject to Nepal or Bhutan, or
• Migrants from Pakistan, Burma, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, and Ethiopia or Vietnam Sri Lanka and East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, with the intention of permanently settling in India

Age

Candidates must be 20 to 24 years.

Educational Qualification martial status as per courses 

Mode of Application : Online

Mode of Payment : Net Banking | Credit Card | Debit Card | Other

UPSC will release the application form of CDS 2, 2020 on August 5. Candidates will be able to fill CDS 2 application form till August 25, 2020. The application form of UPSC CDS 1 2020 exam was released on October 30, 2019. Candidates were able to fill the form till November 19. 

CDS Application Fee

The online application form of CDS is filled in two parts.

Part 1 Registration

• Candidates can fill the application form from the link available on the official page.
• Before filling up the CDS application form candidates must read the important instructions.
• Enter details like name, father’s name, mother’s name, community, address, etc. and click on the submit button to register.

Part 2 Registration

• Enter the registration ID, password and captcha code to log in to part 2 registration.
• Select the payment method online or offline.
• Upload the scanned signature and photograph.
• Selection of exam centers.
• Read and agree to the 'Declaration' to submit the application form.

Documents required while filling CDS Application Form 

• Active email – ID
• Matriculation certificate
• Scanned signature
• Scanned photograph
• One photo identity proof like Aadhar card/ Voter card/ PAN card/ Passport/ Driving license

Application Fees

To score well in the written exam of CDS, candidates must know the preparation tips and strategies. Candidates must know the importance of solving the previous years’ question papers, timely revision, time management, etc. which are the key elements of preparation.

UPSC has prescribes the exam pattern of CDS. There are two stages in CDS exam- written and SSB interviews. The written exam of CDS 2020 will be conducted in pen and paper mode. As per the exam pattern of CDS, candidates who apply for Indian Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Indian Military Academy courses have to appear for three subjects - English, General Knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics while candidates who have opted for Officers' Training Academy have to appear for two subjects – English and General Knowledge. 

CDS Exam Pattern – Written Exam

Structure of exam pattern for admission to Indian Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Indian Military Academy.                                                                                                                        

Structure of exam pattern for admission to Officers’ Training Academy

CDS Exam Pattern – SSB Interview

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the admit card for written exam of Combined Defence Services (CDS 1) on January 09, 2020, while for CDS 2 it is expected to be released in the last week of October. Candidates could download the admit card till the date of examination. In order to download the admit card, candidates can either log in through roll number or registration number. The admit card of CDS exam is available for candidates who have successfully filled the application form. 

Details on CDS Admit Card

• Candidate’s name
• Scanned signature and colour photograph
• Registration number
• Candidate’s category
• Examination date
• Reporting time
• Address of examination centre
• Examination timing

UPSC will release the official answer key of CDS written exam after all the stages of the exam have been conducted. CDS answer key will be available subject wise for all test booklets. Candidates can check the number of correct and incorrect answers marked by them with the help of answer key. There are some coaching institutes who release the answer key after the completion of the exam on the same day. 

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) releases the result of Combined Defence Services (CDS) for written and final separately. The result of the written exam of CDS 1 will be declared in March 2020. CDS 2 result for written exam will be announced by the end of December 2020. Candidates have to secure qualifying marks as prescribed by UPSC to qualify the written exam. Candidates who qualify written exam will be eligible to appear for SSB interview. The final result of CDS is calculated adding the marks secured by candidates in written as well as SSB Interview. The final result of CDS I 2020 is likely to be declared in December 2020 (tentatively).

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) releases the cut off of CDS exam separately for the written exam and final. Candidates who score equal or more than cutoff released by UPSC for written exam are eligible SSB Interview. The CDS cut off marks of written test for is calculated out of the total score of 300 for INA, IFA  and IMA, and 200 for OTA (Men & Women). The final cut off will be released in December 2020 by UPSC. 

The selection process of CDS exam is of two stages - written exam and SSB interview. In the first stage - CDS exam written exam, candidates are required to appear in three papers for admission in the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force and two papers for admission in Officers’ Training Academy.