19September 2026
Checked 19 September 2026
Defence: what is live
- 01
Government Exams
Defence
Entry into the armed forces runs through two broad routes: officer entries, which lead to a commission, and Agniveer enrolment under the Agnipath scheme, which fills the ranks below officer level. Each route has several examinations, and they differ in qualification, age band and the selection process that follows the written paper.
What every defence entry shares is that the written test is the smaller half. A Services Selection Board or an Air Force Selection Board assesses attributes that develop over years — initiative, cooperation, resilience, physical robustness — and a medical examination applies standards that no amount of preparation can change. Both deserve attention from week one.
Defence · checked 19 September 2026
Defence exams this month, from the official portals
Notifications, application windows, exam dates, answer keys and results as the conducting bodies published them, each with its source and a link to the exam guide.
The routes
Officer entries and Agniveer enrolment
| Entry | Level | Conducted by | Selection after the written stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDA | Class 12 | UPSC | Five-day SSB worth 900 marks, then medical |
| CDS | Graduate | UPSC | SSB, with an additional pilot aptitude test for the Air Force entry |
| AFCAT | Graduate | Indian Air Force | Air Force Selection Board, plus a one-time pilot aptitude battery for flying branch |
| Agniveer | Class 10 or 12 by category | Army, Navy and Air Force separately | Physical fitness and measurement tests, then a detailed medical |
NDA is the earliest entry, taken while still at school, and leads to three years at the academy before commissioning. CDS is the graduate route to the same commissioned service. AFCAT is the Air Force’s own officer entry, held twice a year. Agniveer is enrolment below officer rank, with each service running its own recruitment and its own categories.
2026 cycle
Defence notifications 2026: where each entry stands
Checked 15 September 2026 against upsc.gov.in, afcat.edcil.co.in, joinindianarmy.nic.in, agnipathvayu.cdac.in and joinindiannavy.gov.in.
| Entry | Notification | Vacancies | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDA and NA (UPSC) | NDA II 2026 on 20 May; applications to 9 June | 394 | Written examination held 13 September 2026; result about eight weeks later, then the SSB. NDA I 2027 notification due 2 December 2026 |
| CDS (UPSC) | CDS II 2026 on 20 May; applications to 9 June | 451 — IMA 100, INA 26, AFA 32, OTA 275 men and 18 women | Written examination held 13 September 2026; CDS I 2026 sent 8,826 candidates to the SSB |
| AFCAT (Indian Air Force) | AFCAT 02/2026, registration 20 May – 21 June | About 353 plus 26 through GATE | Online test held 8 August 2026, result declared; AFSB testing follows. AFCAT 01/2027 expected around November 2026 |
| Agniveer — Army | Registration 13 February – 10 April 2026 | By zone and category | Online CEE held 1–12 June 2026; recruitment rallies follow |
| Agniveervayu — Air Force | Intake 02/2027, registration 6–26 July 2026 | By stream | Online test 22–23 September 2026; Intake 01/2027 results were declared on 16 June |
| Agniveer — Navy (SSR and MR) | Batch-wise on joinindiannavy.gov.in | By batch | INET, then stage II at INS Chilka; watch the portal for the next batch |
| Entry | Written test | Negative marking | What follows |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDA | Mathematics 120 questions / 300 marks and GAT 150 questions / 600 marks, 2½ hours each, OMR | One third of the question’s marks | Five-day SSB worth 900; final merit out of 1,800 |
| CDS | English, GK and Elementary Mathematics, 100 marks and 2 hours each; OTA sits only English and GK | One third of the question’s marks | SSB (plus CPSS for the Air Force Academy); medical |
| AFCAT | 100 questions, 300 marks, 2 hours, online — General Awareness, Verbal Ability, Numerical Ability, Reasoning and Military Aptitude | −1 per wrong answer against +3 | AFSB of two stages, CPSS for Flying, medical, branch-wise merit |
| Agniveer (Army) | Online CEE — 50 questions in 60 minutes for GD and Tradesman (100 marks), Technical and Clerk/SKT (200 marks) | 25 per cent of the question’s marks | Rally: 1.6 km run, beam, balance and ditch, then medical |
| Agniveervayu | Online — science 70 questions in 60 minutes, other 50 in 45, both 100 in 85 | 0.25 per wrong answer | PFT (1.6 km run), adaptability tests, medical |
| Agniveer (Navy) | INET — 100 questions in four sections for SSR (science, mathematics, English, general awareness), two sections for MR | 0.25 per wrong answer | Stage II at INS Chilka: PFT, written and medical |
NDA and CDS are applied for through the single UPSC account on upsconline.nic.in at ₹100 and ₹200 respectively, free for women, SC and ST; AFCAT costs ₹550 plus GST on afcat.edcil.co.in; Army Agniveer costs ₹250 on joinindianarmy.nic.in; and every entry ends with a medical examination against standards that differ by service and branch. The exam guides below carry the full tables, vacancies, eligibility and age bands, the SSB and PFT standards, the procedure from registration to joining and free mock tests on the current patterns.
The selection board
What the SSB actually assesses
For officer entries this stage carries as much weight as the written examination, and it is the part candidates most reliably under-prepare.
- Screening — an intelligence test and a picture perception and description exercise on the first day, which removes a substantial proportion of candidates immediately.
- Psychological testing — thematic apperception, word association, situation reaction and self-description, assessed for consistency and genuine disposition rather than rehearsed responses.
- Group testing officer tasks — discussion, planning, outdoor tasks and the command task, assessed on cooperation and initiative together rather than one at the expense of the other.
- Personal interview and conference — a long interview covering background, interests and views, followed by a board conference that makes the recommendation.
None of that is knowledge testing, which is why it cannot be crammed. What builds it is taking responsibility in group settings, maintaining genuine physical fitness, reading widely enough to hold views, and practising the expression of them. Those are habits of years, and the candidates who do well have usually been building them without thinking of it as preparation.
Medical standards
Check them before you invest a year
Armed forces medical standards vary by service, by wing and by entry, and are strictest for flying branches. Vision and colour perception in particular differ sharply — a standard that permits one wing may not permit another. Because the medical examination comes after every other stage, a candidate can clear the written paper and the selection board and still be found ineligible. Verifying the standard for your intended entry at the outset costs an hour and prevents a wasted year.
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Defence exams
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Questions
Defence — FAQs
What are the defence exam dates for the rest of 2026?
NDA II and CDS II 2026 were held on 13 September 2026, with written results due around November and SSB calls after that. Agniveervayu Intake 02/2027 is tested on 22–23 September 2026. AFCAT 02/2026 has been held and its result declared, with AFSB testing in progress; AFCAT 01/2027 is expected to open around November 2026. The UPSC calendar places the NDA I and CDS I 2027 notifications on 2 December 2026 for examinations on 11 April 2027, and the next Army Agniveer registration should open early in 2027.
Which defence exam has the harshest negative marking?
AFCAT — a full mark is deducted for every wrong answer against three for a correct one, so a wrong guess costs a third of a right answer. NDA, CDS and the CAPF paper deduct one third of the question’s marks, and the Agniveer tests of all three services deduct a quarter. The practical consequence is that a guessing threshold that works in an SSC or banking paper loses marks in AFCAT, and the free mocks on each exam guide apply the correct deduction so you can measure your own net from guessing.
What is the difference between NDA, CDS and AFCAT?
NDA is the school-level entry, taken from class 12, leading to three years at the National Defence Academy before commissioning into the Army, Navy or Air Force. CDS is the graduate entry to the same commissioned service, leading to the IMA, INA, Air Force Academy or Officers Training Academy. AFCAT is the Indian Air Force’s own officer entry for graduates, conducted by the Air Force rather than UPSC and held twice a year. All three are followed by a selection board and a medical examination.
How should I prepare for the SSB?
Over months and through activity rather than study. The board assesses officer-like qualities — initiative, cooperation, decisiveness, physical robustness and the ability to think and speak clearly under pressure — which develop through taking responsibility in group settings, maintaining genuine fitness, reading widely enough to hold views, and practising expressing them. Format familiarisation and mock interviews are useful in the final weeks, but they refine what is already there rather than creating it.
Why do defence medical standards matter so much?
Because they apply at the end, after the written paper and the selection board, and they cannot be prepared for. Vision, colour perception, hearing, dental condition and orthopaedic conditions all feature, and the standards differ by service, by wing and by entry — strictest for flying branches, where spectacles are generally not permitted. A candidate can clear everything else and be found ineligible for a condition identifiable at the outset, which is why checking the standard for your intended entry belongs in week one.
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