UPSC & Civil Services · Government Exams

CDS Exam Pattern

Every figure here is from the CDS 2026 notifications and the CDS II 2025 cut-off sheet.

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CDS · checked 19 September 2026

CDS at a glance, from the official notices

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

Free CDS mock testCDS syllabusToday’s current affairs
19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

CDS: the facts that matter now

  1. 01

    CDS I: exam 12 April 2026, written result 8 May with 8,826 qualified. CDS II: notified 20 May, applications to 9 June, exam 13 September 2026

    2026 cycles

  2. 02

    Union Public Service Commission twice a year — Combined Defence Services Examination (I) and (II) — for the IMA, the Indian Naval Academy, the Air…

    Conducted by

  3. 03

    CDS II 2026: 451 — IMA 100, INA 26, AFA 32, OTA men 275, OTA women 18; courses from July and October 2027

    Vacancies

  4. 04

    Graduates (engineering or physics degree for the Navy; physics and mathematics at 10+2 for the Air Force); age 19–24 for IMA and INA, 20–24 for…

    Eligibility

Pattern

CDS — CDS exam pattern 2026: written papers, negative marking, SSB and cut-offs

The Combined Defence Services Examination has a written stage of two or three objective papers, then an SSB interview carrying exactly the same marks as the written stage for each academy. The IMA, INA and AFA are decided out of 600; the OTA out of 400.

Written examination. Objective; OMR; 100 marks and two hours per paper; one third of a mark deducted per wrong answer.
PaperIMA / INA / AFAOTAMedium
EnglishYesYesEnglish
General KnowledgeYesYesEnglish and Hindi
Elementary MathematicsYesNoEnglish and Hindi
Written total300200

How the written stage is used

  • Minimum in each subject — 20 per cent in CDS II 2025, fixed by the Commission each cycle.
  • Academy-wise cut-offs — The last candidate qualified in CDS II 2025 scored 124.11 (IMA), 109.23 (INA), 132.51 (AFA), 80.01 (OTA men) and 98.06 (OTA women).
  • Written marks are not published until the final result — Marks and cut-offs follow the final merit lists.
SSB and final merit.
AcademySSB marksFinal meritCDS II 2025 last recommended
IMA300600249.61
INA300600238.50
AFA300600263.67
OTA (men)200400162.84
OTA (women)200400193.01

Related CDS pages

CDS syllabus for the three papers Free CDS mock tests on the 2026 pattern CDS previous year papers

Exam resources

Everything for CDS

Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.

CDS SyllabusCDS syllabus — English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics topics, and which papers apply to which academy.CDS Exam PatternCDS exam pattern 2026 — English, GK and Elementary Mathematics papers with marks and time, the OTA two-paper scheme, negative marking, SSB marks and cut-offs.CDS Previous PapersCDS previous year papers — extracting the recurring defence awareness themes and calibrating the English and mathematics level.CDS Mock TestsCDS mock tests — practice for the three-paper and two-paper formats with negative marking and section analysis.CDS PreparationCDS preparation strategy — planning by academy, building defence awareness and preparing for the SSB alongside the written papers.CDS Study MaterialCDS study material — English, general knowledge, defence awareness and elementary mathematics notes for all four entries.

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