UPSC & Civil Services · Government Exams

CDS Mock Tests

Practise the format you are actually sitting. A three-paper mock is the wrong preparation for an OTA-only candidate.

CDS · checked 19 September 2026

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 test CDS syllabus Today’s current affairs

19September 2026

Checked 19 September 2026

CDS: the facts that matter now

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
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
03
CDS II 2026: 451 — IMA 100, INA 26, AFA 32, OTA men 275, OTA women 18; courses from July and October 2027
Vacancies
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

Practice

CDS — Using mock tests as a measurement

The single most useful adjustment a CDS candidate can make is to practise the correct paper set. Candidates applying across multiple academies need all three papers; candidates applying only to the Officers Training Academy need two, and should redirect the mathematics time into English and general knowledge, where their entire written score is decided.

What to review

General knowledge accuracy, by theme — the largest improvable component, with the defence seam most improvable of all.
English score — a hundred marks in every entry, and highly responsive to consistent practice.
Mathematics pace — for the three-paper entries. The level is modest; the time pressure is real.
Errors caused by guessing — a third of a mark each, and the easiest loss to eliminate.

Begin Services Selection Board preparation in parallel. Physical fitness, group activity and the habit of forming and expressing views are what that stage assesses, and they take months to develop rather than weeks.

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Making a CDS mock useful

Sit the correct paper set Three papers if you are applying to the IMA, INA or AFA; two if you are an OTA candidate. Practising the wrong set trains a distribution of effort you will not be able to use.
Track General Knowledge by theme History, polity, geography, economy, science, current events and defence. One aggregate score across seven very different areas tells you nothing you can act on.
Record mathematics time as well as score For the three-paper entries this is the number that predicts your performance, because the content itself is not the constraint.
Count losses to guessing A third of a mark each. Candidates are consistently surprised by how much of the gap between their mock scores and their target is simply undisciplined guessing.

Because CDS is held more than once a year, candidates often sit it repeatedly, and there is a specific trap in that: treating the next attempt as another go at the same paper rather than as a chance to fix what the last one exposed. If your General Knowledge was the weak paper, the interval between attempts is a general knowledge project. Sitting the examination again without having changed anything simply re-measures a candidate who has not moved.

Air Force candidates — the pilot aptitude test

Candidates applying for the flying branch take a computerised pilot selection system test at the SSB. It is normally a one-time opportunity in a candidate’s career — a failure is not repeatable at a later attempt — which makes understanding what it involves before you sit it materially more important than for any other component of the process.

Making a CDS practice result useful.
Pattern	Cause	Correction
English fine on grammar, weak on comprehension	Reading speed rather than rules.	A page of dense prose daily, read at pace.
General knowledge inconsistent between attempts	Static material revised occasionally.	Short daily revision of a compact sheet, sustained over months.
Mathematics conceded	Assumed to be beyond reach when it is set at school level.	Work arithmetic and geometry to fluency; the level is lower than most candidates expect.
Defence questions missed	No regular defence news habit.	One source, followed weekly, with notes by theme rather than by date.
Board preparation absent	It is the stage most candidates arrive at unprepared.	Begin alongside the written preparation, not after it.

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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