Combined Defense Services(CDS) Exam

The CDS(Combined Defense Services) Exam is conducted twice a year by the UPSC(Union Public Service Commission) for recruitment into the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy, Indian Air Force Academy and Officers Training Academy.

The examination notification is usually released in the months of October and June and the examination is conducted in February and September respectively. Only unmarried graduates are eligible to write the exam. Candidates those who passed in the written test are called for an interview conducted by SSB(Service Selection Board) and after successful completion of SSB interview candidates are admitted to one of the Academies mentioned above. The Eligibility criteria explained below. Age limit is mentioned in bracket

For Indian Military Academy (19-23 years): Degree from a recognized university or equivalent.

For Naval Academy(19-23 years): Bachelor of Engineering or B.Sc. with Physics & Mathematics

For Air Force Academy(19-23 years): Degree of a Recognized University with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level or Bachelor of Engineering

For Officer’s Training Academy (19-25 years): Degree from a recognized university or equivalent.

Objective type questions are asked for the written test. For military academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy Questions are asked from English, General Knowledge and Mathematics area. Each type carries 100 marks. So total mark is 300.
But for Officer’s training academy questions are from English, General Knowledge. Each type carries 100 marks. So total mark is 200