CDS Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

Written exam

So 300 marks over 6 hours for IMA, INA and AFA, and 200 over 4 hours for OTA. All papers are objective, and a wrong answer costs one third of the question's marks.

SSB interview

300 marks for IMA, INA and AFA, 200 for OTA: the same weight as the written exam. It runs five days in two stages. Stage I on day one (Officer Intelligence Rating and the Picture Perception and Description Test) screens out most candidates. Stage II is psychological tests, group tasks and a personal interview, ending in a conference. Air Force candidates also take the Computerised Pilot Selection System test.

English

Comprehension, spotting errors, sentence arrangement, synonyms and antonyms, fill in the blanks, idioms and phrases, sentence improvement and vocabulary, at graduate level.

General Knowledge

Current events, Indian history and the freedom movement, Indian and world geography, polity and the Constitution, the Indian economy, general science to about class 10, defence awareness (the three services, ranks, exercises, equipment, recent developments), sports and awards. Defence and current affairs weigh more here than in a general competitive paper.

Elementary Mathematics (IMA, INA and AFA only)

• Arithmetic: number system, HCF and LCM, decimals and fractions, square roots, percentage, ratio and proportion, average, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time and distance, divisibility and factorisation.
• Algebra: polynomials, remainder and factor theorems, simultaneous and quadratic equations, sets.
• Trigonometry: ratios, identities, heights and distances.
• Geometry: lines and angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, circles, loci.
• Mensuration: areas and volumes.
• Statistics: presenting data, measures of central tendency.

The standard is class 10, not graduate.

Qualification

Final-year students can apply if they produce proof by the set date.

Age, sex and marital status (CDS II 2026)

Male divorcees and widowers don't count as unmarried for any course. Nobody may marry during training. The bands shift each cycle, so check the CDS (II) 2026 notification or its successor.

Nationality

An Indian citizen, a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, a Tibetan refugee who came before 1 January 1962, or a person of Indian origin who has migrated from certain specified countries.

Medical standards

Set per service and eliminating. The Air Force's are the strictest.

1. Written exam: 300 marks (IMA, INA, AFA) or 200 (OTA).
2. SSB interview: five days, same marks as the written. Plus the pilot selection test for AFA.
3. Medical examination.
4. Merit list for each academy separately: 600 or 400 marks.

You can apply for every academy you qualify for in one go. Each has its own merit list, so you can miss IMA and still make OTA from the same paper.

CDS gets you into an academy. You're paid a stipend while training, with board, lodging, uniform and medical care provided, and your real pay starts when you're commissioned.

Military Service Pay is on top of basic pay for all officers, and field, high-altitude, flying and submarine duty add more. Housing, rations, medical cover for the family and canteen access are provided.

If you're invalided out in training

A cadet invalided out for disability without a pension gets ₹25 lakh at 100% disability, scaled down to ₹5 lakh at 20%, and an ex-gratia ₹50,000 below 20%. Disability from alcohol or drug use is excluded. Cadets pay monthly into the Army Group Insurance scheme.

Fee

Pay by net banking, card or UPI.

List your academies in order of preference

You choose the academies you want in the exam-specific form, in order. That decides which merit lists you appear in. If you're a man eligible for more than one, list them all: it costs nothing and gives you more chances.

Check the age and marital rules for each course under Eligibility before you list it.

Vacancies in the CDS (II) 2026 notification (tentative, and Services Headquarters can change them):

The two OTA courses have 293 of the 451 places. Apply only for IMA and you're competing for under a quarter of them.

NCC "C" certificate holders have reserved places at IMA, INA and AFA through NCC Special Entry.

The written exam is at centres across India, picked when you apply. Centres fill first come, first served and can't be changed afterwards.

The SSB is run by the services, not UPSC, at boards in cities such as Allahabad, Bhopal, Bangalore, Kapurthala, Varanasi, Coimbatore, Mysore, Dehradun and Gandhinagar. You stay about five days. Travel is reimbursed for your first attempt at a given entry. Air Force candidates also do the pilot selection test and a specialised medical at designated Air Force centres, which takes extra days.

UPSC holds CDS twice a year, CDS I and CDS II, with dates set in advance in its exam calendar.

Age windows and vacancies change every cycle, so take them from the current notification.

Download the e-Admit Card from upsconline.nic.in. Nothing is posted or emailed. It's released on the last working day of the week before the exam, or three days before if you changed your scribe in the last seven days. Keep your registered email working.

The SSB call letter comes separately from the Services Selection Board after the written result. Bring originals: matriculation certificate for date of birth, degree or provisional certificate, and NCC certificate if you're claiming a reserved place.

1. Written result: who is called to the SSB, academy by academy. You can be called for one and not another off the same paper.
2. Final result: a separate merit list for each academy, written and SSB marks counted equally (600 for IMA, INA and AFA; 400 for OTA).

UPSC then publishes category-wise cut-off marks for each academy, the marks of recommended candidates, and marks for those not recommended.

UPSC publishes CDS cut-offs for each academy after the cycle closes, on its cut-off marks page. Use those, not figures copied elsewhere.

There's no single CDS cut-off. Each academy is ranked against its own vacancies, and OTA's is usually the lowest and IMA's the highest. You also need a minimum in each paper as well as the total, set by UPSC each cycle, so one weak paper can sink you.

1. Know your academy. OTA has no Mathematics paper; the others do.
2. Don't over-prepare the maths. It's class 10 level, while English and GK are two thirds of the paper.
3. Read defence news. GK leans on the services, ranks, exercises and equipment.
4. Prepare for the SSB from the start. It's half your merit, and Stage I on day one cuts most candidates.
5. Be careful guessing. Each wrong answer costs a third of a mark.
6. Practise on real papers. UPSC's previous question papers for CDS are free: English, GK and Elementary Mathematics.

UPSC publishes the actual CDS papers (English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics) in its previous question papers archive after each cycle, and answer keys once the cycle closes. There's nothing equivalent for the SSB.

• upsc.gov.in
• upsconline.gov.in, online application
• CDS (II) 2026 notification (PDF)
• UPSC exam calendar
• UPSC previous question papers and cut-off marks
• Join Indian Army

Do OTA candidates sit Mathematics?

No. Just English and General Knowledge, 100 marks each.

How much is the SSB worth?

The same as the written exam: 300 for IMA, INA and AFA, 200 for OTA.

Can women apply?

Yes, to OTA through the SSC Women course. IMA, INA and AFA are for men.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, a third of the question's marks.

Can I apply for more than one academy?

Yes, if you meet each one's conditions. They're ranked separately.

What qualification does INA need?

An engineering degree. AFA takes engineering or a degree with Physics and Maths at 10+2; IMA and OTA take any degree.