CDS
Graduate entry to officer training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Indian Naval Academy (INA) and Air Force Academy (AFA) for permanent commission, and the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, for short service commission.
Eligibility
Graduates of a recognised university: any degree for IMA and OTA; an engineering degree for INA; a degree with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 (or B.E./B.Tech) for AFA. IMA, INA and AFA entries are for unmarried men; OTA accepts unmarried men and women. Age bands differ by academy — roughly 19–24 years for IMA/INA, 20–24 for AFA and 19–25 for OTA, fixed by a date-of-birth window in each notification.
Age limit: 19–24 years (IMA/INA), 20–24 (AFA), 19–25 (OTA)
Exam pattern
Pen-and-paper Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) exam. For IMA/INA/AFA entries: three papers of 100 marks and 2 hours each — English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics — for a written total of 300 marks. For OTA: only English and General Knowledge (200 marks total). One-third of a question's marks are deducted per wrong answer. Qualified candidates face the Services Selection Board (SSB) — a five-day assessment worth 300 marks (200 for OTA) — then medicals and an all-India merit list per academy.
Syllabus at a glance
English tests grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and sentence arrangement. General Knowledge spans current affairs, history, geography, polity, economy and everyday science, with a defence tilt. Elementary Mathematics is Class 10-level arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, mensuration and statistics — easier than NDA Mathematics but heavily time-pressured.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| CDS II 2026 admit card | Late Aug 2026 (expected) | expected |
| CDS II 2026 written exam | 13 Sep 2026 | confirmed |
| CDS II 2026 written result | Oct–Nov 2026 (expected) | expected |
| SSB interviews for CDS II 2026 | Dec 2026 – Apr 2027 (expected) | expected |
| CDS I 2027 notification & application window | Dec 2026 (expected, per UPSC annual calendar) | expected |
| CDS I 2027 written exam | Apr 2027 (expected) | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Pathfinder CDS Entrance Examination — Arihant Experts
- Mathematics for CDS — R.S. Aggarwal
- Objective General English — S.P. Bakshi
- Word Power Made Easy — Norman Lewis
- Lucent's General Knowledge — Dr Binay Karna and team
- Manorama Yearbook — Malayala Manorama (current affairs)
How toppers play it
- All papers carry equal weight and General Knowledge is historically the lowest-scoring one — pair static GK (Lucent's) with the last 8–10 months of current affairs rather than cramming either alone.
- Elementary Mathematics is Class 10 level but gives about 72 seconds per question — speed drills in arithmetic, mensuration and trigonometry matter more than advanced topics.
- With one-third negative marking and IMA cutoffs typically around 120–140 out of 300, disciplined attempting (skip sub-50% confidence questions) protects your margin better than maximising attempts.
- OTA aspirants sit only English and GK, so the effective cutoff percentage is higher — English accuracy is the deciding paper.
- The written exam only shortlists you; the SSB (300 marks, 200 for OTA) decides final merit — begin psychological-test practice (TAT, WAT, SRT) and group-task fitness early.