Combined Defence Services Selection Pattern

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has prescribed CDS exam pattern . The exam pattern provide details like different sections of exam, section-wise weightage of topics, marking scheme and total marks. Candidates should check CDS exam pattern before beginning with the preparation. This will give candidates an idea regarding the overall structure of CDS exam. Candidates can check below the detailed CDS exam pattern.The selection process of CDS recruitment includes two stages –

Written Exam

This is the first stage of the CDS selection process.

• Candidates who register successfully for the exam are required to appear in the written exam.
• According to the CDS exam pattern, the written exam for IMA, INA and Air Force comprises three sections, English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics.
• The total mark of the test is 300.
• The written exam for Officers’ Training Academy consists of two sections – English and General Knowledge.
• The total mark of the test is 200.
• Candidates qualifying the written exam will be called for SSB Interview for intelligence and personality test.

SSB Interview
There are two stages in SSB Interview -

• Psychological Aptitude Test and Intelligence Test. Candidates qualifying the stage one will be called for the second stage.
• Final selection of candidates is done based on their performance in written exam and SSB Interview. Selected candidates will have to undergo training at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai.

Highlights of CDS Exam Pattern

CDS Exam Pattern for Written Test

The written exam for IMA, INA and AFA comprises three sections - English, General Knowledge and Elementary Mathematics. The test paper for admission to OTA comprises two sections – English and General Knowledge. Total exam duration for IMA, INA and AFA is 6 hours (each section is for 2 hours) while it is 4 hours (with section for 2 hours) for OTA. Total marks of the test for IMA, INA and AFA are 300 while it is 200 for OTA. The test paper will consists of objective type questions only. The standard of the topics in CDS syllabus for Elementary Mathematics will be of Class 10 level. The standard of papers for other subjects will be of graduation level.

Structure of question paper

The structure of CDS question paper for IMA, INA, AFA and OTA is as follows –

IMA, INA, AFA

OTA

CDS Marking Scheme 

• Each question in CDS exam carries 4 options, out of which only 1 option will be correct
• For incorrect answer, 1/3 marks will be deducted
• More than one option marked will be treated as incorrect 
• If a question is left unanswered there will be no negative marking 

The section-wise marking scheme of CDS exam is given below - 

CDS Exam Pattern for SSB Interview

The SSB Interview for IMA, INA, AFA is for 300 mark each while for OTA it is 200. The SSB Interview procedure consists of two stages – I and II. Only those candidates who clear the stage I are permitted to appear in stage II. The details of both the stages are given below -

• Stage I comprises Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) tests and Picture Perception Description Test (PP&DT).  
• Stage II comprises of Interview, Group Testing Officer Tasks, Psychology Tests and Conference. These tests are conducted for over 4 days.